Anyone ever burnt bridges on the way out? Let hear it...

So I've officially accepted a position with a BB's IBD, but due to scheduleing and paperwork I don't expect to start prior to March.
In the mean time I'm going out of my skull at my current ER position. I don't want to take a month off in between gigs, and being my cautious self I don't want to drop that I'm planning on leaving yet, just in case something goes wrong prior to actually starting.

Basically, it's beautiful to be sitting here knowing that I'm done before we get hit with the next big reporting season, and I'm looking forward to giving notice to see if they throw me out or want me to stay and train my replacement. On the other hand it's killing me to wait and keep grinding on the models. Worried I might rage quit next time I get asked to do something stupid.

Currently, I'm fantasizing about different ways to quit, wordings for the final email etc.. Anyone ever quit in a great way?

company wide email about someone having an affair or calling the boss out on the way down the elevator?

 

Company going to have an ER job opening? NYC? Hit me up, you can start training me asap ;) ...seriously

edit: Calgary? Boo! If you want to burn bridges just hop into the office and say, hey guys I'm quitting. If you do care, email to boss, thank you email to team, print email and hand to boss.

Frank Sinatra - "Alcohol may be man's worst enemy, but the bible says love your enemy."
 

No hate for the company, and my analyst has been good to me so I really don't want to hamstring the guy. I just want my paperwork to come through so I can get on with my new role. Its the waiting that kills me. Last job I left I was in the office till 7:00 pm on the last day of my two weeks when the boys had started my going away party at 12:00.

Long story short, I've been so boring when I quit that I'm hoping someone will have some good burn the bridges stories.

 

When Scarface quits in 'Half Baked', DO IT!!!!

Get some rum and a Hawaiian shirt, start drinking on the last day. If you bring for everyone, they'll love you for it. I got my last boss hammered the day before I put my two weeks. I've personally never burned a bridge, but I did just stop showing up to one job.

Seriously though, don't burn the bridge, you don't want it coming back to haunt you

Get busy living
 
DontMakeMeShortYou:
ladubs111:
Official start of earning seasons in T-minus 40 mins!

Now that I've picked up retail coverage, my earnings season never really ends!! Yayy!!! Someone please kill me.

No love for the Monsanto call yesterday morning? Hugh Grant would be so disappointed (in the most Irish way possible)

I hate victims who respect their executioners
 

Will you be getting a bonus soon? Probably best to have that clear and then quit. But since you like the company and your analyst give two weeks once the bonus hits.

My previous job I saw a few co-workers go out with a bang. A few deparment wide emails sent out (one told the entire department to follow him and quit) also saw a heated exhange between management and an employee which basically ended with "fuck you I quit".

 

When i quit i asked my boss to come into the conference room, told him about the offer i had and he was extremely understanding with it. We had a great relationship (still do) and he understood this was a far better option for me. Told me to take my laptop and phone in case he needed any help, kept me getting paid for 3 weeks while i was relaxing on the rooftop pool of my apt. Had a 2 week break after that to move to my new city, so relaxing to have no stress and no obligations. Don't burn any bridges, never know when you'll need a solid rec.

 
Best Response

There was a back office girl that went on three months stress disability, came back for a day, took two weeks vacation, then gave notice. Turned out she had accepted a job in another back office, wanted to test the waters and so worked through her probation at the new shop before quitting the old. I don't think it turned out well for her, sounded like disability leave got clawed back.

I've also heard about a woman that got sued and settled after she deleted some proprietary company data from the server when she left, so that's no good.

Last place I left, when I told my boss that I was leaving, he told me not to tell anyone else, had the President of the firm call me (regional boutique) and offer me an interest free loan to buy company stock. I don't regret leaving that place, but I didn't have fun on the way out. Certainly did cut back my hours though.

 

Read How to Win Friends and Influence People. No matter what you tell people, they won't blame themselves. There is no use going out with a bang, you only cut off your nose to spite your face. Granted, I wish I could get some people to appreciate how little I appreciate them, however, it is no use.

 

I'm sure most people will disagree with me, but I feel like a position like that deserves more than two weeks notice. They can't hire somebody to start in 2 weeks, much less have you train them. I've always felt like that rule is more for unskilled jobs (less than $15/hour).

I would try to let them know a couple months ahead of time when I planned on leaving. That gives the company ample time to prepare for it. Again, I'm sure many people would disagree with me, but as long as you have a good relationship with your analyst, the more advanced notice you can give, the better in my opinion.

 
MFFL:
I'm sure most people will disagree with me, but I feel like a position like that deserves more than two weeks notice. They can't hire somebody to start in 2 weeks, much less have you train them. I've always felt like that rule is more for unskilled jobs (less than $15/hour).

I would try to let them know a couple months ahead of time when I planned on leaving. That gives the company ample time to prepare for it. Again, I'm sure many people would disagree with me, but as long as you have a good relationship with your analyst, the more advanced notice you can give, the better in my opinion.

I'm with you here, as this thought crossed my mind while reading. However, one doesn't want to get screwed. A departing employee could give two months notice for example. Company recruits, rockstar candidate, little need for training, departing employee gets axed a month later.

Of course this is hypothetical, but one really doesn't know what is going through their bosses mind no matter how great a relationship they have. Maybe they have insecurities and a quick to be spiteful.

I do not agree that the more notice you give the better. I think one should determine the needs of themselves and the company to determine how much notice they give, two weeks should be left for unskilled jobs.

When a plumber from Hoboken tells you he has a good feeling about a reverse iron condor spread on the Japanese Yen, you really have no choice. If you don’t do it to him, somebody else surely will. -Eddie B.
 

If he is anywhere worthwhile (which sounds like he must be), they're gonna escort him out fairly quickly upon notification. Noone owes anyone 2 weeks or more, that's nonsense. If anything he becomes a distraction at that point and the best thing to do is just leave.

 

less than a short week ago, i myself quit by text msg an hour before i was supposed to trade the open. but i held back all the rage i couldve spewed and just went the quick and easy route. hmmm

 
Arbrotrageur:
less than a short week ago, i myself quit by text msg an hour before i was supposed to trade the open. but i held back all the rage i couldve spewed and just went the quick and easy route. hmmm

given the "trade the open", i assume you worked at a prop trading firm? why were you dissatisfied and what are you going to be doing now?

 
traderbro68:
Arbrotrageur:
less than a short week ago, i myself quit by text msg an hour before i was supposed to trade the open. but i held back all the rage i couldve spewed and just went the quick and easy route. hmmm

given the "trade the open", i assume you worked at a prop trading firm? why were you dissatisfied and what are you going to be doing now?

You assumed correctly. There was a variety of issues ranging from the actual work to the culture. Contrary to the stigma of 'being fucked if you leave prop trading,' I am very happy with my situation and prospects. Its also unique, though, and probably wouldn't be the case for most.

Feel free to pm me for more specific answers.

 
superninja:
Haha, but seriously has anyone ever brought in gifts or anything like that to give to your team on your way out? also OP is in Calgary?

No, they stole the printer on their way out.

The Auto Show
 

I was thinking of giving a month. If they punt me out the door as soon as I tell them, I spend the next month skiing. that said, it still doesn't give them much time, assume two weeks to hire a body, two weeks for them to start, means they get nothing from me.

Maybe best case would be to leave end of May, lets them get a kid from university plus a month of training. That still seems so far away.

That said, ER is a small world, getting smaller daily, almost seems that unless you leave industry you've gotta make nice with everyone and avoid the CLMs.

 
overpaid_overworked:
If they punt me out the door as soon as I tell them, I spend the next month skiing.
i like your style
"After you work on Wall Street it’s a choice, would you rather work at McDonalds or on the sell-side? I would choose McDonalds over the sell-side.” - David Tepper
 

You should give them three weeks. Your firm has been nice to you, I suggest you do the same. Believe me if your BB IBD has issues in the future and lays you off, you are going to be looking for work. Maintain all relationships well. Tell them early and ask them for help, stay late the remaining days and finish your remaining work, etc. This shows you still cared enough to finish strong instead of just leaving when the opportunity came.

Array
 

2 weeks is more than enough in my opinon... companies have no problem axing its employees often with no warning. Also as for not being able to fill a position unless its a really small firm they should have resumes on file ready to be interviewed.

 

I remember there was a new hire who got axed after a few days. This was at a well known BB. He made it through all the interview rounds and got the offer, came to work for 2 days and disappeared for a week. No one knew what happened to him nor could get in contact with him.

After he showed up again, i kid you not, he bought in donuts and coffee and told the MDs he had an out of body experience and lost track of time.

we didnt see him again after that.

 

"he had an out of body experience and lost track of time"

HAHAHAHAHA. Thats the best he could do. Kid doesn't seem very bright. If I missed a few days of work and the actual reasoning was that dumb, I would have just BSed. I would have came in a cast and said I got hit by a car.

Array
 

One of my buddies burned bridges in an interesting fashion.

2-3 days before his last day, he bailed out on a small assignment that would've kept him after hours for 1-2 hours and bosses had to force someone else to pick it up. Next day, he went and blew up on the VP about how the salaries blow and only a few people are getting stuffed with work while majority of people do nothing. On his last day, he comes in the morning and then gets immediately escorted out by security for fear he was gonna delete a ton of files. Walkin the bridge with security escorts!

 

i like it. We're all so worried about commiting the CLM. A buddy of mine in engineering has blown up on two different shops. One time standing in the office and explaining each person's faults as a person and as an engineer. The second time he just told the boss to f**k off and that everyone else could kiss his ass.

On a side note, at the first office I ever worked in, went for a last day lunch with a VP that was quitting. He was working through his notice because he was going to an issuer. We got hammered during lunch, but I wasn't aware we had a pitch after lunch. He was drinking because he figured they wouldn't make him go drunk, and he didn't tell me because he didn't want to drink alone. We still had to go do the pitch, it was a bad scene in the car on the way over.

In the VPs defense, he didn't want to pitch for business that he wasn't going to be around to work on re: give us your business, we're talented, but I'm leaving. I think they made him do the pitch because if he didn't get win it they could claw back some comp.

 

Not much of a story but last year when I was at a BB in HK, the whole time I was saying LDN LDN LDN NYC NYC NYC.... HR hated me...

On top of that I also banged someone from the office and HR took me for a talk, so they might also hate me for that... Ooops!

I don't accept sacrifices and I don't make them. ... If ever the pleasure of one has to be bought by the pain of the other, there better be no trade at all. A trade by which one gains and the other loses is a fraud.
 

Boss at internship caught me applying to other jobs, a few days later I put in my two weeks notice....then I quit 3 days later. I made sure to stick it out until the company Christmas party for the open bar. Not sure what they expected, they were never going to hire me and stole every idea I ever had without giving me credit, pay, or even a thank you.

Get busy living
 
UFOinsider:

Boss at internship caught me applying to other jobs, a few days later I put in my two weeks notice....then I quit 3 days later. I made sure to stick it out until the company Christmas party for the open bar. Not sure what they expected, they were never going to hire me and stole every idea I ever had without giving me credit, pay, or even a thank you.

Why put in 2 weeks and then quit?

 

Guy in a credit review role disagreed with the risk assessment on a deal that got approved by the head of Credit and CEO anyway. He sent a really angry e-mail to the CEO. Then he went AWOL for a few months, popping up randomly with excuses why he couldn't show at work. Finally got fired and tried suing the bank for unfair dismissal. Came back a year later asking the head of Credit for a personal reference.

Those who can, do. Those who can't, post threads about how to do it on WSO.
 

I have the BEST burning bridges stories to share. Like they will legitimately top anything on this site (only at the undergrad level though..so it's probably nothing compared to what goes on in the industry). Really tempted to share, but I can't yet. Promise to do so when I get the green light and my school stops fucking me in the ass on a daily basis. Maybe I'll publish emails if I feel like it.

 

During my first year or so, me and the analysts had a group chat going over communicator, in which we were shit talking all the managers, among other conversations. I accidentally left my screen unlocked, and the Director of the group emailed himself the chat, and then emailed everyone saying "So this is what you analysts do in their free time" with the chat transcript.

No repercussions. Either they couldn't figure out the nick names we had for all the managers we hate, or no one bothered to read through the conversation. I was unpopular for a few weeks after that one.

 

A guy I knew was having two simultaneous chat sessions, one with a friend and one with Manager X. He wasn't too happy working in Manager X's team as it got a lot of shitty work, so he was complaining to his friend and accidentally end switched the two chat windows and sent a message to manager X detailing how much of a loser/idiot/sub-par human being he was. Needless to say the guy did not get a good performance review at year end, was skipped over for a promotion and ended up quitting a few weeks after year-end. I personally had a front row seat as I was sitting in the same room as the manager and he read the chat aloud and said he would make this idiot's life miserable (apparently aside from being careless with his chat usage, he was pretty bad at his job as well).

 
CorpFinHopeful:
(apparently aside from being careless with his chat usage, he was pretty bad at his job as well).

Eh, that's probably bs. Would you ever say the guy who called you a sub-par human was a good worker?

 

Walk away. You don't owe headhunters anything and they don't always act with your best interests in mind. (Possibly why you don't like the job.) If it's an in-company HR person, accept the outside offer and give notice first, then give them a heads-up and say you're sorry in an email. Them finding out directly from you rather than the grape vine is good enough. Leave it at that.

 

Thanks for the reply. I was thinking the same thing. The recruiter was a very nice person and I've already referred a bunch of people to them, so I don't think they'd be too mad about me leaving. However, he/she was passively pressuring me to make a decision because the client "wanted a response within a few hours." When I showed some hesitation, he/she would try to "mentor" me into making the "right" decision.

I think I'm going to play it safe and just get a new job, sign/return the offer letter and then e-mail the recruiter. I don't want to take the chance of trying to be a nice guy letting the recruiter know and then I'm laid off. Having a crap job is better than having no job.

 

Good for you. I normally advise folks to stick it out for 12-18 months in jobs- particularly their first FO job- out of a sense of loyalty to the hiring manager who bet on them- but if you've already made the decision that it's worth leaving, it makes no sense whatsoever to do anyone else any favors.

But seriously, see if you can stick it out for 16 more months even if you don't like this job. Having a successful 18-month run in the FO generally is a huge boost to a career, and you generally owe it to the guy who took a risk on you anyways. Some folks might say loyalty is bunk these days, but reputation isn't, and the street is a bit smaller than you think.

 

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