And another question - two weeks notice

[yankeeyosh]

Should I wait until the background check is complete before I give in my two weeks' notice. I don't think there will be a problem, but I am scared that something will come up, and I fail, and I told my boss I quit. The problem is that Wednesday is the only day during the week my immediate boss shows up. The background check will not be over until Thursday or Friday. If I wait till next Wednesday to give it to him, I will not have two weeks since I am supposed to start on the 31st.

Another one of my bosses (but not my direct supervisor) will be in all week, but I think I should give it to my direct supervisor.

My stomach is turning right now...this is really scary, and I am afraid to do anything.

[old_school_soul]

Background checks are usually for felonies and bad credit. If you have either of these you should be worried. Send an email to your boss or call him if he's not around to give your resignation.

[allie1105]

Background checks are usually for felonies and bad credit. If you have either of these you should be worried. Send an email to your boss or call him if he's not around to give your resignation.

I disagree. If something gets mixed up or goes wrong and you resigned before finding out if you are cleared for the job, you will find yourself with no job. I worked internally for a staffing firm, and you don't know how often we ran background checks where something was incorrect and it delayed the process.

Also, I would write a formal letter and give it to your boss face to face. It sucks, but you need to thank him for the opportunity and let him know you valued your time at your job. Don't burn your bridges - you'll never know when you may need them. I am in a very odd situation right now with "burned bridges" (I had a great relationship with everyone at my last job, even though I didn't love it but recently asked my old boss to use him as a reference and found out he knew I was unhappy in my old position) and don't want to see someone else work for several years in a job and walk away with nothing.

[TinyDancer]

I disagree. If something gets mixed up or goes wrong and you resigned before finding out if you are cleared for the job, you will find yourself with no job. I worked internally for a staffing firm, and you don't know how often we ran background checks where something was incorrect and it delayed the process.

Also, I would write a formal letter and give it to your boss face to face. It sucks, but you need to thank him for the opportunity and let him know you valued your time at your job. Don't burn your bridges - you'll never know when you may need them. I am in a very odd situation right now with "burned bridges" (I had a great relationship with everyone at my last job, even though I didn't love it but recently asked my old boss to use him as a reference and found out he knew I was unhappy in my old position) and don't want to see someone else work for several years in a job and walk away with nothing.
Agreed. Tell the new job that you'd really like to give 2 weeks notice from the time the contingencies have cleared. . . They should understand that.

[yankeeyosh]

Agreed. Tell the new job that you'd really like to give 2 weeks notice from the time the contingencies have cleared. . . They should understand that.

The problem is that I cannot give two weeks notice if I was to give the letter to my immediate supervisor AND have my background check cleared. I am supposed to start 3/31. So the latest I can give the letter is next Monday. However, the only day my immediate supervisor is in the office is Wednesday...but my background check will still be in the works at that point. So the only thing I can think of is give it to my other supervisor, but I fear that it is not the most professional thing to do. I already delayed my start date a week, and I don't want to delay it another week.

[winneythepooh7]

Have you been given a formal offer letter? I would never put in my notice if I didn't have something in writing from the new job.

You can also email your boss the termination letter in an attachment if he's not in the office a lot. I've done that before. Call him before you send it if it makes you feel more honest.

You can also always negotiate a different start date with the new employer. It's really NOT a big deal at all, trust me.

[yankeeyosh]

Have you been given a formal offer letter? I would never put in my notice if I didn't have something in writing from the new job.

You can also email your boss the termination letter in an attachment if he's not in the office a lot. I've done that before. Call him before you send it if it makes you feel more honest.

You can also always negotiate a different start date with the new employer. It's really NOT a big deal at all, trust me.

I have a formal offer letter, but the background check has not been done.

[old_school_soul]

I disagree. If something gets mixed up or goes wrong and you resigned before finding out if you are cleared for the job, you will find yourself with no job. I worked internally for a staffing firm, and you don't know how often we ran background checks where something was incorrect and it delayed the process.


I'm not sure what you disagree with. I didn't tell him to give his resignation before he was cleared. I was telling him if his boss isn't around once he does get cleared, contact him via phone or email.

[spokes]

i would recommend also holding off until everythign is official - the starting date is usually not carved in stone and your new er will most likely wait anotehr week or so.

[shadeofgreen]

(I had a great relationship with everyone at my last job, even though I didn't love it but recently asked my old boss to use him as a reference and found out he knew I was unhappy in my old position)
He wouldn't give you a reference just because you were unhappy in your job?

[allie1105]

I'm not sure what you disagree with. I didn't tell him to give his resignation before he was cleared. I was telling him if his boss isn't around once he does get cleared, contact him via phone or email.

I misunderstood you - I thought you were telling him to give his resignation via phone or email - I didn't read his post carefully enough and now realize that his boss might not be in town.

[allie1105]

He wouldn't give you a reference just because you were unhappy in your job?

I actually called him today about this. I sent an email to him asking if it would be OK, since I performed well when I was there and he was my last employer prior to graduate school. His did not refuse to give me a reference, he agreed - but he actually felt badly since he thought I really liked it there. What am I supposed to do, tell everyone how much I hate it and be miserable? How is that going to help me? He said he was really surprised to hear that, and he heard it from someone in the office after I left. Gotta love office gossip!

[awhitmer83]

Mark, I would call your supervisor if possible to give your notice verbally, then give the letter to him on Wednesday when he's there in person. I just had to do this since my supervisor works in a different office, and it went fine.

[yankeeyosh]

Background checks are done. Is there anything else I should wait for or am I all set? My boss is in today.

[yankeeyosh]

Letter is in the boss's hand. So it's over.

[awhitmer83]

So how did it go?

[yankeeyosh]

They said they were happy for me and they wanted the best for me. It was amicable, so I didn't burn any bridges. They asked me if I looked into other opportunities in the company...they said they could have arranged for me to go into the actuarial department or some other department. I thought about continuing on an actuarial track, but it is such a tough road, and I really don't know if I am up to that. They pretty much said it so that I have second thoughts, and I wonder if I should have given it more thought. I'm not too fond of the culture here, so that was a main reason for why I have to leave. But I really am scared that I might not have made the most appropriate decision. I really hope this doesn't come back to bite me in the end.

[awhitmer83]

I'm glad they took the news well. I think it speaks highly of you that they asked why you didn't look internally - though it doesn't mean you should have. I have read your threads about this job ever since I started posting here, and I know you haven't been happy. The unfortunate thing about any job is that you have no way to know how you'll fit until you try it. I'm sure the new job will be a welcome change.

[yankeeyosh]

I'm glad they took the news well. I think it speaks highly of you that they asked why you didn't look internally - though it doesn't mean you should have. I have read your threads about this job ever since I started posting here, and I know you haven't been happy. The unfortunate thing about any job is that you have no way to know how you'll fit until you try it. I'm sure the new job will be a welcome change.

Yeah, I think this will be fine.

I got an e-mail from my new boss today welcoming me on board and wondering how things went with the two weeks' notice. In all the jobs I have had, I never got any communication from my new boss between the date I was hired and when I started...so this is definitely a good sign!