A 3-Month Notice Period: An obstacle. How can you secure an offer letter?
Working professionals always strive for growth. Growth could be of any type: income, knowledge, promotion, etc.
This would be of no surprise to most of us if your employer has extended a 3-month notice period. To control attrition, a 3-month notice period is one of the tricks that most employers prefer to have in their system. Organizations do not hesitate in placing long notice periods but on the other side, they are pretty reluctant in hiring a talent who can join only after 3 months.
The majority of us would not want to have knowledgeless growth. To avoid this you need to come out of your comfort zones and confront this harsh reality. So far you must have realized how difficult it is to secure a job while having a 3-month notice period as most organizations prefer immediate joiners.
Personally speaking, I have been through all this and learned many things that I felt should be shared. Below are things you should be doing if you fall into the same basket:
- Speak to your supervisor and make him/her understand why you do not want to miss the new external job opportunity. You should let them know how much knowledge you’ve gained working in the current organization and that you’re thankful to them but in the end, you cannot let go of your professional growth. Politely ask if they could let you go early. If they rely on you very much, they would come up with a counteroffer and ask you to stay back. In such a case, the ball would be in your court.
- Check with your Human Resource team if they have any provision that relates to ‘Notice Period Buy Out’.
- Keep appearing for interviews. This could allow you to explore your role in other exciting domains as well.
- If nothing works out of options 1 and 2, you should consider thinking of resigning immediately provided you do not have any dependents or any debts that are taken care of by the salary. In an ideal situation, it’s advised to have an emergency fund that could manage the next 6 months’ expenses. You should know that most service-based organizations won’t hesitate to consider your candidature if you fall under the immediate joiner category. Cherry picking goes low while onboarding an immediate joiner because the immediate joiner would not ditch by searching for counteroffers.
- Be bold and confident if you’re aware that your skills are in demand and you know that you’re capable enough to deal with any hacks.
I tried to jot down things that I felt and experienced during the said phase. Hope this helps to some extent.
Cheers!
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