When should I hand-in my notice?

[DaisyBug]

I've been offered a new job, subject to references. Obviously, I need to tell my current employer. What's the usual way to go about this? Do I tell them verbally, then give written notice once they've supplied a reference? Or should I be giving formal written notice right away?

You need to give written notice now. I'm afraid the risk of references not being satisfactory lies with you. Congrats on the new job!

You need to go to whoever you asked for a reference and tell them that you were offered the job.
They will then send the reference when asked for it (employer references are usually only taken up once an offer has been made).

The offer could still be withdrawn following the reference!
So, once you have a firm (in writing) job offer, you can formally hand in your notice.

x-post with hermione, but what I wrote is what I've always been advised to do by my managers!

Surely you would be unwise to hand your notice in until you have an offer in writing?

I would only hand in my notice when I had an offer in writing (and no longer subject to anything). You don't need to give notice until you are definitely leaving.

I would definitely wait until you have the firm offer but out of courtesy I would notify referees. It's difficult though when you have a long notice period, I did hand my notice in on a conditional offer when I was moving jobs within NHS and notice period was 12 weeks as it was a low risk situation.

Congratulations on the new job!

I had 6 months notice in my previous job, but I still waited until I had a firm offer to hand in written notice. They didn't offer me the job until they had references though. I found out I was getting it through one of my referees (who was with me when he got the email asking for reference so they could offer me the job). My boss also emailed me to congratulate me on the job as soon as he'd written the reference. Is still didn't formally hand in notice until I had it in writing from my current employer.

So if you hand in your notice and then have the job offer withdrawn, with recruitment to your was-meant-to-be-old job started, what happens then?