Quote: (07-18-2016 02:04 PM)SlickyBoy Wrote:
MikeCF is right - if you're in that situation where you want to quit, don't. Let them fire you as (at least in the USA) you will be worse off having left a job, even a shitty one, if you are in a situation where you need to collect unemployment benefits. Don't think it can't happen to you, plan as if you will need this backstop.
If you are absolutely positively certain you have another offer, before leaving your current gig you'd better have a confirmed start date. If they give you this in the form of an offer letter that does not have the word "contingent" anywhere in it, with an actual date, then it may be safe enough for you to make the jump. If the job falls through, the liability will fall on the new people hiring you - if they promised a job and you leave your old one (even if you hated it) only to pull the rug out, you could potentially sue for relying on their offer that you accepted. Even so it is difficult to win.
He's also correct that your past employer will rarely say anything more about a former employee than confirming dates hired, and in what capacity. Though prior employers could risk a lawsuit by saying too much, it probably wouldn't be for defamation so long as whatever they said was truthful. Regardless, most well run companies will have a firm policy about the limits of commenting on former employees.
Employers never hire you because they really want to, they do so because the need to and you happen to have something critical to their success for a given price. Just like you don't go to the store and buy expensive things you don't need or want for any reason, they don't make a habit of hiring people for the hell of it. Companies that do this usually do not last long, and/or they change tactics soon after realizing they've over-hired.
Put yourself in the drivers seat by having an in-demand skill set and, once hired, never get comfortable. Always keep an eye on the job market, technology, and the viability of whatever it is you've chosen to make your profession. You don't want to be the next taxi driver complaining about Uber taking over his livelihood.
So since I'm living in the U.S. I assume that firing should be the option and not quitting no matter the circumstances until i find a job.