What can I do with a 3 month notice period?

[TheFaQQer]

lets face it - what are they gonna do?

worst case, they wont pay you....but just line up leaving with your next payday.

they wont sue.

When I left, the IT director kept baning on about making me work to the contract. Luckily my boss was married to an HR director in another business, and her advice was just to let it all go.

It's not worth having an unhappy employee being made to stay.

JFDI.

[Bagpuss]

Hi

This is my first post and I hope someone can help.

I am considering contracting for the first time but my notice period is 3 months. So this makes it very difficult to look for contracts. I was thinking in trying to negotiate with my boss to reduce this to 1 month and promise him I do a proper handover etc. to ensure a smooth transition. That way he may see some sense and let me go early.

If he refuses then I see it as a high risk strategy to just hand in my notice without anything to go to.

Any advice on this would be appreciated.

Thanks!

When I started contracting I had a 3 month notice period, but managed to negotiate it down to 1 month. But.. if your skills are in demand the client might wait for 3 months, the agency won't tell you the truth on this front as they want someone to start as soon as possible earning them commision. Sell yourself to the client and negotiate start times with them while negotiating an early release from your notice period

[NotAllThere]

When I left, the IT director kept baning on about making me work to the contract. Luckily my boss was married to an HR director in another business, and her advice was just to let it all go.

It's not worth having an unhappy employee being made to stay.

JFDI.

Anti-slavery laws prevent anyone being made to stay!

[tsu3000]

Thanks for all the replies.

I would prefer to leave on good terms because one day they may work for them again. I think is a good thing to have good relations in the long term.

Maybe I am just a soft permie at the moment and not a hardened contractor

[BrowneIssue]

I would prefer to leave on good terms because one day I may work for them again. I think is a good thing to have good relations in the long term.

... are the words you would expect to hear from ...

a hardened contractor

Thinking ahead, doing your research, thinking about future clients - I reckon you'll do just fine as a freelance.