15 Leaving your job gracefully

The days of spending 40 years at one company and retiring with a golden watch and a pension are over. In most fields, it’s now common to switch companies at least a few times in your career, and in tech, people may switch jobs as often as every couple of years. There are many good reasons for leaving a job: you could be looking for a compensation bump, different responsibilities, accelerated learning, or simply something novel. Deciding that you might be interested in a new job is the first step, but you have additional mental hurdles to overcome between that step and actually doing something about it.

15.1. Deciding to leave

15.1.1. Take stock of your learning progress

15.1.2. Check your alignment with your manager

15.2. How the job search differs after your first job

15.2.1. Deciding what you want

15.2.2. Interviewing

15.3. Finding a new job while employed

15.4. Giving notice

15.4.1. Considering a counteroffer

15.4.2. Telling your team

15.4.3. Making the transition easier

15.5. Interview with Amanda Casari, engineering manager at Google

How do you know it’s time to start looking for a new job?

Have you ever started a job search and decided to stay instead?

Do you see people staying in the same job for too long?

Can you change jobs too quickly?

What’s your final piece of advice for aspiring and new data scientists?