Does a long notice period harm applying for new jobs

Rroff said:
Yeah pretty much anything with vaguely manager in the title or higher has been 3 months where I've worked for the last 20 odd years. Often it doesn't get entirely played out though as generally the company just wants to get someone new up to speed in the role then be able to get on with cutting the old person loose if that is what they want to make things easier i.e. you don't have someone hanging around with enhanced security privileges, etc.
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Congratulations ! Remembering to follow up the thread speaks well of your support capabilities too.
 
dirtychinchilla said:
You may find that your current place is willing to compromise on the 3 months, particualrly if you don't need to to a handover and/or if they hate you
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This is my experience, after seeing a few colleagues hand their notice in (with a 3 month notice).

How I approach the question if asked at interview - You tell the new employer/recruiter that you have a 3 month notice period but explain that you're confident your existing employer would be willing to compromise if they need you urgently.

In reality, what usually happens is your existing employer will allow you to leave early (4-6 weeks) as they know trying to keep you when you're already set on leaving isn't fruitful. Helps if you can have that conversation with your boss beforehand and don't just drop a letter on their desk mind :p
 
EVH said:
This is my experience, after seeing a few colleagues hand their notice in (with a 3 month notice).

How I approach the question if asked at interview - You tell the new employer/recruiter that you have a 3 month notice period but explain that you're confident your existing employer would be willing to compromise if they need you urgently.

In reality, what usually happens is your existing employer will allow you to leave early (4-6 weeks) as they know trying to keep you when you're already set on leaving isn't fruitful. Helps if you can have that conversation with your boss beforehand and don't just drop a letter on their desk mind :p
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I was hoping to go earlier but my current employers seem to be a bit bitter and twisted judging from past leavers... And they haven't even replaced two of them a year later!!!

My boss seems sad to see me go, his boss doesn't seem bothered and the Director hasn't said a word. Which is odd after 15/almost 16 years but there we go.
 
KiNgPiN83 said:
I was hoping to go earlier but my current employers seem to be a bit bitter and twisted judging from past leavers... And they haven't even replaced two of them a year later!!!

My boss seems sad to see me go, his boss doesn't seem bothered and the Director hasn't said a word. Which is odd after 15/almost 16 years but there we go.
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Definitely sound bitter. Sign of a poor culture if they take someone leaving personally.

Had that when I left my first role (family run business). They saw it almost as a betrayal and made anyone go on gardening leave… except me. Apparently they trusted me :cry:
 
Congrats! I had a 3 month notice at my last place, it flies by but also lasts forever, if that somehow makes sense.

Potential employers didn't seem that miffed about it.
 
Yes to reiterate what I said earlier in the thread, as a hiring manager if I've got a signature and the clock is ticking to their arrival, that's all good. Rejecting a good candidate due to a 3 month period for a proper long-term perm role is nonsense; it might take you weeks to find another candidate of the same calibre who might have a 2+ month notice period so no difference anyway.

Or to put it another way, if you absolutely NEED someone in under 3 months then maybe you'd be better placed getting a contractor in whilst looking for the right person for the long-term. Hiring a perm just because they can land in a month potentially sets you up for problems if you get someone naff and then are lumbered with them taking up perm headcount.
 
I was on a 3 month notice period at my last place, and 3 months at my new place too.

As others have said, it's fairly standard in some industries. I don't think having 3 months would put many potential employers off, but having a significantly shorter period could be a bonus if you're up against a similar candidate and the employer is desperate.

Working a 3 month notice period is pretty soul destroying though. I'd love to know how some folk negotiate that down. Unless you have a ton of annual leave to use up, or you're rubbish/not needed at your job, then why would employer be willing to let you go earlier?
 
NotAGolf said:
why would employer be willing to let you go earlier?
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  • Because you might be joining a competitor and be able to take sensitive information, client books etc with you. This is one reason why gardening leave is a thing.
  • Because they already have a replacement lined up (e.g. internal promotion)
  • Because they recognise that some staff are less motivated when serving out a long notice period and would rather not pay for you to do a half-arsed job
  • Because they are under budget / headcount pressure (it's not only people who are rubbish / not needed that are allowed to leave when these get tight). For example they might be making people redundant, so having someone else leave might help retain someone elses.
I've only had one job with a 12 week notice period and they held me to it, despite the HR manager originally telling me it was 2 months for someone of my band (it was 12 weeks in my contract, so they obviously checked it afterwards). I was fine with this, I actually stayed on a few days longer than necessary (cancelled some leave) to finish up some annual appraisals for my team as I didn't really think it was fair for them have to go through that with the interim replacement that had been put in place.
 
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