It's not free if they lost millions of dollars in the process. The % of people in your situation is probably less than 1, so the net is still a loss.

Listen.

Wish I could upvote this one twice. Listening and paying attention are crucial to developing understanding of people.

One of my mentors is an "A" player. He genuinely looks out for me, and even goes as far as throwing high priority projects at me. At first, I took this for granted, but I'm starting to realize that the things I'm doing right now are rarely done by other folks in my position.

Find an "A"-player and make her your mentor

If this is your first time in NYC, forget the tech scene and just walk around the city. And grab some good food.

I guess I could use a good leg stretch between flights. :P

What makes you think companies are restricted to doing one or the other? They can be doing both.

The real question is what they do with the feedback (whether it's from an exit interview, or during yearly reviews, etc).

> What makes you think companies are restricted to doing one or the other?

The fact a person feels the need to "vent" at their exit interview shows that the company has not been seeking that kind of feedback during the employment duration.

I agree with coderheed. A few months ago, I interviewed with several companies -- startups and large companies. The interview process is the same; it's broken.

And the way I ultimately picked my next job was to speak to people within the firm, who are not part of recruiting or management, and ask questions. You'll be surprised how honest the responses can be, especially from folks that are relatively new to the company (they're more empathetic since they were in your position a few months ago).

Keep in mind, an "awesome company culture" is largely a personal opinion. People instantly associate unlimited food, scooters and free gym membership with an awesome company culture. That's false. All the perks in the world won't matter if the job you're doing is not satisfying, or if the company's values don't align with yours.

Imo, one of the few companies that get "company culture" right is Zappos. They go beyond just offering perks and really do unique things to foster strong relationships within the company. Still, it doesn't mean Zappos is a fit for you. Not a lot of people are keen on going through "culture training" the first month on the job.

Right, I have already decided to leave. That's definite. It's just a matter of how to go about doing it. Quitting immediately frees me up to interview with more folks, to pick and choose so I don't make the same mistake again.

The concern here is how potential employers look at this. Would they rather hire someone who's already working, or someone who doesn't have a job? I'd like to get some opinions from people who make hiring decisions if possible.

Thanks

Don't leave until you close on other job. As others have noted, your value plunges in the eyes of other hiring folks even though you feel you are the same person.

You also are perceived to be less in a position of strength on compensation negotiations.

And finally, since you don't have a job, there will be a little bit of a question about why you left your last job, a little bit of a non-positive aura about that.

This is just the way the interview/hiring dynamics go, whether we think it is fair or not.