Retention and notice periods

In most cases if you survive the first two months, you will last at our shop. Hence my tendency of not giving any real work to a new hire for the first two weeks. Instead we give low intensity tasks and see how the new kid on the block performs when it comes to doing ok work. I have found that candidates who do high quality low intensity work will also do high quality high intensity work. If you can't handle low intensity tasks because they are not high profile, visible, rocket science, you are not fit to handle rocket science. Quality professional work is not an attribute that you can be taught, it has to be ingrained in your personality from day one. In the immortal words of Mr. Miyagi (Karate Kid fame) - "Hands On, Hands Off"

The other interesting habit that I picked up from Shane and Iqbal Salim, two of my previous bosses was the golden rule about notice periods. If you want to leave for something better, leave. Don't hang around, extend your stay and turn bitter. Two weeks is long enough if you are doing something critical. If you are not doing something critical then just leave. The only exceptions to this rule are planned departures. If you are off to school or a road trip across europe for a year and are leaving primarily to take a break from life, stay as long as you want.