Job switching process - when to resign?

General_Grant

EnPointe said:

williscreg said:

While you’ve accepted the offer via email, it’s crucial to wait for the formal contract before resigning from your current job.

This is dubious  advice  a formal offer  and statement of  principal details of the role with a start  date is more than enough 

Agreed.  "Formal contracts" in the form of signed documents are not required for an employment contract and the law only requires that specific written particulars have to be given no later than the first day of employment.

DullGreyGuy

yya said:

Hi all, I am currently employed on a 3 month notice. Yesterday I have received an offer over email for a position I interviewed a month ago, and I have accepted it by replying the email. The HR also said they will send a contract to me later on, which is in a longer form. I would like to ask should I resign now or is it better for me to wait for the long contract to be signed before I resign? 

This is the first time I change jobs hence any advice would be much appreciated.

thanks in advance 

I personally would resign on the basis of a formal offer as long as I was happy with my level of knowledge on the total package and any important things I want to know about. If you suddenly are worried about what the office hours are or how many days holiday you'll get etc then I'd be asking for those before hand. 

In some cases I've asked for their standard contract in advance of them being able to provide my contract which is easier to be provided than my personal contract but will include things like notice period normally. 


There will be some that say not to resign before the full contract has been given but then the law only requires the particulars to be given to you before the end of your first day and a further 3 months for the rest of the contract you can get into a locked position where their process is to do it on day 1 but you won't get a day 1 if you dont resign and start with them. 

Three months hopefully is long enough to find an alternative role if something does go badly wrong.