Quitting without two weeks notice

Ovechkin08:

Incredibly stupid idea to burn bridges at this stage in your career. Suck it up and work the notice period, you have the bonus in your bank and its only 2 weeks. You never know when you might want to get back into the work force and need references or if your business becomes a success and you need funding.

+1 - definitely stay, it's only 2 weeks.

I would just be firm but polite with them and say that circumstances prevent you from staying a full two weeks and you have to relocate etc. but that you'd be happy to help out remotely if there are any problems with the transition, finding documents etc. Unless there is something really critical you need to be there for, your boss might just be being petty.

if your boss didn't treat you deservingly, peace out on his ass. Your position is to now make the hedge fund think highly of you, not the bank which from what you said, hasn't treated you or reviewed you like they should have. AT WILL:WHENEVR YOU WANT, AND YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE TO NOTIFY THEM~ HAHAH

Well, in terms of what's on the plate, I guess there's always work to be done -- we do have some projects in progress that are important, but I guess that's the nature of the business, right? But you're right, there's nothing too pressing, and certainly nothing that's so urgent to me since I want to leave anyway.

ehf3660, I think your suggestion is a good one, and it's something I can offer. What's important to me is that management doesn't think I'm the "bad guy" here, though they are also aware of my differences with my boss, since they sat in on my reviews. That said, FinanceFury is on point with how I feel, and I'm wondering if my sentiments concerning my boss are worth articulating to management as part of the reason why I wanted to start at this hedge fund so soon? Or should I just keep my commentary to a minimum, so as not to stir the pot anymore than needed?

If you want to be honest, slightly combative, yet still politely firm, I would speak to "management" (who is that? HR?) and tell them (with a copy of your review in hand) that "Based on my review, I was under the impression that my performance and achievements here were not appreciated. In fact, that is what initially triggered my job search. I believe I have given more than my share of time, effort, and commitment to this bank and I'm ready to move on. I am willing to stay available over email for the next two weeks to ease the transition, but today will be my last day in the office."

Honestly, it does not benefit you at all to complain about your boss. I understand that you think it may make you feel better, but there is zero benefit and only downside. Also just because you don't give someone as a reference doesn't mean that they won't be contacted for a reference ever.

The two week thing is your decision but strongly advise you to salvage as much of the relationship as is possible. If you are put in the position where you have to discuss your boss, put it in the context of "miscommunication, I deserve a fair share of the blame, etc." but don't burn him.

What I personally would have done is tell your staffer you're taking a 2 week vacation, once it is on the books, then you resign and give your 2 weeks notice.

Tell 'em: Zoom. Gone. See ya. Peace! Catch up b*tch, I'm in gear three Drop one finger - f**k 'em and whoever made 'em I will hurt whoever love 'em cause I hate 'em

Then Tell 'em: You tell me Im gainin' weight, I tell you I'm gettin' paid Money over b*tches, I'm yellin' it to the grave

(Nods head). Well said Lil Weezy...well said.

Seriously though, youve gotten good advice already. All I can add is this - your bosses play the game. They know corporate loyalty is dead and its free agency out there. This is the way the system operates. Theyd turn you out in a sec if they had to. In this business you try not to burn bridges, but at the end of the day DO WHAT YOU NEED TO DO FOR YOU.

Dude, suck it up and take it like a man for two weeks.

Thank you for the feedback guys. I appreciate the insights. I suppose it's management's job to try to lay it on us and try to convince us to stick around as long as they need, but the reality is, people here do move on with minimal notice, and I believe firms can lay you off with the drop of a hat as well. It's hard to believe that my boss would voluntarily stick around for a couple weeks if he were given an outstanding opportunity to work elsewhere, but I guess I can only speculate...

As for Wall Street being a small place, that's certainly true -- but doesn't the Street run both ways? I mean, for all anyone knows, maybe I'll be successful on the buy-side sometime down the line and people here will want to do business with me. Anyway, it seemed to me like I could have been treated with more courtesy rather than being criticized for my purported lack of professionalism, but I guess that's life as a junior analyst...hard to "talk back" to people that have been around much longer than I have.

In any case, I'll probably meet my boss and management half-way and give them a week's notice. I can't do any better than that given my circumstances and need to move along, but I do get the sense from you guys' postings as well as speaking with some colleagues that a little bit of compromise can go a long way.

Hopefully people will appreciate a couple more days of work from me as if they really needed me (again, this seems in stark contrast to what was mentioned on my reviews in terms of my "areas of improvement"...it's funny how you only become "essential" to the team when you're halfway out the door). But even if I don't end up actually fostering much extra goodwill by prolonging my stay, at least I can sleep better at night knowing that at least I tried to compromise. I can't control what others here think about me anymore, but at least I'll do my best given my time constraints.

Anyway, just wanted to let you guys know...thanks again for all the feedback. I'll keep you guys posted.

For those that inquired, when I mentioned "management," I was referring to senior personnel such as managing directors. I think my conversations with HR would come at a later time, when they're ready to conduct the exit interviews.

cembalo you bring up a good point; i have literally been on the other side of the table, sitting across from my former boss, no lie; coincidence i guess, but the point is that it is unwise for anyone to fuck up, that's why associate/vp/md treatment is so misdirected sometimes; there is a good chance that associate/vp/md is going to be your bitch one day on some deal. i guess it makes sense; if you're an md at an investment bank, then chances are: you worked at some random place for a few years, managed to squeeze out an mba, got into banking cause you couldn't get any of the vc/pe/hf jobs that were recruiting at your non W/H/S business school, and then just made that your life for 20 years, and here you are. i mean come on, if you were an md, wouldn't you be bitter at your analysts knowing they'll prob be more successful than you in just a few years? hence the shitty reviews, the misallocated reprimands, etc etc

my point is, if you want to leave, of course you should; he already burned his bridge with you, and as long as you are cordial, you will be doing far less damage on your end than he already has on his.

I would say it's better to just stay 2 weeks and finish things up. Again, you may not intend to use him as a reference ever, but someone may indeed contact him and ask about you. While it's technically illegal to say bad things, you never know what will happen. And the cost to prevent this from happening is 2 weeks of your life, during which you won't be expected to do much anyway.

The only time I advise analysts to leave immediately is if it's just after bonuses and they are going somewhere else, obviously without having given advance notice. If it's a mid-year departure, not really worth it to do that and I've never really seen people leave immediately.

Where's the courtesy in throwing you out on the street when the economy tanks? Courtesy is a two-way street. They would NOT afford you that courtesy of giving you 2 weeks, I don't see any reason to give THEM that courtesy. Because if the company was tanking, they would not think twice about throwing you out on the street.

"We are lawyers! We sue people! Occasionally, we get aggressive and garnish wages, but WE DO NOT ABDUCT!" -Boston Legal-

Don't think about it as a favor to them. You never know where you'll end up meeting people you've rubbed the wrong way. I'd play it safe and just grind out the 2 weeks.

flip them the bird and be out.

The real question here is what are the expectations of your new employer. If they are cool with you staying for two weeks, then do it. If not, don't. Simple as that.

I generally agree you should stay and grind out the additional few days, unless your hedge fund wants you to start now (new boss outweighs old boss). Does anyone know if this answer would change if you were leaving one bank for another (lateraling)? Dosk?

Dude, don't worry about it too much.

I know someone that quit his BB PWM job the night before going into work the next day, I helped him draft his resignation letter, haha.

This guy then proceeded to get an offer at a boutique at the end of his freshman year.

My friend will likely be leaving this BB PWM experience off of his junior SA resume in case of reference checks.

My advice would be to land a legit gig using your PWM experience and then leaving it off for junior SA or FT.

if he axes you then he axes you its whatever move on

I always got a kick out of the kids who thought they were too good to cold call.

i just think cold calling is miserable. lol i absolutely hated doing it for an advisor that i worked for during sophomore year.

Smile and Dial, bitch!

Yeah dude, sometimes you need to learn when to cut your loses. Nothing bad about it.

Someone name a BB that does 2 weeks. I've only known the quit and you get escorted to the door 1 minute later policy.

Didn't you make any friends among analysts or other junior people who you can ask about how quitting usually works in your department?

And I wouldn't necessarily think that you're completely burning the bridges with this bank, ANY reasonable boss is going to understand picking a FO gig over a BO one. Try to be as polite and tactful as possible, and you can still maintain decent relationships. You never know when it might be useful for you in the future, it's a small world.

I may sound like an asshole in saying this, but continue to stack the money now (or at least until the money hits your bank account).

Tell them you're quitting (make sure your stuff is packed, etc.), thank your team, and just leave.

Give notice. Honestly, we have all been at jobs we hate. Pissing your boss off is probably not a good idea. Finance is a pretty small world. Give him proper notice or else worry about it biting you in the ass later down the road.

First of all, congratulations.

I'm inclined to agree with TonyD, even though quitting a job without giving notice was always my 2nd favorite thing to do (getting fired was first).

Either way, saying goodbye to all the back office mongoloids has to feel good.

Give notice (2 wks.) on the day you expect to leave - you will be walked out the door anyway. There will be concern that you possess "knowledge capital" that must be kept inside the company, so they will escort you out the door.

Take a few personal things home slowly, but leave at least a picture for removal from your desk on your last day.

Definitely give notice, the potential loss of two weeks salary is not worth a guaranteed bad reference for the rest of your career. If that FO gig falls through or the market goes south again and you get the boot you are going to wish you had left on better terms. If your technical skills are as valuable as you claim he will probably keep you around for the last two weeks to train the new guy or transfer existing projects. Finance is a small community that talks a lot, a bad rep is hard to shake.

Lol, I'm pretty sure these guys are going to give me a bad reference regardless - I've only worked here for about 4 months and don't plan on putting this experience on my resume going forward.

Been there. Started off in a group that was considered front office, then we got redesignated IT. I started working from 9:30- 5 for a while after I got my "bonus"- along with almost everyone else in our group, and our boss couldn't do much about it. That said, my boss was a smart guy- probably smarter than me. And whether or not I respected how much he paid me, I respected him as a manager and didn't want to leave him in the lurch. When I got an offer to work for a trading desk at the same firm, I was thrilled. I gave my manager one month's notice- which was barely enough time for a new lady to learn the system I was running- and I transferred. Today, my old boss is getting offers to leave and be in charge of his own trading system at a couple of prop shops. Glad I didn't burn down that bridge!

For those of you in the back office, there's a lot of hope- particularly if you have some sort of highly technical skills (product knowledge, accounting, programming, math/stats). As the economy recovers, people move from the back office to the front. In some ways, it's probably a good thing that many of us sat out the recession in the back-office through 2008 and 2009. But now, a lot of positions are opening up, you have a track record at your firm- and that gives you a competitive advantage in the internal transfer process over outside candidates. So go on the internal transfer website, submit a job application, and just see how it goes. And if you have a highly specialized or technical skill, you don't have a whole lot to worry about if your manager finds out. What's he gonna do, fire you and spend six months training your replacement?

LOL. I'm just giving the BO guys a hard time.

I actually worked with a BO chick for a long time and she was a friggin' genius. True story.

Edmundo, I know you are my dads age because you used mongoloid lol. I grew up with that word until I learned to be bullshit PC in front of people. Down Syndrome when in public for me.