Quit Suddenly

Problem: The smart people you work with are QuittingEnMasse. How do you maximize your chances of finding a job you enjoy?

Forces:

People who quit recently aren't allowed to solicit you to leave your job, according to their old employment contract.
People who quit recently probably want minimize risk by hiring someone they already know.
You probably want to minimize risk by working for people you already know.
Head hunters are usually (always!!) completely incompetent at matching up skilled people to good jobs. The ones who are good at it skim mercilessly. Either way, it's better not to use them if you can avoid it.
As a skilled programmer (or whatever it is you do), you can find a new job very quickly - certainly within the two week close-out period. Well, this may not be the case in the layoff happy climate of 2001!

Solution: Quit suddenly, without accepting a new job first. Then contact some of the people you used to work with. As long as you have officially resigned in writing, and no counter-offer has been made, they can still hire you.

--PeteBevin

Or just lie of course and save lots of hassle. Although 1 is written into contracts, it's unfair and unrealistic. It almost certainly won't be held up by law in most countries.

At the height of the new-economy feeding frenzy, this was a fine strategy. However, this is not a strategy I would try in mid-2001, at least not in Silicon Valley. There are jobs to be had, but there are also a lot of resumes on the street. --DaveSmith

What regulations and typical contractual obligations does this discussion refer to? What is the close-out period? See EmploymentContract

[NOTE: as of Oct 2003 this entire page is completely obsolete. Anybody who has a job - captive, contract, consulting, part time, full time, whatever - better be holding on to that source of income with both hands. Once you're out, you're screwdificated. Therefore, DeleteThisPageSoon.]

No, don't delete the page, but it's worth noting the change of circumstances.

"Change of circumstance?" Uhh...you must not be living in the US of A. It isn't a "changed circumstance" here, it's a Depression�. Of course, you won't catch anybody in The Bush League using that particular term. However, John Dorfman, president of Dorfman Investments in Boston, does:

: A recession is any decline in gross domestic product that lasts two quarters. A depression is a recession that lasts at least four quarters and takes GDP down at least 10%.

I have heard this same definition used by others. Batra, I think, and maybe Kennedy too. You can look it up if you like. Anyway, The Good Ol' US of A seems to fit the bill regardless of who's definition you care to use. Therefore, this page is no longer relevant to life in the USA circa 2003.

Disagree. QuitSuddenly is still a perfectly viable option. The current economic situation may not be permanent. Even if you are one of the FraidyCats who won't look for a better job now, you may feel differently after a few months/years/projects. The sky hasn't fallen. No need to DeleteThisPageSoon.

Hello from 2012, the era of part-time jobs and global recession.

In UK and NL duo, as far as I can tell, there's an ever growing movement in it, from people rejecting jobs offers to keep freelancing. Supposedly, one gets more money from free market than from a stable job position.

I have got so far two contacts of people quitting their positions to live from freelancing only. Also I heard this from few HeadHunters? from UK. -- DericoFilho