I've just accepted a job as a senior developer. In my contract it says that my notice period is three months.
In the past I've always had 4 weeks or one month, which is standard for office jobs in the UK. However, I know that in more responsible positions the notice period is often longer. In one of my previous roles, a manager gave his 4 weeks notice at a critical time and it caused big problems for the business. After that they made sure all new contracts for management had 12 weeks' notice.
So while I'd prefer 4 weeks, I understand that 12 is common if you want to progress to a position of responsibility.
But how does it work practically? If I want to change jobs in future, do I really need to work for 3 months? Does anyone have experience with this?
One idea would be to hand in my notice, then start applying for jobs when I have 6 weeks remaining. That feels a bit dangerous. Another would be to try to negotiate it down with the company, but if they say no, I imagine I'd lose offer for any new role, as few companies will wait 3 months for someone.