I want to quit my job. I haven’t been happy here for several months now. Neither my boss nor my co-workers know that, though. I’m about as high on the food chain as I can get, given the current structure of the organization – and frankly, I’m still pretty low in the food chain. I’ve grown about as much as this organization can help me grow.
It was understood when I was hired 1.5 years ago that I wasn’t going to be here very long. Although I am relatively valuable to the organization – they pay me pennies, I produce work worthy of somebody at twice my salary – my boss won’t have any hard feelings if/when I leave. He knows he would leave if he were in my position. I only took the job because, at the time, it was the only option available.
My boss is in a position to be very valuable to me as I look for a new job. He knows many of the “right” people, and his endorsement would really help me in the marketplace. Still, finding a new job in my field could take anywhere from hours to months.
Here’s my question: When do I tell my boss I’m looking for greener pastures? If I tell him too early, I risk having told him at the start of a months-long process. In the meantime projects that could help my career would likely bypass my desk because I might not be around to finish them. There’s an outside – but non-zero – chance that my boss might even be petty about the whole thing. On the other hand, if I wait a long time I will miss out on having his help making connections with the very people with whom I am trying to get a job. Plus, it would be difficult for me to make contacts with some of those people without word getting back to my boss that I’m shopping. I certainly don’t want him to find out from somebody else that I want to leave.
I’d say that your first window of oppurtunity to get together with him , is coming up at Christmas. If leaving at the first oppurtunity is something he would do , then its best to work with him, as you wish to use him as a resource to get your better gig.
Take a chance and make him wear his career councilor hat , instead of the boss hat.
When you’re damned good and ready. When you have your dream-job offer in writing.
If the company decided to let you go, would they pause for a nanosecond to consider what effect his trauma might have on you? Would they try to schedule your release to your convenience?
Look out for yourself. (And don’t leave your resume in the copier.)
I would weed out all the other factors you mention and just go the traditional route: look for a job on the QT and inform your present company once you have a signed off on an offer letter.
It’s tempting to want to use your boss as a resource but if you really think about, his loyalty is (should be, anyway) to the company, not you, no matter how much he likes your or sympathizes with your plight. You could be putting him in a very awkward position by asking for his assistance or even just making him privvy to your plans.
I think the best thing about him being “on your side,” so to speak, is that you don’t have freak out if you think someone may not respect your request to keep your job search confidential. If he finds out, hopefully he won’t be upset and you can always say that you didn’t want to put him in an uncomfortable situation so you opted to keep things quiet.
Hey, whoever you talk to is going to contact your current employer anyway if you make it past the first interview. You might as well be up front with him/her on it. Beats having to explain why they’re getting calls from people you’ve contacted.
In fact, they’re pretty slimy if they do contact them given that you can politely ask them to keep it confidential. Not to say that informally folks who know your boss may contact him anyway, but they shouldn’t if you have requested otherwise.
I told my boss at my old job that I was looking to move back home.
Within two months, she had pushed me out of her department, back to working at a job that I had been promoted from and I could complete before lunch. I also got the feeling that if I hadn’t moved, I would have been fired, since she had my replacement hired and started within a week after I moved.
Look on the quiet. You can give your boss your two weeks’ notice when you’re ready to move on. Most businesses are sensitive to the job search and will not call your boss for references if you ask them not to. Have other, non-job references available, and only use a colleague at work if you can trust them completely to keep their mouth shut.