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How do I give my boss 2 weeks notice? What's Baltimore Like? Can We Live Comfortably?
AlyceInWonderland
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Okay, long story short, I might be moving to Baltimore with my SO in as little as a month. I've never lived in Maryland, and I've never even BEEN to Maryland. I currently live in NY. I've also never quit a professional job, and needed to give two weeks notice.
Question 1:
How do I give my boss two weeks? Do I sit him down? Do I put it in writing? My job is 80-85% on the computer, could should I ask to keep my job, and telecommute and come in once a week? To make matters more complicated, I'm scheduled to go on a vacation in 1.5 weeks, and can't back out of it as thousands of dollars have been spent. We'll most likely move the week after. Once my SO finds out if he got the job, do I tell my boss immediately, start the 2 weeks before the trip, and finish them off after, or give them 2 full weeks after the vacation is over?
Question2 & 3:
What is Baltimore like? We'll most likely not live in the city, but in the suburbs, and his job will be located in Columbia. Where are the good and inexpensive places to live. Right now in NYC, I made around 40K (no benefits). I'll obviously have to quit (if I can't telecommute). My SO will likely be making 65-70K (Plus insanely good benefits) in Baltimore, and I'll either freelance (Artist) or try and find a 9-5. I have 1K that I pay every month in loans, and he'll likely have to pay 250 in loans every month. Rent, gas, bills, utilities...can we even afford to do this? Is Baltimore as cheap as I've been hearing?
Thanks so much for the help. I lost sleep last night thinking of all these things, and I'm having trouble figuring out what to do.
Question 1:
How do I give my boss two weeks? Do I sit him down? Do I put it in writing? My job is 80-85% on the computer, could should I ask to keep my job, and telecommute and come in once a week? To make matters more complicated, I'm scheduled to go on a vacation in 1.5 weeks, and can't back out of it as thousands of dollars have been spent. We'll most likely move the week after. Once my SO finds out if he got the job, do I tell my boss immediately, start the 2 weeks before the trip, and finish them off after, or give them 2 full weeks after the vacation is over?
Question2 & 3:
What is Baltimore like? We'll most likely not live in the city, but in the suburbs, and his job will be located in Columbia. Where are the good and inexpensive places to live. Right now in NYC, I made around 40K (no benefits). I'll obviously have to quit (if I can't telecommute). My SO will likely be making 65-70K (Plus insanely good benefits) in Baltimore, and I'll either freelance (Artist) or try and find a 9-5. I have 1K that I pay every month in loans, and he'll likely have to pay 250 in loans every month. Rent, gas, bills, utilities...can we even afford to do this? Is Baltimore as cheap as I've been hearing?
Thanks so much for the help. I lost sleep last night thinking of all these things, and I'm having trouble figuring out what to do.
AlyceInWonderland on
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the suburbs are fine though
i wouldn't worry about the vacation messing up the notice. how long is your trip? you could give notice so it ends when you get back.
The more notice your can give your employer of your plans to leave, the better. I would sit down with him personally, then confirm with him via writing what you said. If you think your chances of employment in Baltimore are low, I would at least inquire about telecommunicating, but don't get your hopes up. I would offer to stay the entire 2 weeks, even if that means running for a few days after your vacation, or offer to have everything concluded and your personal effects out of the office by the start of your vacation. Make sure you clearly let your employer and supervisor know that this isn't because of any issues you have with the company.
Otherwise, good luck...
I would inform your boss in person and have a letter written with the same information ready for him with you.
Good luck with your move.
If you have a terrible office - don't tell them till after your vacation. If you think for any reason they'd try to sabotage you in any way - don't even bother with the notice until you're sure you could stop working/earning that very second and it'd still be okay.
As for the departure - Figure out the way you'd LIKE to work and offer that to them as a way of keeping you on - either permanently or until a replacement is found. Leave it as a complete offer, and if they are interested, they'll let you know.
Baltimore is two scoops of ass.
The more you keep away from it, the more you'll enjoy living and working in Maryland.
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Give it in person, you don't necessarily have to hand it directly to your boss. If there's an HR or secretary feel free to leave it with them.
Some people react to notices as an act of betrayal. Be calm and level headed about it, don't burn your bridge even if they want to. Not sure how much of a concern that is for you, but the fact you're asking about the vacation and putting it in after makes me think your boss may not be too happy to find out.
Just remember not to use them as a reference in the future if this is the case.
$65K should be fine, though, with 1250$ it might be difficult. You should be able to afford to live most places that aren't DC proper, NYC, or SanFran/LA.
That's a pretty hefty salary for the area, I'm sure you could find an affordable area. I'm also sure the job will help you find one. 1/4-1/5 of your income on loans isn't so bad.
Giving your employer two full weeks is a courtesy, and what you give depends on the relationship you have with your employer and boss. If you can only do a week and a half, it's not the end of the world. That said, if you DO have the option of giving more notice and WANT to give it, there is nothing wrong with being flexible and discussing it. If nothing else, having a few weeks extra pay might be worth having more time off prior to the move.
Your role and the amount of time to train a replacement will come into play too. If there are a dozen people who are already trained up to do your job, giving two weeks is less important than if you are the only person who knows or does a large and important job. This may benefit you however, and give you leverage to work remotely while you get situated in Baltimore.
Personally, giving notice is something that seems like a lot bigger deal before you do it. When I quit my old job this past spring, my boss was home with a new baby so I e-mailed him and asked him to give me a call as soon as he got a chance once I accepted my new position. If he had been in the office I probably would have gone in and sat down or scheduled a chat ASAP. I told him I took a new job, explained my situation and expected last day, and asked what I needed to do. He told me to type up a quick letter and turn it into HR, and I got all the process details from there.
I was worried about them refusing some tuition aid reimbursement, but it ended up getting paid without an issue. For you, since vacation time is earned / banked time, you should get all that money paid out even if your last day is before the scheduled vacation.
Tl;dr - call and talk to your boss, explain your situation / options, see what they say.
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Depending on where in the Baltimore area your SO is going to work, you'll be able to find something. The real problem is that everywhere has its good and bad pockets, and you just have to do some thorough research. I'd recommend looking at Zillow for places in your price range, being wary of a lot of foreclosures in the area and such.
In Columbia, I'd stay away from anything near Snowden River Parkway at this point. There's a few nice places, and I looked a long time there to be near my friends, but it's getting worse and worse every year. I'm in Elkridge, which butts up against Columbia to the north, and it's nice enough. It's near a pretty ratty part of Rt1, but it's safe and quiet. You could look in Odenton and Catonsville, which may be a bit further of a commute for him, but are probably better in terms of space/dollar and safety.
The problem with Columbia is that its a nexus of commercial hubs (two malls and a casino), government/defense stuff, and has enough section 8/shared Prince George's borders that it's just teeming with people. Most people that I know in the area are looking to move a bit further out, trading another 30 minutes of commuting for safer/quieter/cleaner/spacious alternatives. Some people prefer White Marsh (~50 minutes to Columbia) or Silver Spring (~30 minutes, but expensive), and some even go to Northern VA (further and expensive, but yuppier).
In order to do that you'd have to live in Southern Jersey...and..well..it kinda sucks. Its butting up against Delaware - to which I've determined that there is no law, just 4 toll booths for a 3 mile stretch of highway.
65-70K in Maryland is a livable wage - find a nice spot in the burbs. Stay out of DC and Baltimore and the rents won't kill you...stay out of DC and the rent wont kill you, stay out of Baltimore and the residents won't kill you.
Personally, this sounds like a really bad idea. You both would have something like a 1.5-2 hour commute each way of driving. That will add a fair amount of cost to say nothing of the hit to your quality of life when you spend 3-4 hours a day behind the wheel of a car.
I haven't lived in the Baltimore area for years, but I remember it being a pretty gritty city with some fairly nice suburbs (Columbia and Ellicott City spring to mind). You should be able to afford it on his income alone but it will be tight with that much debt.
You could say something along the lines of, I love this job and the company is great, but the only person that would take me away from this great company/position is my SO, who has an opportunity we simply cannot pass up. I'd like to continue working remotely if that is possible and here's a potential plan on how this could work. The 80-85% of my job that can be done on a computer can be done remotely like this. The other 15-20% could possibly be done this way or that.
If they don't extend the chance for you to work remotely, this could help lessen any issues with you leaving, since you made a good faith effort to continue helping out. If they do give you the opportunity, consider it a short term opportunity as they could try to replace you, as it might be easier for them to find someone else where they wouldn't have to figure out how to pay taxes to your new city/state.
As others have said, I'd recommend living near your SO's workplace. The gas money, time apart and details of trying to split a commute like you mentioned above would be a lot of added stress to your lives and possibly make things a little more challenging.
Good luck!
However as with anything some blocks and neighborhoods are better than others, so it's hard to tell on good blocks versus bad blocks unless you go there, or we have more information to work with, which considering the nature of the internet may not be adviseable. Baltimore and DC sucks the donkey balls.
You need to get out of the mode that this should be important to you. It's hard.
First, Columbia is expensive. But if you're combined incomes are around 70-90k, you'll be fine on an apartment. Columbia is pretty nice, and it's a desirable (but expensive!) area to live in. A rule of thumb with homes in Maryland - the closer you get to D.C., the more expensive real estate becomes - that's rent and home prices. A good 'line' to determine that is find BWI airport, and everything south of that starts costing more $$ to live in.
Some areas that are cheaper, and may provide rent living, with a commute are: Timonium/Lutherville, Owings Mills (I've lived here, it wasn't bad at all), Catonsville, Ellicott City, Glen Burnie (some parts are sketchy, but most of it's alright). Places you want to stay the hell away from are - the inner city (minus certain select neighborhoods), Woodlawn, Windsor Mill, and Randallstown (those are closest to Columbia mind you). Certain parts of Essex and Dundalk are alright too.
Commuting from Jersey, or PA would suck hard. The traffic in Baltimore is horrific. Stay in Maryland.
If you have any ideas of where you want to live, I can give a fair amount of advice, as I've been all over MD looking for homes. PM me if you need advice, happy to help.
In person, I'd put in notice 2 weeks before that date (but after you return from vacation). To not burn professional bridges I'd take pains to work through those last 2 weeks even if it meant commuting or staying at a hotel in the event SO needs to start work before your 2 weeks are over; alternatively if you have a good relationship with your superiors and they don't shit the bed when you give notice then you should let them know if serving the full 2 weeks will place undue hardship on you and if they are OK with a shorter period. Also if telecommuting is something you're up for then when giving notice you can suggest it as an alternative.
Also be prepared for your boss to tell you that you should leave the day you give notice or earlier than the expiry of the 2 weeks.
From your last update it sounds like there's a good working environment and you are sensitive to their business cycle and crunch time. Letting them know that you're willing to stay on in a telecommute (or partial commute) capacity would be a nice thing to do and would likely serve to net you a better rec if you needed one from them, or you may be able to move into a permanent telecommute role.
Yeah, if you have any additional concerns about the business of the company you will be leaving, you should forward them immediately to the Director of Not Your Fucking Problem.
Once you turn in your two weeks (if they even require you stay on two weeks, from the sounds of it they may just let you go right then and there with a big check for your vacation time), your concern as far as that job stops cold, on a dime that's covered in crazy glue attached to a fully powered gravity generator, on that last day you work. You say your good-byes, you wish them luck, and then you leave the thoughts of what they need to do without you at the door with everything they ask for back. It's not your problem any more; you don't work there now. Focus on the vacation, then focus on the move. You will have more than enough on your plate to make sure you won't have time to worry about whatever your old co-workers are doing.
Do ask your boss and supervisors from the New York job if you can use them as references, though.
I can has cheezburger, yes?
In such a small office with whom she is friendly with everyone I think you guys are trying to oversimplify a situation full of complexities.
Some of this attitude is certainly required when leaving a job, but to go full on into it you need to expect that "friendly" to no longer apply and not expect anything much in the way of references from them.
http://jobsearch.about.com/od/firedtermination/f/firedvacpay.htm
If I was a partner, sure. No really, it is not anyone's problem if January is a busy month and you get a better job offer. Feel free to work something out, sure, but don't even let that be a reason why you wait to say yes or quit.
If it's a small office, cost-conscious, and if the work is something that can be conducted over telephone or Internet then it's entirely possible she could continue to remotely work at the existing employer if that was desired.
Protect yourself (which is why I said give notice after returning for vacation), but not all employers are assholes, and if her exit overlaps them getting a lot of work then they might be open to telecommuting. Edit: Not saying anyone is obliged to go down this path, only that if it sounds like an attractive option (like maybe until you can build up the freelance network, or score a local 9-to-5) then yeah, ask about it.
Honestly though, I would live close to work. Traffic is a real mess, and unless you want an hour and a half commute for a drive that should take 30-40, you don't want to be fighting rush hour for any extended stretch of road. Baltimore is an easy city to commute to DC from (via marc train) but I don't know of an easy vein into Columbia (I have actually never had to drive to there from here, though).
If you are on good terms with your boss, I'd ask for a meeting and lay it out. Say that your SO has received a job in Maryland, and if things go well, you both plan to move. This may occur as soon as in two weeks, and your last day may be while you're on vacation. Say that you'd like to telecommute at least for the short term, given the sudden nature of the news. If you're able to telecommute, unless you're actively looking for a new job, I think this should be the direction you take with the discussion -- state that you're leaving, but not quitting. Then see how it goes.
If you aren't on good terms with your boss, then if you inform the boss that you MAY leave in 2.5 weeks, they'll use that as an opportunity to lay you off today.
The length of time is dependent on many factors. Are you a high-level individual? If so, your notice can be upwards of 2 months. Are you a peon? You could give 1 week's notice and be fine. If you received a job offer from another company, you can usually say "I need to give 2 weeks" and then you do so, although some new jobs want you to start tomorrow, in which case you need to make the decision yourself.
Baltimore/Maryland: I lived in Baltimore City for 9 years. Baltimore is essentially two cities, without a lot of overlap, and one is fine to live in and the other is not fine to live in. Here's a good way to think about the livable areas in the city, courtesy of WalkScore:
http://envisionbaltimore.blogspot.com/2011/05/defining-baltimores-20-minute.html
If your SO will work in Columbia, I'd suggest looking for locations to live relatively nearby. You can always move, and it's better for one of you to have a relatively sane commute to work. I'd suggest hewing closer to Baltimore, meaning that you'd want to look in Ellicott City, Columbia, and areas immediately around there, but as mentioned above, by being between DC and Baltimore, prices can vary widely. Inside the Beltway, I'd suggest looking in Towson, but otherwise I'd suggest staying outside the beltway wrapping up to Timonium. That will give you good access to the expressways without feeling like you're plunging into potentially dangerous areas. Even if you lived in Baltimore, I don't think you'd feel in danger, as the slummy areas just look plain slummy and you wouldn't even look at an apartment in those areas. However, getting over to Columbia is a pain once you're inside the Beltway.
I disagree - its close. Its actually one of the most crime ridden cities in the US - and by that, I mean Violent crimes, not parking tickets.
http://www.neighborhoodscout.com/md/baltimore/crime/
Seriously, they didn't choose to film The Wire there just because they wanted shitty slum buildings to film in.
Statistically speaking, the place is a cesspool.
Are you looking to buy or rent? i would rent if i were you, to A) get a feel for where you want to live ultimately, and
columbia can get expensive, though. it's in howard county which is like number 5 on the list of highest-income per capita counties in the entire country. it all depends on where you need to be, though. if you're not commuting to DC, then it's fine. in general, maryland is a pretty great place to live, and drivers - while being aggressive at times - are still cost-conscious enough to not intentionally hit you
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Unless you're on 495 and trying to take the 270 spur. That place is the Thunderdome twice a day, 5 days a week + Holidays.
I'm just not sure where I'm going to find the time to find an apartment in a not shitty area, and then move all while working during the week. I guess my SO and I have a lot to think about in terms of how we want to go about this move. I could always work for a month, train the new person, and bring in some good money while he also gets settled and works in B-more.
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i'm afraid WildEEP's right, though....
Registered just for the Mass Effect threads | Steam: click ^^^ | Origin: curlyhairedboy
The great thing about telecommuting that as long as you get the work done you still get paid. So you can work from 10pm-6:00am if you wanted. I mean, so long as you have a nice boss. Obviously you'll have to work out the finer details but make mention that you'll need flex time and can't devote a full 8 hours in straight time.
On the crime rate, I will repeat what I was told by a police officer who has been on the force for over a decade: Baltimore is very safe unless you're in any way involved in the drug trade; if so, the city is downright deadly. So, if you're into any kind of drugs, like pot, whatever... just cut that shit right out now. Not worth it.
I personally like the bus system, though I've never used the subway and honestly I don't think the majority of Baltimore peeps know it exists. The lightrail is pretty solid though.
uh, i'm pretty sure nobody is getting shot over pot. i know plenty of smokers in the area. However, in general, being the drug trade is not a good idea.
Public transportation is something that baltimore city is sorely lacking. the buses are gross and always late, light rail is adequate, but very limited in where it goes, same with the subway.
i live in baltimore and it isn't as dangerous as people say, just get a good handle on how to navigate streets/where not to go
the charm city circulator is pretty nice and fast plus free for getting around central/down town
and the light rail is pretty swag and cheap for heading north/south