When is it time to hand in your resignation?
As is so often the case, that depends. Have you gotten a job offer? Are you about to get a job offer? Do you hate your job?
Let’s start at the top. If you have a job offer, in writing, complete with a signed contract and an official start date, go ahead and hand in your official notice. It’s nice if you can offer them two weeks before you leave, but in most cases that’s just a courtesy. (I say “just,” but obviously courtesy is important! Give them the time if you can.)
If you don’t have all the official stuff taken care of, I advise you to hold off. A lot can happen between the verbal offer and the signing of the contract, so caution is warranted here. You can tell your prospective employer that you need to give two weeks’ notice (or more if you want to take time off between things) and ask if they can send you the contract soon, but often these things just proceed at their own speed. But you want everything to be in order so you are confident about the new salary, your start date, what training will look like, etc.
But what if you simply hate your job and need to leave it ASAP? Things are a bit trickier in that case. You always have the option of quitting effective immediately, but that clearly has repercussions. If things are really bad and you feel like you might do something drastic, or if you are being abused in the workplace, it’s absolutely better to get out with your sanity intact. Run far and fast. It’s not worth staying somewhere that makes you want to punch someone, or where you’re in danger of being punched, yourself.
But if that’s not the case, it’s better to stick things out until you have something else lined up. That allows you to give your courteous two weeks’ notice, have the security of moving from one job to the next, and saying appropriate goodbyes at the current place. It also increases your chances of being able to get a positive referral from the old place, and it keeps your professional reputation intact. If things are pretty bad but you aren’t in danger of doing something you might regret later, you can also opt to give less than two weeks, though in general, the closer to that 10 workdays you can offer, the better. Also, be aware that some workplaces have policies around your resignation that may require more notice from you. These are likely only enforceable if you’ve signed something (check your contract and any non-compete documents), but it’s best to honor them whenever possible so that you know you have been as professional as possible. (Even when they haven’t.)
