Notifying Employer

[briefinterviews]

So, here's the deal.

I got laid off in mid-December of this past year. The program I managed lost its funding due to government budget cuts and just couldn't recover. Thankfully, I landed a job at another social service agency in no time, and I've been working there for 2 months. While my last employer knew about my intentions to return to grad school (and was extremely supportive), my new employer is unawares.

My question is: How do I time this?

I have a good relationship with my supervisor, but I'm still uncertain about how she might handle my resignation if I break the news too soon or too late. The program is in a big transitional phase, and my position is a big part of pulling the program out of its funk. I plan to work until early-to-mid August (and then hopefully claim my vacation time as I prepare for the move :x), but want to give my agency enough of a head's up that we have time to prepare and find an appropriate replacement... and I don't burn any bridges. I don't think they would be in a hurry to find someone else if I broke the news "too soon," but never say never--we're a small team.

I was thinking May/June, when hypothetically my decision on where I'll be matriculating will be final and absolute, but any thoughts on that?

[rollingmountainthunder]

I was wondering the same thing. I have been working part time and my current supervisor was excited yesterday because unknown to me she had my postion approved for full time. I am feeling major guilt....I was waiting for my acceptance before I told her about wanting to get my MSW. Grr....I think I am going to have to tell her before. I just dont know when.

[ellie811]

At my current job it's not an issue because I'm only in this city for 3 years (husband is in law school) and they've known all along I'm going to be leaving. I have a small department (just 4 of us) and they're plotting to kidnap me so I can't leave (Whether I get to go to grad school or not, I'm moving in August for my husband's job post-graduation this spring)

At my last job, I had been there less than a year before I knew I'd be leaving to come where I am now. I ended up giving 5 weeks notice. I wanted to give more, I was a caseworker and it's a lot of work to transfer cases and I wanted lots of time to notify my clients and providers, but our union representative advised me to not give more than 5. He actually told me to do just 2 weeks, but I wanted to do more. My supervisor was very appreciative of my extra notice and I worked very hard to help the transfer of my cases go smoothly.

Some things to consider:

1. How long will it take them to hire your replacement? (at my last job there was a hiring freeze so no one was being hired, at my current job they had spent 6 months interviewing people before hiring me)

2. Will you help train the new worker?

3. What have other employees done when leaving?

4. What is your supervisors education/work history? (this will give a little bit of insight into how they'll respond to your departure)

Not knowing your details, it's hard to give a suggestion. However, I think 6-8 weeks is generally plenty of time. Wait until you're settled on your school and know exactly when you'll need to move, and count backwards from that.

[mswhopeful2012]

I work at a large instituition with a lot of bureaucracy. I plan to give 6 weeks notice because it will take that amount of time to interview and hire someone through the various processes. This will also allow me to train them, as I stepped into my position with no training and had to completely overhaul how things were done through developing and implementing new policy and procedure.

I say that the most important factors are:

1). Can someone do what you're doing?

2). How big is your department? How many employees will be burdened by your departure if no one is hired to replace you immediately?

3). How long will it take to train someone to be as proficient as you currently are?

4). How long is the hiring process generally for your position?

5). Are their major events/conferences/meetings/etc planned around the time of your departure? If so, account for that as time your employer will be unable to search for a replacement.

[mswhopeful2012]

Also consider the Financial state of your employer. Hiring and training new employees is one of the most expensive items companies face. It's one thing to hire someone, and a completely other for that person to be proficiently immersed in SOP, knowledge of company contacts, insider knowledge, and the ability to accurately represent the brand of the company (even of not-for-profit). It sounds like your employer will need someone adequately trained if you're going throug a transition (and will be still during your departure). If that is the case, I would budget enough time you think it would take them to hire and allow you 1-2 weeks to train that new-hire. Just don't give them extra time that they can utilize to hire someone else and then let you go before you're ready to leave.