... I want to maximize the time between jobs. I can't postpone the starting day at my next company forever. So, the day I sign the contract, I would like to quit ... and not 14 days later.
Who says you have to postpone your starting day at the next company forever? In my 15+ years of contracting, I've never run across a company that isn't willing to wait 2 weeks for you to start. Most are not capable of starting you the day after you sign your contract. Hell, I've had places that gave me a start date 2-3 weeks out (their chosen date) and then contacted me to say they had a delay getting paperwork/authorization/approvals signed or couldn't get a PC/laptop ordered in time, etc. and wanted me to delay my start date.
When quitting a job, it's usually not difficult to arrange your end date and start date to be on consecutive business days. And, depending on the company and your role, many will pay you for the 2 weeks notice you give and escort you out the same day just because you are now considered a "risk". You just gave up either a 2 week paid vacation or 2 weeks of double pay.
Generally in life you don't want to burn bridges. You may never want to work for Cisco again, but you may come across your manager or a work colleague in a future position, who may think poorly of you.
Everyone leaves, and nobody is going to judge you for managing your career. But how you leave does matter.
This is SO true. I've had managers ask me about potential candidates and I've given feedback to them if I've known that person to pull stupid sh– like leaving with no notice or quitting only weeks after accepting a position (or worse, accepting it and then not showing up the first day and quitting instead).
There's a saying: You can do anything you want on your last day of work. Depending on what you do, it may be your last day of work.
I have a retired uncle who used to work in the nuclear field. He couldn't keep his mouth shut and said things he shouldn't have on his last day of work. Sometimes he knew it was his last day and others it became his last day. He's retired because no no one in that industry will hire him because of his reputation.
Cisco is a right to work company and NC is a right to work state. I'm not sure about CA. Depending on how you handle giving your notice, you might get away with making it no notice. But you can definitely handle it incorrectly and no one you've worked with who knows about it will ever want to work with you again.
Call me old, but I've survived the "school of hard knocks".