The two-month gap: planning a hire around notice periods
Notice periods don't just delay a hire. They change which candidates are realistic, and what you should be willing to compromise on.
By Macro Merge · · 5 min read
The short version
- 1Work backwards from the date you need someone productive. With a two-month notice period, a July start often means a February search.
- 2The gap between “yes” and day one is where offers fall through. Plan for it as part of the hire.
- 3Put three lines in every brief: the notice period you can accept, who approves a buyout, and the backup plan.
If you hire experienced engineers, product managers or designers in India, some version of this will happen to you. Notice periods of one to two months are common for experienced people, and sometimes they're longer. Most founders treat that as a delay. It's more than that. It changes three things: your calendar, your candidate pool, and the risk between “yes” and day one.
Work the calendar backwards
Start from the date you need someone productive, not the date you'd like to start searching.
- The date you need them productive. Say, 1 July.
- Minus ramp-up. Most people need four to six weeks to be properly useful, so they need to join by mid-May.
- Minus the notice period. If two months is typical for the profile, the offer needs to be accepted by mid-March.
- Minus the search and interviews. For a well-defined role, allow four to six weeks, often more. So the search starts in early February.
That's the uncomfortable maths. If you need someone productive by July, you may need to start looking in February. Founders who start in May are often surprised when their “urgent” hire joins in August.
What notice periods do to your candidate pool
Some candidates can join quickly: people between jobs, people already serving notice, freelancers, and people whose contracts have short notice periods. When you're in a hurry, this group looks very attractive.
Sometimes they're exactly right. Sometimes they're available for reasons that matter for your role. Either way, availability tells you nothing about quality, in either direction.
A short notice period is a fact about someone's situation, not about their ability.
What does matter is this: if you insist on people who can join within a month, you're choosing from a much smaller group. Make that a conscious trade-off, not an accident.
Buyouts: what they are and when they're worth it
A buyout is when a candidate leaves before their notice period ends, usually by paying their employer for the remaining period, sometimes with the new employer covering that cost. Whether the current employer agrees to an early release is up to them, and the terms depend on the candidate's contract.
When a buyout can make sense:
- the role is critical, and every week without it has a real cost you can name;
- the candidate is clearly the right person, and waiting risks losing them;
- the current employer is open to an early release.
When it usually doesn't:
- the role isn't on a genuine deadline;
- the money is covering for a search that started too late;
- the candidate is unsure, and a buyout feels like pressure.
Decide in advance who can approve a buyout, and up to what amount. Deciding in the middle of an offer conversation leads to poor decisions in both directions.
The risky window between yes and day one
A long notice period gives a candidate two months to have second thoughts. Their current employer may make a counter-offer. Other companies they interviewed with may come back. And with nothing new happening, small doubts can grow.
What helps:
- Regular, low-pressure contact. A short call every couple of weeks. Share news. Invite them to something the team is doing.
- Meeting the team before joining. People rarely back out on colleagues they've already met.
- A clear first-month plan. Send it before they join. It makes the job real.
- Honesty before the offer. If the role has hard parts, say so before they accept. Doubts discovered during the notice period are the dangerous ones.
What doesn't:
- pressure, or offers that expire within a couple of days;
- going quiet once the offer is signed;
- surprises, like a changed title, a different manager or a new location.
When urgency forces a different hire
If you genuinely can't wait two months, you have options. Each comes with a trade-off you should state openly:
- A bridge. A contractor or freelancer covers the most urgent work while you hire properly. You pay a premium and lose some continuity.
- An internal stretch. Someone on the team takes on part of the role for a while, with support. It's a growth opportunity, and a risk.
- A narrower profile. You hire from people who can join soon, and accept that some must-haves become nice-to-haves.
Any of these can be the right call. What doesn't work is hiring the first available person while telling yourself you haven't compromised.
Put it in the brief
Every brief for an experienced hire should have three lines on this:
- The longest notice period we can accept for this role, and why.
- Who approves a buyout, and up to what cost.
- The backup plan if the candidate doesn't join.
It takes five minutes to write, and it saves the most stressful conversations later.
Ten questions to settle before the first interview
- When do we need this person productive, not just joined?
- Working backwards, when does the search have to start?
- What notice period is normal for this profile?
- What's the longest notice period we can genuinely wait for?
- Would we consider a buyout? Who approves it, and up to what amount?
- What happens to the work while we wait?
- Who stays in touch with the candidate during their notice period, and how often?
- What can we share before they join, such as a first-month plan or team introductions?
- What will we do if a counter-offer comes in?
- What's our plan if the candidate doesn't join?