[pct-l] 1st post / what to tell the boss....

[Tortoise]

Interesting question.

With two of my jobs in the past I left, one to take a some time for 
personal stuff and once just to get out of the environment which was 
driving me crazy, I was offered a leave of absence.  Both times I 
refused. However with the first job, after several years and another 
regular job when I was "free-lancing", I was brought back as an 
independent contractor to help out for a while since I already knew the 
company and the people.

So my advice is do your best to leave on good terms. Even if you don't 
go back as a regular employee, you may find that other arrangements can 
be mutually advantageous.

Or, don't burn the bridges behind you.

Tortoise

<> He who finishes last, wins! <>



Scott wrote:
> I was in almost the exact same position.  My job was scheduled to end this
> August (a 3-year research gig), so I thought leaving in March wouldn't be a
> big deal.  Two weeks ago, before I told my boss anything, he offered me
> another year's funding to do a new project.  When I told him that I was
> leaving to hike the PCT instead, he looked utterly shocked and said he'd
> have to "think things over."  I went home wondering if I'd be fired the next
> day.
>
> The next day he comes in and offers to let me go on leave for 6 months while
> I'm hiking, come back and finish my current project, and then do the new
> 1-year job.  Oh, and he wants to pay for my health insurance while I'm
> hiking.  I was thinking that he'd be so upset that he'd refuse to even be a
> reference for me.  Now, he's sort of helping to fund my hike.
>
> So, my advice would be to just be honest about it.  It sounds like your boss
> likes you, which helps.  Were you planning to quit your job, or do you want
> to come back?  If you want to come back, then say so (I did).  Sometimes
> it's easier for an employer to let someone go hike for 6 months than to
> train a replacement who might turn out to not be as good.
>
> On Wed, Jan 28, 2009 at 8:34 PM, Andrew Jones <a.freddy.j at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>   
>> Greetings all!
>>
>> This is my first post - I've been lurking for a few months - my wife and I
>> are planning to thru in '09 - and really enjoyed the discussion on gear,
>> planning, etc. I've got a question/topic that I hope will help change the
>> subject from eating poison oak/ivy, which has to be the dumbest thing I've
>> ever heard.
>>
>> So my boss comes to me today, with the most impeccable timing, gives me a
>> raise, and informally offers me a promotion - literally two weeks before I
>> am going to tell him I'm through hiking the PCT and he should never expect
>> to see me again after March. (I'm not down with the whole leave of absence
>> thing - we're just as likely to move across the country as to come back to
>> where we're living now.) So what has everyone else told their employers in
>> the past, or this year, when it came time to deliver the news? I mean, I
>> guess I'll tell him the truth - but what kind of reactions/responses/well
>> wishings/anger has everyone gotten? Just curious.
>>
>> Andy
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>>     
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