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Comment by tstrimple | Hacker News Reader

> You’re virtually guaranteed to burn your reputation among your former coworkers and ensure that the one thing they remember you for is taking a new job and giving negative one weeks of notice.

The good news is that in my experience this simply isn't a thing. Not even a little. The industry is so fucking big you'd have to be incredibly toxic to somehow lock yourself out of it. Burned bridges? Were you really going to go back to the place you were so unhappy you left with zero notice? Folks you have real relationships with will understand. Who gives a shit about the rest?

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That's not how this works. People progress through their careers. Some of your coworkers will do really well, some will do ok. Now imagine two universes. You're 45. In Universe A every one of your old coworkers remembers you fondly and would love to work with you again. You've built up ~25 years of good will, and the folks who do really well will keep inviting you to join them. In Universe B they all think "meh" and have forgotten about you. Which of these two universes would you like to be in?

Why would I hold it against my coworker for leaving without notice?

I built up "good will" with several of my former co-workers, it's not really made that big of a difference in my life. As someone approaching 45 I have very much learned that 2 weeks notice doesn't buy you much in this industry. Last job I walked away because the situation was just too toxic, wish I had left sooner.

Give 2 weeks if the situation isn't toxic, but in my experience, notice is completely optional.

This is (or should be) moot, because if you still NEED to work after 25 years in tech, you are doing many things very wrong.

I understand still WANTING to work, of course, but you should be in a position to pick your own colleagues, projects, and schedule.

Not everyone rides the FAANG train.

Sure, Universe A — but I can't imagine people who like me really well would start thinking "meh" because I gave less than two weeks of notice.

At least, from my side I couldn't care less about how much notice my coworkers give the company; it's the excellence of the work that they did while they were there that makes up the core of my impressions about them and puts them in Universe A.

So, it's giving a two weeks notice that makes all the difference, and not my entire tenure?

My coworkers would probably know beforehand.

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