How much notice for quitting a job?

I'm considering a career change because I'm just getting burned out with computers and tech support and stuff. Its not that I don't like the work, I just am not really enough of a people person to keep a fake smile when I get asked the same question for the 100th time in a day.

I'm going to attempt to do a couple years of college online while still keeping my full time job. Only once a month I'll have to take a day off work and go to Missoula to do an in-class lab thing, and I'll have to figure out a way to do an internship. What I'm planning to study is energy production and "green technologies".

Right now I am manager of all IT services for a small rural school district. I'm the one and only computer guy. I'm not a teacher or anything, in fact I'm the next step below the superintendent. This is a pretty rural area and there really isn't anyone locally who is qualified to do this job, so we're going to have to search regionally or maybe nationally and find someone who is willing to move out into the middle of nowhere. Then once we have an applicant selected and they accept the job offer it will take some time to get moved up here, and then there will have to be some time for me to give them good training on the job. When I moved here I was offered the job and then got here three weeks to the day later, and the guy I replaced gave me his keys and a tour of the building and then abandoned me. (there was some broken feelings and stuff and that is why he skipped out so quickly) I don't want to just dump everything on my replacement the same way it was dumped on me.

Standard operating procedure for most jobs is two weeks notice that you are quitting, but given my situation I will need more time then that. I figure we will have to advertise the job for about four weeks, have a week of interviews, then maybe three weeks to get them here, then another two weeks or so of training for the new guy.

That totals nine weeks, so if we round that up to a perfect 10, is that too much advanced notice for quitting a job or is it about right? Chances are that once I am officially off the payroll I'll be loading up a moving truck and heading back down to Texas where my wife is from and see if I can either find work or create my own start up, so if the new guy needs me for anything after I leave it will have to be over the phone.

I see nothing wrong with given many months notice as long as you are not concerned they would let you go early because of it. I think some people would be worried about leaving too much of a notice because the company might let them go earlier than they wanted. As long as you do not think they would do that to you, or as long as that wouldn't be a problem for you to be let go early, then I see no reason to why you should not give them plenty of time to find a replacement so that everything goes smoothly and nobody gets upset. If anything doing that you will allow you to leave on great terms with them and they might be able to offer you a nice referral letter for other employment down the road.

I guess what I could do is give my notice and say I will leave no later than XX date, but if the new admin picks up on things a lot faster I could leave earlier. So if I put that out there instead of them then maybe they would be less likely to kick me out before the end date because I would be the one gauging when the time is right. But if it gets to be that final end date and the new guy isn't ready yet then they are SOL because that is the date I set. I hate to say it but my boss and the school board are kind of easy to manipulate so if I word things right it leaves the ball in my court.

I think that is how I would do it then, keep that ball in your court and leave on good terms

So, i take it this means that you manipulated them into thinking World of Warcraft was an antivirus software that your work computer desperately needed then?

Not sure how that fits with this discussion, but I found that to be funny


I don't think that there would be a problem with you leaving a good enough notice about your decision to quit. Don't think that they would fire you because you left a huge notice about your desires to quit/move on.

The amount of notice you give always depends on the situation. As noted two weeks is typical, however, if you are a CEO of a company 30 days or more is not unheard of. In your case and given your circumstances I think giving them plenty of notice is the right thing to do.

Ok maybe manipulate is the wrong word for this. Pretty much if I have a reason for something that I can put in a way in which they will understand they will go along with it. More of a sales pitch than manipulation.

Sales pitch = manipulation

At least in my experience that is what it is.

I'd agree, in your situation I think you are safe with the amount of time you want to give especially if you can lay it out like you did in your first post to the powers that be. I'd take your job but I don't think I could convince my wife to move to Montana. I'm tired of the city.

You might get tired of the country living out here. The thing I don't like is that its just too dang laid back and casual. Basically everyone here works bankers hours, and different services are so spread apart and in different towns that if you want to get somewhere before they close you have to take off the better part of the afternoon.

im most cases i would say 2 weeks, that way if they do let you go early you will not be without a job for long anything more then that you are risking getting put off early and could run in to some money issues

Two weeks is the minimum expected, however in your case where finding a replacement is harder, longer would go a long way to engender a positive exit. I might even tell them earlier, and give them the chance for you to overlap with them for a week to provide continuity.

Doesn't ever hurt to go out on a high note; never know which bridges you may have to revisit later.

I recently changed employer and through courtesy i gave them verbal notification of my intention to leave 6 weeks before leaving. I had official confirmation of my intent to leave in writing 4 weeks before departure. Due to the position i was in i had to give them at least 4 weeks written anyway.

In hindsight, i had a great first week at my new employer and don't imagine i will ever go back to the same industry i was in before so i should have just left at the soonest opportunity however, like Daemonguy says, you never know if you'll need to go back. The more notice you give the better it is for them.

This is great advice. My experience has been that in situations like this, giving ten weeks notice seems more than reasonable, but all too often, it turns sour and you're out of the door the next day. Anyway, good luck on your move to Texas.