In my specific situation, I want to start the new job fast but I also want a week off. Giving two weeks to my current job would also coincide with vacation I had previously planned.
If I gave 1 week notice, it would work out and everything would line up in terms of my timeline. I'm in a position where there's not a lot of handoff work and I would essentially be sitting around for two weeks doing nothing.
Presumably you've made positive connections with your fellow teammates and feel some sympathy for how they may suffer a bit with your departure. You're giving notice so they (and you) can mitigate that suffering. During that time you may not be doing much work, but answering questions, typing up arcane knowledge you have about particular areas, etc.
Not burning bridges. If you hope to every use anyone at your current company as a reference in the future, give decent notice. The last impression you leave is likely what will stick.
In the end, I'd think of it as following the Golden Rule. Even if they don't, if you'd like to work at a company that would provide severance in the event they needed to let you go (basically giving you "notice"), then do the same. The world is what we make it.
It all comes down to your relationship with your boss. If you are not really needed as you claim and I am your boss and I have good relationship with you, I wouldn't care if you want to give 1 week notice instead of 2. I would be happy for you to take the time off for your next job.
It’s possible that they won’t care and it won’t matter. Or it’s possible that your peers and managers will take it personally and forever think of you as the unprofessional guy who abandoned their project with less than 2 weeks’ notice. Those negative perceptions could influence future opportunities as your peers move to other companies and are eventually asked what kind of employee you are. Or maybe none of your peers are ever asked for back channel references.
We can’t know the outcome, but know that you’re gambling with your reputation a bit. Good reputations are hard to build but easy to destroy. Be careful.
> In my specific situation, I want to start the new job fast but I also want a week off. Giving two weeks to my current job would also coincide with vacation I had previously planned.
You can’t have it all. I’d suggest telling your new job you’re available in 3 weeks and then splitting your 2 weeks’ notice around the vacation. There’s a chance that your employer could cut you loose early, in which case you go back to the new employer and ask if you can move your start date up.
This is a morbid analogy, but think about a dying relative. You mostly should have dealt with their death long before it happens. If you are that deep in your job search, you should have already reduced your role, in which case the full two weeks means nothing.
If your vacation time is already accrued then they owe you that anyways so 3 weeks gives them the standard time plus your week off. As a manager it might be perfect to have you work 1 week, feel what its like to have you not there for a week, then a week to cleanup anything leftover.
Just curious - what is the desire to start the new job fast?