Just looking for a bit of advice from someone who's done this already.

In an extremely stressful job and tonight I decided to resign and give 6 months notice that I'm moving so they can find a replacement and I can do a handover...I'm going to run it past a buddy in HR at work before I act.

I take it I'm doing them a big favour instead of running out and leaving them short they can plan for future and it works for me I've been asking for help with the job as it's too much for one person..now Ill get that help.

Any advice or personal experience of resigning so early? Good idea..bad idea??

Nope. I would give the minimum notice dictated in your contract.

Personally, I went on 6 months unpaid leave whilst I established myself over here, knowing full well that I was not going back. My manager also knew, unofficially, but we were on good terms.

As previous poster, I would give the notice period stated in your contract and no more. This is their choice and should cover their need to recruit a replacement and any handover. They will not appreciate the 'favour' of you letting them know early. There are so many things that can go wrong if they know you want to leave but it is a long time until you do. You will at least find that you probably don't get considered for the most important or exciting projects.

And now the flip side....I was on extremely good terms with my previous employer and gave them nearly 5 months notice that I was leaving. It did allow them plenty of time to find my replacement and for me to do handover, and they were very grateful and it worked well.

But I will stress the fact that I was on extremely good terms, with them and I was confident of what the outcome would be when I resigned and giving them a long notice period.

What is your notice period now?

Me too.....Good terms, good job, good boss....Totally appreciated. There is not a chance I would do it for any previous companies!!!

They might not accept 6 months notice and make you stick with your contractual notice. Unless they have funds to spare on salary they won't want to pay 2 people to do the same job and will want to find your replacement asap, so be careful with your cunning plan.

Depends on the type of job you are leaving too.

Everyone knew we had applied to emigrate at my place of work, they all knew months before I handed in my notice, that I was going to hand in my notice when I did. I worked at an Army Barracks so they were more used to people coming and going at the drop of a hat, so I had no problems and a lovely send off in the CQM's area.

But anywhere else I would have left it last minute. OH's place of work knew we were planning on emigrating but didn't actually believe us, so it came as a bit of a shock when he handed in his notice after 21 years.

Appreciate the replies folks

it's a newstart financial company, I work in I.T and things are going to get mad busy around march so I think they will appreciate the warning rather
than being leaving right in middle of it, I've a month notice which I was going to give end of April anyway but I'm thinking
end of jan instead!

I'm looking to hire a contractor to help me out anyway so I think funds will be ok! Or I can just resign now and take a last contract.

The pressure in the job is pretty mental at the moment and it felt kinda good and a relief to think i've resigned and I have a way out! If
it's effecting my health I should just leave anyway I suppose!

Lifes never simple...

I was in a position to hire my own replacement in my last job. I confided in the new guy that I might be leaving at the time I hired him, but only told the boss I was deffo on the boat a few months later.

That worked out well; I have had very close connections to both the (not so new now) guy and the (former) boss stretching back over the intervening 17 years.

Looks like you have already made up
your mind anyway. Save the pixels.

Yeh your right in a way! But It's been good to read the replies and find out what the risks are...also that it is possible to do if your on good terms...

Good terms or not, the key is to not burn any bridges because you never know what's around the corner.

Giving 6 months, in my opinion, is too much time. To be a nice guy i would certainly give more than contractual but definitely no more that two months.

If you'r on good terms, there's no reason you can't start setting expectations earlier by telling your manager that you have applied to emigrate to Canada although it's early days, etc etc.

Six months notice? Not a chance.

I have to say that I think you are being very trusting - TOO trusting
. If this job is stressful as you say and it is affecting your health, then resign by all means - I did that and it worked out fine. But resign and LEAVE, just resigning and then staying will, I think, increase the stress on you as you find yourself at the complete whim of whoever runs the show and I don't mean people close to you - the people higher up will have to be notified if your notice is formally presented and they probably don't give a stuff about you!
My OH is the nicest, most honest guy in the world, but he held off telling his boss and colleagues even though they all knew he had been wanting to emigrate and that he had gone to Canada for a fortnight (his successful job hunting trip!) until the time was right to formally resign. Then, people higher up in Personnel and higher management tried to apply a 3 month notice instead of the 1 month his contract required. His boss and boss's boss both overturned this by making a good business case for him leaving in one month (contracts ending and new ones beginning, natural handover point etc, but it goes to show that people who don't know you can and do start having input when formal resignation is made and it is not in your interest but in theirs.
Beware of doing this just to make yourself feel better in the short term. Hold your peace, make your plans and wait until the correct time or you might regret showing your hand too soon.

I agree with this, you should NEVER burn bridges, you never know what is around the corner.

I was on 3 months notice so I was giving an extra 6 weeks, which is why I asked what notice period you were on. As you are only on one month I would hold fire for a while. Give them 2 months perhaps?

We can only share our experiences, it worked for me, but when it comes down to it only you know how your employer will react when you tell them, so it really is your call.

I tell you what though, when you are having those awful days at work, you are stressed or sitting in the worlds dullist meeting, even if your colleagues/boss don't know you are leaving/emigrating, you do, and it is a nice feeling that there is a light at the end of the tunnel...just have a little smile to yourself, suck it up, earn the cash, have a glass of wine in the evening and run a lot (worked for me!). Believe me the time goes very quickly.

Good luck.