I strategically let it slip in a Zoom meeting with some of my management team that I won't be with my current employer come January 1... and then moved the conversation along, because I didn't want to derail the meeting and have that become the topic under discussion. "Yeah, I agree, I want to get rolling on that work now, and gett that knowledgebase built right away, because by January 1st I wont be in this role any more." I have about a dozen resumes out circulating right now, but that's mostly performative. I've never gotten a job from my resume - it's just too weird for people to grok. Every job I've ever gotten was through a personal recommendation. The most interesting opportunity I came up with is with Wizards of the Coast, the makers of Magic The Gathering and oodles of other games. I'd be responsible for working directly with creatives who are making digital assets for the various games, and managing a database of these assets so internal resources can find what they need easily and quickly, or order the creation of the asset from one of my artists. Working directly with creatives, to get art made, and then ensuring the processes and tools are in place for internal teams to find and make use of those assets is a nice blend of teamwork, interaction with creatives, and tech tool geekery that fits my interests perfectly! And Wizards is a local success story, and apparently a groovy place to work, too.
Were you dropping a hint so that they would have additional time to prepare for your exit? You say it was strategic so just wondering what the goal was. I know that when someone hands in their notice in my current place, and they are good at their job, there is usually some counter-offers or conversations that happen to see if the person will agree to stay. This is good if you want to stay, or were looking for a raise. But if I intend to leave anyway then its better to reduce these discussions and drama to a minimum. My plan, should i decide to leave is to book 3-4 days vacation time, and then hand in my notice as it begins, by the time I get back I would have avoided much of the drama and it would be old news.
By saying my hint was "strategic", I was meaning that it wouldn't come completely as a surprise when I give them my 2 weeks notice. I do the job of 3 people, and sit at the confluence of Product, Sales, and Customer Service. If I were to poof out of existence tomorrow, they would have to scramble to fill my role. If I were to poof out of existence at the end of January, the whole sales organization would be fucked, because that's when the "season" for my work starts, and it ramps up VERY fast. But we get a TON of paid vacation in November and December. (One of the benefits of being owned by a German company, is they value their family holidays very highly.) I also have about a month of PTO available to me. And this company tends to cut people out pretty quickly. Someone gives 2 weeks notice, and by the end of the day - sometimes end of the week - they are no longer in the office or reachable. There are some security concerns around our products and services that make it prudent for the company to disable the accounts of employees pretty quickly, rather than continue letting them have access to the company's data and resources. So yeah... I think I'll give them notice on January 3.