Sharing My Learnings After Leaving a Big Tech Company

Ex-Google TechLead explains his learnings from leaving Google. Thanks to Skillshare, an online learning community, for sponsoring this video. Receive a 2 month free trial at https://skl.sh/techlead3 Preparing for Technical Interviews? 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I may receive a small commission for purchases made through these links. #techlead Video Transcript: Note: This transcript is auto-generated by YouTube and may not be entirely accurate. 00:00 hey tackle it here and welcome back to 00:01 another episode of the tech lead now 00:03 today I'm going to be talking about how 00:05 I quit Google it is tea time with the 00:08 tech lead your host the X Google tech 00:10 lead now while many of us know that I 00:13 used to work at Google what we don't 00:15 know was how I left Google and what my 00:18 learnings were from there and I think 00:20 that these learnings will be applicable 00:22 to anybody who is working in any job 00:24 really because as a society we don't 00:26 talk much about quitting jobs right we 00:29 talked plenty about how to get jobs but 00:31 we don't talk about how to leave a job 00:33 properly and make sure that you're doing 00:35 it correctly and getting what you 00:37 deserve in that process you could get 00:39 pretty screwed over if you don't do it 00:40 correctly you know for example when I 00:42 left Google I tried to give them a four 00:45 to five week notice but they wanted me 00:47 out of there much faster like one week 00:49 and then I was out and they almost 00:50 didn't even pay out my health insurance 00:52 there's a lot of pitfalls there so we're 00:54 going to be covering these tips and more 00:56 this video by the way is brought to you 00:57 by skill share Scotia is an online 01:00 learning community with thousands of 01:01 classes covering dozens of creative and 01:03 entrepreneurial skills check them out 01:05 link in the description below so back to 01:07 my story when I left Google I gave them 01:09 a four week notice because I felt that I 01:11 was a pretty important guy over there 01:12 and I wanted to just you know make the 01:15 transition as smooth as possible but you 01:17 know I think what really happened was 01:19 that as soon as HR heard about this they 01:21 probably checked some things like maybe 01:23 stock vesting dates they check the 01:25 valves leaving for a competitor and they 01:27 just decided you know what they just 01:29 wanted me out of there in a week and you 01:32 know that wasn't really my plans right I 01:33 have planned to be working there longer 01:35 but eventually I even qualified for 01:37 unemployment insurance which is 01:39 ridiculous but I did collect that 01:41 because I qualified for it and I think 01:43 what you need to understand here though 01:45 is that HR is not your friend the job of 01:47 HR is to protect the company from 01:50 employees so if you're dealing with HR 01:53 you need to always have your guard up 01:55 and make sure that you're keeping your 01:56 cards close to your hand and even though 01:58 you may be friends and buddies with your 02:00 co-workers or even your manager they're 02:02 not necessarily able to protect you from 02:04 HR right that's an entirely different 02:06 organization and so let's get into tip 02:08 number one which is to use up your 02:09 vacation days it's 02:11 that many companies will say well hey if 02:13 you quit they'll just pay out your 02:14 vacation days anyways so you don't have 02:16 to use them if you don't want to but the 02:18 great thing about using them up is that 02:20 it helps you hit additional vesting 02:21 dates 02:22 it may help you hit additional bonus 02:24 dates maybe you can just stay around 02:26 stick around with the company and see 02:27 what other extra goodies you get maybe 02:29 some off sites right whatever that is if 02:31 you just personally use up those 02:33 vacation days you just get those extra 02:34 benefits of staying with a company 02:36 hitting your stock vesting dates is a 02:38 big one and you earned it so you deserve 02:40 it I didn't get mine by the way when I 02:42 was forced out earlier than I expected 02:45 so there were several thousand dollars 02:46 for me lost in that one there's also 02:48 additional benefits like you may get 02:50 access to remote offices you know I was 02:53 going to take a vacation to Japan at 02:54 that time I wanted to check out the 02:56 offices over in Japan I didn't get a 02:58 chance to do that there may also be 03:00 additional corporate discounts and perks 03:02 employees stores movie ticket discounts 03:04 things like that so use up those 03:06 vacation days instead of having them 03:09 paid out to you when you leave and then 03:10 just quit within two weeks or so when 03:12 you come back from vacation the second 03:14 tip I have for you is to never give more 03:16 than two weeks notice 03:17 never give more than that you know I 03:19 tried to give four weeks I thought I was 03:21 being nice I thought was important 03:22 you're not that important nobody is that 03:24 important you know I've seen directors 03:26 get terminated within one day for 03:28 violating some policy and the company is 03:31 still fine without them so they're gonna 03:32 be fine without you as well the second 03:35 you tell people that you're thinking 03:36 about leaving whether that's in two 03:38 weeks or four weeks you should be ready 03:40 to leave on that very same day because 03:41 HR can just come and terminate you right 03:44 away so a few tips you're number one 03:46 make sure that you handle your notice 03:47 after any of your stock vests right 03:49 check that invest in calendar number two 03:52 you want to make sure that you're 03:53 backing up anything on your computer 03:54 that may belong to you personally right 03:56 you don't want a backup company data but 03:58 if there's anything on your computer you 04:00 want to get that and secure any of your 04:02 personal belongings in the office 04:03 because you could be walked out that 04:05 very same day they could take your 04:06 laptop away immediately shut off access 04:08 if they suddenly just decide that you're 04:10 not team player if you're going to a 04:12 competitor any of those reasons like for 04:15 example I know a guy he used to work at 04:17 Google and he took a three-month 04:18 paternity leave and then when he came 04:20 back he gave a two weeks notice and then 04:22 he left 04:23 and you know I think that was a really 04:24 smart move actually because he had given 04:26 a two-week notice before he went on 04:28 paternity leave HR would not have given 04:31 him that paternity leave they would have 04:33 terminated him that very same day if 04:35 they needed to but they would not have 04:36 paid that out if they could have saved 04:38 that for themselves which in my opinion 04:40 may not be entirely fair right maybe he 04:42 earned that paternity leave and it would 04:44 have been probably fairly brutal on him 04:46 if he was having a new kid and then he 04:48 was terminated from his job that very 04:50 same day but the company may just do 04:52 that and you need to protect yourself 04:53 the third tip I have for you is just 04:56 make sure that you're checking the 04:57 company calendars bonus calendars look 04:59 for any additional events coming up it's 05:01 funny that if you detract like when 05:03 people quit a lot of people are smart 05:05 enough to know that you quit after bonus 05:07 season you know in my very first job as 05:09 so many pictures I quit on the 05:11 anniversary date that I had joined which 05:13 I thought was very cool very interesting 05:16 I could say hey I work there exactly one 05:17 year but I did not get my bonus bonus 05:20 comes a little bit after that so there 05:22 were several thousand dollars that I had 05:23 lost right there the fourth tip is to 05:26 take a moment and check your benefits 05:27 portal if you have one and make sure 05:29 that you're maximizing all of that so 05:32 I'm talking about like 401k matching I 05:34 like to front-load my 401k so I will 05:37 always put in like a hundred percent of 05:38 my paycheck into that and just max it 05:40 out as soon as I can 05:41 each year such that if for any reason I 05:43 left my job I could at least get my 401k 05:46 contributions in and if there was an 05:48 employer match then I would get that as 05:50 well by the way not all employers are 05:52 going to be matching you 100% rather way 05:54 sometimes our caps and limits but you 05:56 can check with your plan about that you 05:57 know if there are other things like FSA 05:59 flexible saving account plans dependent 06:02 care accounts try to get those maxed out 06:04 as well use them up because they could 06:06 expire at the end the fifth tip I have 06:08 for you is to never quit a job without 06:10 having another job in hand why is this 06:13 important you know because I think this 06:15 is leverage right when you're getting 06:18 another job and you're trying to 06:19 negotiate that compensation if you don't 06:21 even have another job in hand and you've 06:23 got nothing then you've got no leverage 06:24 but if you already have a job and then 06:26 you're trying to apply to another 06:27 company that company knows they need to 06:29 at least beat your current compensation 06:31 and there may even be an additional 06:33 counteroffer that they don't need to 06:35 beat as well 06:36 so you already have leverage right there 06:38 that's actually kind of acting as you're 06:39 competing offer right there just by 06:41 holding on to that job if you gave that 06:43 up because you just decided to rage quit 06:45 you don't have any leverage you don't 06:47 have power and then you're essentially 06:49 willing to work for zero dollars right 06:51 even if someone were to pay you ten 06:53 dollars they've already beaten your 06:55 current salary so this is about 06:57 negotiation leverage that will get you 06:59 set up for your next grow the sixth tip 07:01 I have for you is that when you're at 07:03 that exit interview don't say a word or 07:06 keep a play and keep it professional 07:08 I think exit interviews are kind of 07:11 silly like imagine that you got dumped 07:13 by somebody and then they said well hey 07:15 now that the relationships over why 07:17 don't you just let loose and just tell 07:18 them everything that you didn't like 07:19 about them it's like why would you even 07:22 waste your time doing that you're trying 07:23 to get the next portion of your life 07:24 started and now you want to just 07:26 badmouth each other and let loose for 07:28 what gain what's the point you're gone 07:31 it's not even your problem anymore 07:32 and if they really cared maybe they 07:34 should have asked you when the 07:35 relationship was still working out so 07:38 what I'm trying to say here is that 07:39 number one don't burn your bridges keep 07:42 things professional and number two what 07:44 do you have to gain by giving any of 07:46 this advice to your former employer 07:48 right oftentimes you're going to be 07:50 talking to HR it's not even the 07:52 engineering manager or the team who is 07:54 doing the exit interview for you do you 07:57 think that people actually take your 07:59 feedback and use it to improve the 08:02 company I don't know I'm not part of HR 08:06 but I wouldn't be entirely surprised if 08:09 they just took that filed it away and 08:11 put it in your personal records and just 08:13 use that as leverage against you as your 08:15 own personal history record I don't know 08:16 if they actually integrate that into any 08:18 of their internal feedback processes or 08:20 to improve the company at all I don't 08:23 know if they do but keep in mind that 08:25 this isn't a family farewell party you 08:27 don't have to be Terry either pardon you 08:29 don't owe these people any explanation 08:31 it's simply a business deal that has 08:32 closed out and now both parties are 08:34 moving on to future opportunities it's 08:36 as simple as that the seventh and final 08:39 tip for you is just about health 08:40 insurance make sure you're quitting 08:42 after say like the first of the month 08:43 usually health insurance plans they'll 08:45 continue your coverage through the end 08:47 of the month in which you are employed 08:48 so if you quit on like the 30th then you 08:51 may be forced into buying Cobra health 08:52 insurance right away Cobra by the way 08:54 it's extremely expensive health 08:56 insurance it's essentially like the same 08:58 solid health insurance that companies 08:59 have but you just gotta pay for that out 09:01 of pocket individually it's just crazy 09:03 prices there so overall just keep in 09:06 mind that usually when you quit people 09:07 are going to be asking you to stay maybe 09:09 it will work on the extra month maybe an 09:11 extra two months just kind of delay the 09:13 process for you and you just need to 09:15 really prioritize yourself I will say 09:17 two weeks right that's about all you 09:19 really need and don't let anybody else 09:21 for you into thinking that you're more 09:23 important than they're telling you that 09:24 you're and you know you need to 09:26 prioritize yourself the company they're 09:28 gonna be doing just fine they're gonna 09:29 be great actually one more thing if you 09:32 enjoyed this video and you want to land 09:33 the job intact check out Tec interview 09:35 procom it's a new program created by 09:38 DOMA and AI DOMA is an ex Facebook 09:40 software engineer and he's landed 09:42 numerous internships and jobs at like 09:44 Microsoft LinkedIn and more we're going 09:46 to be giving you some of our top tips 09:48 about how you can land a job in tech how 09:50 you can pass the technical coding 09:52 interview it's gonna be a lot of fun and 09:54 it's going to fast-track your career if 09:56 you're looking to further improve your 09:57 skills I also highly recommend you check 09:59 out Skillshare Skillshare is an online 10:01 learning community you can explore 10:03 classes and everything from photography 10:05 and creative writing to marketing 10:07 productivity web development 10:08 entrepreneurship and more their 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