I’m writing this as everything is still fresh as, today, after nine years I left the only company that has ever employed me in France. It’s a weird feeling: excitement for what’s next, sadness for leaving something nice behind.
But I’m not here to talk about that.
Quitting Your Job In France: Not So Quick
Unlike in the United States, the notice period when quitting your job is not two weeks, but three months. (Generally, at least. In most cases, the period is negotiated into your contract when you start, but there are special cases where the notice is mandated by law. Journalists are one such case, oddly enough. This also only applies if you’ve passed successfully through your trial period, which is also usually three months.) This notice period is a bit of a trade-off: the French company has to give you a lot of chances before they fire you, so you as the employee are giving them a lot of notice before you jet.
I’ve heard people talk about their experiences with the notice period before, and it was never positive. You have a reason why you’ve given your notice. Most of the time you either don’t like that job, or you have a great opportunity waiting for you. Either way, there’s something better waiting for you and you already have your eyes on it. Imagine you’re dating someone, and you meet someone with whom you’re a better fit. But you’ve got to give your partner 90 days before the break-up is official. That’s what I had in mind from others’ talk.
My Experience
Now that I’ve gone through it, I can say: it’s not the best situation, but it also wasn’t that bad.
First: three months is standard, but you are able to negotiate it down, which is what I did. In my case, if I had stayed the whole three months, I would have been starting my new job right before Christmas. Not great, especially seeing as they wanted someone in there as soon as possible.
Second: my boss made this really easy. The last few weeks I was primarily around just in case I had forgotten to hand anything over. I picked up some things here and there: interviewing potential replacements, giving roadmap presentations to customers, handling internal product support requests, etc. But I was there just to pick up things that could free up others to do higher leverage work (and post interesting search engine related articles in Slack).
That was a good thing, because the hardest part for me of the notice period was letting go. When I gave my notice, we were just about to head into some testing with a product I’d been working on for nearly nine months. I had lots of ideas on what to do, and where it should head, except it wasn’t my product anymore and I wouldn’t be around when these decisions came to fruition. So I had to do my best to share my knowledge and then step away. In a handful of cases, I purposefully didn’t attend meetings because it would have been difficult to keep my mouth shut and let others run with it.
Time to Say Goodbye(s)
The notice period also gave me time to say goodbye to people. Over nine years, I worked with a lot of people, and I had a chance to develop friendships, or at least work friendships, with many of those. That meant that I didn’t have to rush all of my goodbyes and risk missing anyone. I could reflect on each person and what I enjoyed most about working with them. This meant it wasn’t depressing, but was instead quite uplifting: look at all of these people and their talents!
The last few weeks went by quickly, and now we’re at today. My boss, ultimate mensch that he is, staged what I am now calling a “reverse intervention,” a mini-”This Is Your Life” of people still at Algolia with whom I’ve worked closely. I went into a Zoom call thinking it would just be a quick “thanks for your service, great working with you” between the two of us, but it was many more people than that. One last opportunity to reflect and say goodbye.
So, What Do I Think?
Now that I’ve done it, what are my thoughts on the notice period? There are definitely some benefits, especially when it is seen as a trade-off for more job security. But I think I come down on being in favor of a shorter notice period. I think the longer time can make more sense when you’re a widget maker or a ticket taker, but if the job is more around planning for the future, it’s wise to do the handoff and let the new owners start to take ownership.