Sharing My Learnings After Leaving a Big Tech Company

Ex-Google TechLead explains his learnings from leaving Google.

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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

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01:00

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01:01

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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

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09:29

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10:41

know your best tips on how to leave a

10:43

job if you liked the video give it a

10:44

like and subscribe and we'll see you

10:45

next time bye