wait for offer letter to resign?

[JenStone]

As I posted earlier, I was offered my dream job two Thursdays ago (Nov 16).

However, because they extended the offer over the phone, I have been advised by friends to wait until I get the official offer letter in the mail to give my resignation to my current employer.

The problem is, I still haven''t received the letter! I called last Monday to see if they have sent it yet and they said that they had been waiting to get the COO''s signature, who had been out on a business trip. They said that they will try to send it out later that day. I politely asked them to FedEx it, since I had told them that I can start on Dec 11 and I need to give a two weeks notice.

I returned from the Thanksgiving holidays knowing full well that FedEx delivers on Friday and Saturday. No dice. I called the company''s HR this morning and asked them when the letter was sent. They told me that it was sent Wednesday and that it was probably delayed due to the holiday. They said I will most likely receive it today.

I had planned on receiving the letter BEFORE today so that I can give my resignation (today is exactly two weeks from today is the 11th). My direct supervisor and the woman who will be replacing me both are aware that I have been offered this position and that I plan on starting there on the 11th. However, I will need to give my official resignation to my VP, and I am pretty nervous that the letter has not yet arrived.

I''m hoping that the letter will arrive later today and that I can give my resignation tomorrow. If so, I will need to ask for a favor for the less-than-two-weeks notice, and I''m hoping that I can get away with it since my direct supervisor is aware of this.

However, some of my friends are saying that I should call the new company and ask them to extend my start date. I''m a little nervous to do so, because I''ve already called their HR a few times regarding just this letter and I don''t want to be bothersome even before I start.

Am I making a big deal over nothing? What would you do if you were in my position? I''ve never resigned from a job before so I''m not exactly sure what I should do. Please give me an honest opinion. Thanks!

 

[Mara]

i had this happen with my current job...leaving my last job. i had a phone offer but waited til i got the official offer to tell my old company. i told the new company that since the official offer was delayed, that i''d have to push out the start date 2 days. they said fine, no biggie. they should respect that you want to give 2 weeks and respect your timeline as well. this sets the stage for the future in my opinion, if it''s important to you to have the official offer then be sure to do what makes you feel the best.

 

[elsie]

Congrats on the offer!

I had a similar situation where I had to tell my boss on a Monday that my last day would be two weeks from the last Friday. I don't think it should be a problem, since usually two weeks is a courtesy by you to the company you're working for (and usually they either work you to the bone during the last two weeks or ignore you since you'll be gone anyway!).

But I can understand you wanting to give them a full two weeks as well. If this is the case, could you ask the new company to e-mail/fax you a copy or written version of the letter?

As for asking the new company to extend your start date, I don't think they would look at that in a bad way. It shows that you're loyal and want to do the right thing.

ETA: Okay, maybe not *loyal* (since you're leaving the company), but yaknow what I mean!

 

[codex57]

I don''t see a problem with asking to extend the start date. It just shows you''re being courteous to your current employer. They''re the ones who keep screwing up.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

All I can tell you is that I had a ring shipped early last week, and it did not get delivered to the jeweler on Fri. or Sat. because UPS was not delivering those days.

 

[Kaleigh]

Date: 11/27/2006 3:01:23 PM
Author: codex57
I don''t see a problem with asking to extend the start date. It just shows you''re being courteous to your current employer. They''re the ones who keep screwing up.

Ditto, and congrats!!!

 

[Girlrocks]

I would DEFINITELY not leave a job until I had the offer in writing. As far as the new company, I agree that they should respect your decision to want to give the full 2 weeks as a testament to your character.

 

[movie zombie]

Date: 11/27/2006 8:41:32 PM
Author: Girlrocks
I would DEFINITELY not leave a job until I had the offer in writing. As far as the new company, I agree that they should respect your decision to want to give the full 2 weeks as a testament to your character.

ditto.

movie zombie

 

[perry]

Wait for the letter - then check to see that it is the same job, pay, and benifits that you were offered over the phone.

I once was offered a job at an interview and negotiated a salary.

When the job offer letter showed up it listed a pay rate about 15,000 per year less - with less benifits than I had been offered.

A phone call produced the interesting statement that "Mr. _____ was not authorized to negotiate salary and benifits." When I pointed out that the salary and benifites negotiated were in the range of similar positions... I was told, "that yes that was true - but that Mr. ____ could only offer the minimums and that personnell would have to be involved in anything better than that."

Needless to say, I declined the position.

So wait for the letter - and read it.

Perry

ps: a few years later I heard what happened at that plant. A new owner looked at how it was being run and replaced the entire staff - including the personnell department.

 

[aljdewey]

Date: 11/27/2006 2:44:42 PM
Author:JenStone

As I posted earlier, I was offered my dream job two Thursdays ago (Nov 16).

However, because they extended the offer over the phone, I have been advised by friends to wait until I get the official offer letter in the mail to give my resignation to my current employer.

The problem is, I still haven''t received the letter! I called last Monday to see if they have sent it yet and they said that they had been waiting to get the COO''s signature, who had been out on a business trip. They said that they will try to send it out later that day. I politely asked them to FedEx it, since I had told them that I can start on Dec 11 and I need to give a two weeks notice.

I returned from the Thanksgiving holidays knowing full well that FedEx delivers on Friday and Saturday. No dice. I called the company''s HR this morning and asked them when the letter was sent. They told me that it was sent Wednesday and that it was probably delayed due to the holiday. They said I will most likely receive it today.

I had planned on receiving the letter BEFORE today so that I can give my resignation (today is exactly two weeks from today is the 11th). My direct supervisor and the woman who will be replacing me both are aware that I have been offered this position and that I plan on starting there on the 11th. However, I will need to give my official resignation to my VP, and I am pretty nervous that the letter has not yet arrived.

I''m hoping that the letter will arrive later today and that I can give my resignation tomorrow. If so, I will need to ask for a favor for the less-than-two-weeks notice, and I''m hoping that I can get away with it since my direct supervisor is aware of this.

However, some of my friends are saying that I should call the new company and ask them to extend my start date. I''m a little nervous to do so, because I''ve already called their HR a few times regarding just this letter and I don''t want to be bothersome even before I start.

Am I making a big deal over nothing? What would you do if you were in my position? I''ve never resigned from a job before so I''m not exactly sure what I should do. Please give me an honest opinion. Thanks!

Jen, I''d strongly advise waiting for the letter to make sure all the details outlined are precisely as promised. You know what they say about counting chickens prematurely!

Once you receive the letter, I''d *then* phone and advise that since you just received the letter on "x" date, you''ll need to push your start date out to (fill whatever 2 weeks from then is).

I cannot see them having an issue with this at all. Should anyone come back to you, though, just point out that you weren''t aware at the time you were providing a possible start date that the COO''s travel would delay the offer letter to the extent that it did. Given those unforeseen circumstances, you need to amend your start date.

Note that you really feel strongly about giving a proper two-week notice and that you know they''d want the same courtesy if the positions were reversed.

I''m sure it won''t come to that, though.

 

[JenStone]

Thanks for your advice, everyone. My situation gets a bit more complicated in that the job is in another state (I currently live in MD, the job is in NY). My parents are still in NY so I will be crashing with them for a few months, at least until the lease on my current apartment runs out in January so that I don''t have to pay double rent. Because of this, I had been planning on moving down my essentials the weekend before my start date, and slowly start moving everything else over the next few weekends.

My new employers are aware of this fact. However, this would also mean that I cannot ask for just a few days more - I would need at least a week more so that I can have an extra day or two to move back.

I think what I will do is ask for my start date to be pushed back to the 18th. That way, I can still have a couple more days of leeway for the letter to arrive.

Wish me luck!

 

[~*Alexis*~]

I dont think that they would have a problem with that. Congrats on the offer and good luck!!

 

[JenStone]

Phew...I did it! I talked to my future boss, who said it would be fine to start a week later. In fact, I kinda felt bad after speaking to him because he told me that if I had let them know that I was waiting for the letter to resign, they would have made it a top priority. I think that they were also a bit scared that I was going to change my mind about working there, because they asked me more than once if I was still on board. Of course, I replied. I was just playing it safe.

They immediately faxed over a copy of the offer letter and I couldn''t be happier. They even sent the tracking info for the original letter - it was supposed to have been delivered last Wednesday the 22nd!

Fuming, I contacted my building manager. They said they had just left a message on my home machine - the FedEx delivery man had put the envelope in the wrong mailbox! My neighbor, who had just returned from vacation, kindly returned it to our building office this morning.

I can only imagine what it would have been like if I were waiting for something more important, like a ring.

They would require a signature, of course, but still! Delivering to the wrong mailbox!

Now I know how everyone here who ever had to wait for their diamond to be delivered feels.

 

[codex57]

A week is not unreasonable. I don''t see a company putting up a big fuss over that unless they needed you for some emergency project or some big training event. If that were the case tho, their HR would have made sure to get you everything you need already.

 

[Allisonfaye]

Glad it worked out and congratulations on your new job!