Leaving a job and still getting an LOR

[skijumpbump]

So I am in a bit of a bind. I don’t know if this is the right forum but I think this gets the most traffic. I have been offered a new job as a research tech in a much more clinical setting where I will be getting paid much more then my current research position as a tech. I was offered the job on Friday and I told the PI offering me the job that I could start in 2 or 3 weeks. So I have told my new boss that I can start in this time as I would have to give my current PI 2 weeks notice. This morning when I told my current PI that I had been offered a job he said that he wanted me to work until July 1. I said that I wanted to leave sooner yet he said we had made an agreement when I was hired (when I was hired a year ago he told me the position would be funded until about July) which was just an email. He said that he had experiments planned that he wanted me to do...etc. I want to leave to get to my new position and to get more $ but I don’t want to screw him over. This becomes stickier in that I have asked him to write me a LOR (which I really want as this is what I have been doing since I graduated last year) and I don’t know if he has sent it in. If I tell him that I am going to be leaving in 2 weeks and I can not stay until July do you think I should ask him not to send an LOR or if it will affect the quality of it? Also was giving 2 weeks proper in a lab setting? I also don’t want to loose out on my new job because I said that I could start sooner and if I said I couldn’t they may hire a new person. Anyone have any advice, this is a very tough choice for me.

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[LikeClockWork]

Hmmm. Seems like there was some miscommunication between you and your current PI. Perhaps you could try to find some middle ground such as starting your other job a week later and staying at your current job a week longer? Or maybe doing some weekend work or overtime to get as much of the work your current PI wants done completed?

I agree that you should try to maintain a good LOR from your current PI since it's been your job since graduation. Lacking a good LOR from him would seem like an odd omission in your application, IMO.

 

[Schemp]

I would explain this to your new employer and ask if there is any way you can delay your start date. Odds are that he will respect you seeing your obligation through, and it's the right thing to do (if there really was an agreement to work until July), especially given that he is writing a LOR for you.

 

[nlax30]

I agree. First talk with the new employer and if you can start a little later then all is good. You can explain that there are ongoing projects at your current place that you need to finish up and your initial 2 week offer was a little premature. You'll just have to feel them out as to whether or not they absolutely need someone right away.

If not then see about some sort of compromise such as maybe an extra week or two at the current gig, or starting part time at the new place while finishing up work at the current place part time as well.

But don't burn any bridges at your current place, especially if he's writing a LOR for you. You've been there a while so it should be a pretty strong letter, and coming out of a position like that without one may appear slightly off to some people.

 

[Non-TradTulsa]

Not to be unkind, but I think your post is, "how can I get out of doing what I promised to do?" Maybe it was just an e-mail from a year ago, but your current PI said the position would be funded until around July and it's not unreasonable for him to now expect you to stay until July 1. Promising your new PI that you would start in two weeks without trying to negotiate between the new PI and the old PI was a bad move - understandable if you were excited, but you're definitely in a bind now. If you can negotiate a compromise with your old PI, you can save your LOR but you'll have to go back to your new PI and tell the truth - that you made a promise that you shouldn't have made, and that you need to try to negotiate the start date.

Just because the old position was funded until July 1 doesn't mean you have a legal obligation to stay - but I think there was an ethical promise when you accepted the job after reading the e-mail a year ago. If you decide to leave in 2 weeks and go on to the new job, you're entitled to do so - but I wouldn't expect an LOR from the old job. I would also hope that the old PI and the new PI have never met each other and don't communicate.

Seriously, I wish you the best of luck - and perhaps you can tell your old PI that you got too excited and appeal to his mercy. But, the truth is, if he expects you to stay - a deal's a deal, and you'll have to accept the consequences if you break that agreement.

 

[moe_4eva]

Just because the old position was funded until July 1 doesn't mean you have a legal obligation to stay - but I think there was an ethical promise when you accepted the job after reading the e-mail a year ago. If you decide to leave in 2 weeks and go on to the new job, you're entitled to do so - but I wouldn't expect an LOR from the old job. I would also hope that the old PI and the new PI have never met each other and don't communicate.

By that line of reasoning, I would have to question the ethical premise of the PI in not informing the OP that the position was to be funded until July 1st until after he/she was hired (as that sounds like the case). If they wanted the person to make a one year committment, that should have been made obvious in the interview, not after they were hired for the position. That could be viewed as a form of bait and switch.

In any case, I agree that the OP should try to find some sort of middle ground, or stay until July 1. It is hard to turn down more money, but if you want the LOR, you're going to have to make some concessions. You can't always have your cake and eat it too.

 

[skijumpbump]

Hey thanks for all of the advice. To make things more interesting I was just told by my pre-med advisor that my current PI's LOR has arrived today. So now I am not worried about the letter, but more about the ethics of the situation and treating my current PI properly. I do not want to screw him over as I really like him as a person and he has been a great help to me this last year. Non-TradTulsa, you are 100% correct, during my interview for my new job I was told that they wanted someone to start sooner then July 1. I really wanted the job so I said I could do this. At the time I did not think that leaving 3 weeks sooner was going to be a problem but it looks like it may be. I think I will try to seek some sort of compromise while cramming in these experiments with my current PI.

 

[Non-TradTulsa]

Hey thanks for all of the advice. To make things more interesting I was just told by my pre-med advisor that my current PI's LOR has arrived today. So now I am not worried about the letter, but more about the ethics of the situation and treating my current PI properly. I do not want to screw him over as I really like him as a person and he has been a great help to me this last year. Non-TradTulsa, you are 100% correct, during my interview for my new job I was told that they wanted someone to start sooner then July 1. I really wanted the job so I said I could do this. At the time I did not think that leaving 3 weeks sooner was going to be a problem but it looks like it may be. I think I will try to seek some sort of compromise while cramming in these experiments with my current PI.

Hey, great for you - sounds like you're looking at the situation realistically. Glad you got the LOR, and good luck to you!