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Thinking of ghosting my employer and taking a sabbatical

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Amnixia

Amnixia

▲ Legend ▲
The Fallen
Jan 25, 2018
10,424
So the past 5 years have not been kind to me, and the last 3 years I've been trying to switch jobs and my situation has gotten worse (mentally, and it is turning into physical problems).

My field is pretty competitive, I seemingly have the right skills but when I get hired they've done bait and switches and make me do entirely different work then the stuff I applied for.

Currently I'm just thinking "fuck it" and ghosting the bourgeoisie at work. And taking a couple months to reorganize my health and find new employments on my terms (or start for myself).

How has proffesional era handled sabbaticals? How do you mention it on the resume?
 
Shadybiz

Shadybiz

Member
Oct 27, 2017
10,119
If by "ghosting," you mean giving zero notice, I would say that it's a terrible idea, and your problems are likely to get worse as a result.
 
GameAddict411

GameAddict411

Member
Oct 26, 2017
8,519
For 2 months I wouldn't be worried about potential employers asking questions. It's usually at the 6 months mark that you might get questions, but with COVID most employers wouldn't mind. So to answer your question, don't discuss it at all. If they ask tell them you were looking for work. The serious thing is actually burning bridges at your old place. I would recommend trying to quit the right way by giving them a notice.
 
Van Bur3n

Van Bur3n

Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
26,089
I probably wouldn't go Don Draper on them and just quit like a normal person with a two weeks notice.
 
Mrflood

Mrflood

Member
Oct 25, 2017
734
by "Ghosting" you mean properly resigning, right? Would be crazy just to stop showing up if you work in a professional industry.

#2) As a hiring manager, I don't care about sabbaticals/gaps on resumes. I would actually list it on your resume, so people don't simply think you couldn't find another job for 3 months.
 
OP
OP
Amnixia

Amnixia

▲ Legend ▲
The Fallen
Jan 25, 2018
10,424
GameAddict411 said:
For 2 months I wouldn't be worried about potential employers asking questions. It's usually at the 6 months mark that you might get questions, but with COVID most employers wouldn't mind. So to answer your question, don't discuss it at all. If they ask tell them you were looking for work. The serious thing is actually burning bridges at your old place. I would recommend trying to quit the right way by giving them a notice.
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Idea is at least 3 months. Maybe 6.
 
weemadarthur

weemadarthur

Community Resettler
Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,601
It's not a sabbatical if you ghost them, it's just quitting in a crappy way.

Give notice and take some time off if you can afford it. Also be sure to take any paid time off FIRST.
 
Autumn

Autumn

Avenger
Apr 1, 2018
6,327
If it's a competitive industry you might need a reference so put in two weeks. You really ghost for minimum wage jobs.
 

bawjaws

Member
Oct 28, 2017
3,583
What does "ghosting" mean here? Formally quitting your job and taking a break to recharge the batteries, or just not turning up until they fire you?

Because if you're talking about doing things on your own terms then the former is infinitely better than the latter. And if you're appealing to "professional ERA" for advice then I'd say that just not turning up to work until you're fired is not remotely professional. Maybe you don't care about not getting a reference or whatever but personally I would always aim to leave a job on the best possible terms. This just sounds like shooting yourself in the foot needlessly.
 
HelloItsPulse

HelloItsPulse

Member
Dec 14, 2017
2,067
You should probably just quit if you are already planning on finding new employment anyway. There's no putting "ghosted my former employer" on your resume, nobody wants to hire someone that could potentially just up and leave with no notice. Also forget about putting your former employer on your resume as well, I doubt they would have very nice things to say if asked.

Do what's best for your mental health, but don't put your professional life at risk in the process.
 
Kyuuji

Kyuuji

The Favonius Fox
Member
Nov 8, 2017
32,196
Why not just do your two weeks (?) notice and keep the reference to help you find that new job on your own terms?
 

RunningMan

Member
Oct 29, 2017
217
No matter how much I dont like a boss or the company I work for, I never let them know it. You may need people in the future, whether it be for reference or promotion. Burning bridges is terrible. Why put in effort for a company if in the end you want to move on and have a bad reputation.

That said, if you need time off for mental health, you need to muster the courage to talk to your superiors and tell them you need time to sort through some personal issues, see how they respond and go from there.
 
GoldenEye 007

GoldenEye 007

Roll Tide, Y'all!
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
13,833
Texas
I don't blame you regarding the mental toll some jobs can have on a person. I've almost walked out of places myself. My main concern would be you wanting to get back into the same industry after your break. I'd do anything possible to not burn bridges so that you can use someone as a reference.

Once that is taken care of, then go from there. But without anything lined up, you also have to feel comfortable financially to be able to pull that off.
 
OP
OP
Amnixia

Amnixia

▲ Legend ▲
The Fallen
Jan 25, 2018
10,424
PulseMC said:
You should probably just quit if you are already planning on finding new employment anyway. There's no putting "ghosted my former employer" on your resume, nobody wants to hire someone that could potentially just up and leave with no notice. Also forget about putting your former employer on your resume as well, I doubt they would have very nice things to say if asked.

Do what's best for your mental health, but don't put your professional life at risk in the process.
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Eh, I could just tell a half truth and mention quitting without the specifics. "It wasn't a match, so I took a short sabbatical to soul search"
 
Mrflood

Mrflood

Member
Oct 25, 2017
734
Ferrio said:
Do employers actually trashes a previous employee? Seems to me at worse they'll no comment.
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You would be surprised. I work in a very large "Small industry", people are constantly moving between the big companies. So if I was going to hire someone from another company, I would 100% have an off-the-record conversation with an old co-worker now at that company.
 
TheMadTitan

TheMadTitan

Member
Oct 27, 2017
27,235
GameAddict411 said:
Well, potential employers might ask for references and previous employer contact information. Quitting cold turkey would definitely make it difficult to use at a reference and certainly would have the potential to backfire if the potential employers contacts the previous company.
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That depends on how deep they're going to dig beyond the "did this person work here from X to Y?"

And they have to be careful to dig further than that, since anything slightly to the side of center could get the previous employer sued.
 
Dunlop

Dunlop

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,479
I'm so confused why you would not just quit properly. There is no upside aside from the 5 minutes of righteous energy you will feel vs heavy regret and fear this will hurt your career in the long run
 
jotun?

jotun?

Member
Oct 28, 2017
4,498
I sort of did that, except I gave proper notice and everything first.

Ended up just going back to the same job a few months later, at higher pay and with partial work-from-home
 
Dice

Dice

Member
Oct 25, 2017
22,322
Canada
I'd tough out the two weeks, but that's just me.
If you got that "fuck you money" then do whatever you want. But I'd prefer to keep my bridges, regardless of who I hate at my job, un-burned.
 
OP
OP
Amnixia

Amnixia

▲ Legend ▲
The Fallen
Jan 25, 2018
10,424
Dunlop said:
I'm so confused why you would not just quit properly. There is no upside aside from the 5 minutes of righteous energy you will feel vs heavy regret and fear this will hurt your career in the long run
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At this point I'm not really worried about the consequences.
 

Squidmaster7

Member
Feb 24, 2021
102
Whats the reason for just 'ghosting' them? Just put in your resignation and collect your PTO etc. I see no upside to just quitting. You dont even necessarily have to perform well once youve put in your resingation either. I definitely would not just leave without any notice. It can only serve to hurt you.
 
Kyuuji

Kyuuji

The Favonius Fox
Member
Nov 8, 2017
32,196
OP does the field you're interested in for future jobs not need references, or do you have enough without your current employer?
 
ToddBonzalez

ToddBonzalez

The Pyramids? That's nothing compared to RDR2
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
15,530
Can you clarify what you mean by "ghosting"? If you mean literally just not showing up to work one day and never going back- DO NOT DO THAT. Word will get around to other employers in your field and it will be a massive red flag when you are looking for a new role. If you want to leave give a 2 week notice.
 
Radarscope1

Radarscope1

Member
Oct 29, 2017
2,707
Give two weeks notice like a normal person. Be a professional. Don't burn bridges. As for the gap, if you have the saving and feel confident you'll get hired elsewhere go for it. I wouldn't think it would take six months to clear your head though. If it feels like you need that long just to recoup then I'd suggest getting some outside help. But that usually costs money ... paid for by insurance ... gained via employment.

Ferrio said:
Do employers actually trash a previous employee? Seems to me at worse they'll no comment.
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Wrong. What do they have to lose by being honest in a five minute phone call and saying "They were unprofessional and left without notice. They left us in a lurch"? In my experience managers are honest about the good and not so good qualities of a former employee when called for reference or context. And especially if OP is telling it straight and the company really is run by jerks, why would they suddenly do him a solid and say "no comment" here in order to cover for him?
 
ExtremelyBitter

ExtremelyBitter

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,944
Ghosting your prior employer in a highly competitive field seems risky; I've done the quit with no job thing before (I went a year or 18 months between 'real' jobs, but a few months in I started doing a little freelance work so I could slap 'Consultant' on my resume for some of that gap), but I did work the full notice. It was worth it to me to not blow the reference and not have to worry about some weird grapevine effect costing me a future job. I don't work in a particularly specialized area, but I have run into old coworkers at new jobs, so not having the bad history was worth to me.

weemadarthur said:
In the USA. But OP sounds like he's from another country? Companies requiring a month's notice is pretty uncommon in the USA.
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I don't know if they still do this, but I know in the US asking if someone was eligible to be re-hired was a thing for a while. Depending on the size of the current company, I could see ghosting getting you a 'No' on that question which would in turn trigger alarm bells for a new employer.
 
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