What to Put for Notice Period on a Job Application (US, UK & India)

If you have a job, put your contractual or customary notice: 2 weeks in the US, and commonly 1 to 3 months in the UK and India depending on your contract and seniority. If you're unemployed, put "Immediate" or "Available immediately." That's the whole answer for most people — the rest is just handling the edge cases.

The short answer by country

Notice period is simply how long your current employer expects you to keep working after you resign. Employers ask so they can plan a start date, not to test you. Here's the typical answer:

The single most reliable source for your number is your own employment contract. Find the clause that says "notice period" before you guess.

Why honesty here actually helps you

It's tempting to write "Immediate" while you're employed to look more available. Resist it. A reasonable notice period is a good signal: it tells the new employer you respect commitments and won't leave them in the lurch the day a better offer appears. Recruiters read it exactly that way.

The risk runs the other way. If you promise a start date you can't hit, you'll either have to break your current notice (which can cost you a reference and burn a bridge) or push the new employer's date back after you've already signed — an awkward conversation that erodes trust before day one. Put the real number.

Exact phrasings you can copy

For a free-text box, keep it short and specific:

• Employed, standard: "2 weeks from date of offer" (US) or "1 month per my current contract" (UK/India)
• Want to show flexibility: "30 days, negotiable" or "2 weeks; can discuss a faster start"
• Unemployed: "Immediate" or "Available to start immediately"
• Long contractual notice you might shorten: "3 months per contract; open to negotiating an earlier release"
• Need a buffer for personal reasons: "4 weeks" — you don't have to explain why

If the field is a dropdown (common on Workday, Greenhouse, and SmartRecruiters), pick the closest option and use the cover letter or a later screening call to add nuance like "negotiable."

Handling the tricky cases

You're in a probation period. Notice during probation is often shorter — sometimes a week or even immediate. Check your contract; you may be able to put a much smaller number truthfully.

Your notice is unusually long (3+ months). This is normal in the UK and India for senior or specialized roles, and employers there expect it. If you're applying for an urgent backfill, add "open to negotiating an earlier release" so they know it's not a hard wall. Many contracts allow buying out part of the notice — but don't promise that unless you've confirmed it.

You haven't told your current employer yet. That's fine and expected. Notice period describes what you'd give after you resign, not what you've already done. Answer it as a hypothetical: the time your contract requires from the day you hand in your resignation.

You're juggling salary and start-date questions at once. These fields cluster together on most applications. If you're unsure how to handle the money side, our guides on what to put for desired salary and whether to give a range or leave it blank pair naturally with this one.

Do and avoid

A blank or evasive answer here just creates a follow-up question and a small dose of doubt. A clear number moves you forward.

Where this fits in the bigger application

Notice period is one of a handful of logistics fields — alongside work authorization, relocation, and salary — that sit between you and the "submit" button. None of them is a trap. They exist so the employer can picture you actually starting. If you're also weighing a question like whether you're willing to relocate, answer it the same way: honestly, specifically, and with a note of flexibility if you have it.

If you're filling out a lot of these and copy-pasting the same answers over and over, JobRizzer can autofill the standard fields — notice period, work authorization, contact details — across Workday, Greenhouse, Lever, Ashby, and the rest, so you're reviewing answers instead of retyping them. You still read every field and submit it yourself; it just removes the tedium of the twentieth identical form.

The bottom line: find your real notice period, write it plainly, and add "negotiable" only if you mean it. Honesty here costs you nothing and builds trust before you've even met.