Worried About Resignation Date on Relieving Letter? How to Explain the Gap to Your New Employer

Dear Sir, I have resigned from my company on 28th April without having any options in my hand. After that, I started my job search, and finally, I got a new job. They will be sending an offer letter to me on 14th May. It's a 3-month notice period as per the current employer, and the same was conveyed during the interview to the new company.

Concern About Resignation Date

My fear is that once I receive the relieving letter, the resignation date will be mentioned. My new employer may question why my resignation date is 28th April when they offered me the job on 14th May.

How should I face this situation? Please help.

Thank you.

Hey, why worry? Speak the truth. You must have some concrete reasons for leaving your job before having anything else lined up. Tell your employer about what made you resign. I think it's always better to speak the truth than to tell a thousand lies to cover it up. So go ahead...

Hello Sanjuamerican,

Archna & Jagadeesh have given you the right way to handle the situation. But going by the words you used in your thread, I get a feeling that you don't seem to have told the new company that you have resigned already—else you would have been asked why in the interview itself? Or is it that you already cooked up something as the reason for resigning?

If you haven't told them about it, then tell them the truth. In a way, it will turn out to benefit the new company—since you would be joining earlier than if you were to resign AFTER you get this Offer Letter.

But if you have already cooked up some reason during the interviews, then I think you are going the way Archna mentioned—telling a thousand lies. In which case, please mention the ACTUAL facts in the thread, so that the members can advise you better and correctly.

Though I would give you the benefit of the doubt, it's not normal to resign without having anything in hand—unless you were forced to resign OR like Archna mentioned: you must be having some concrete reasons [not sure which of the two is right].

Regards,
TS

Dear All,

Thank you for your suggestions. In fact, I didn't inform the new company that I had already resigned from my current company. I made this decision because I was seeking a change; I was not satisfied with the work environment at my current company. The transition has been smooth, but personally, I feel that it may not present the right image to the new company.

Now, the issue is that HR will call me during the upcoming week. What should I tell them? Should I disclose the truth that I submitted my resignation on the 28th of April and they will release me on the 27th of June? Alternatively, should I choose not to discuss this and ask for an early release to join duties promptly?

Another option that comes to mind is to explain that I received an offer from another company, leading to my resignation, but I now see a better opportunity with the new company.

Please provide your suggestions considering all the facts. Thank you.

Hello Sanju American, please confirm/reconfirm the following points/aspects ASAP:

1. You resigned on 28 April.
2. You are in the notice period now and will be relieved on 27 June.
3. You have the option of getting relieved earlier than 27 June.

Once you clarify/confirm the above, I am sure a solution can be found. Also, since you are in two minds on how to handle this situation, that itself means you don't like to speak untruth. Just keep it up and let's focus on finding a solution without speaking untruth or lying.

Regards,
TS

First of all, I really appreciate your prompt response. Please find below the line-wise reply:

Yes, I resigned on 28th April. I have a notice period of 3 months, but I discussed with my boss that he can relieve me from my duties by 27th June. There is an option to get relieved before 27th June. In that case, I have to pay some money to my company.

Waiting for your valuable suggestions.

Regards,
SA

Hey SanjuAmerican,

The dilemma can be avoided once you have the courage to let them know about the reality. It would also be much easier for you to stick to the truth rather than creating unusual reasons for resigning on 28th April. If you are planning to say that you had an offer from another company and that's why you resigned, but now this new offer is better so you are joining them, who will trust you? They might think that you could leave for another opportunity in the next three months. Why would this company hire you if they believe you might leave soon for a better offer elsewhere? Just think about it.

Even if you are released earlier than 27th June, you cannot change the date of resignation, so you have to speak the truth. I will wait to hear what TS has to say about this. 

Thank you for the reply. To be very honest, I would also like to tell the truth. However, my worry is that if I do tell the truth, they might feel that there is something wrong with the candidate in the organization, or that he did something wrong because the HR person will be more interested in knowing the reason for leaving the current organization. Alternatively, could you suggest a better response for leaving? 

Here's my suggestion - most likely it should work, unless I missed something critical.

Relieving Letter Details

Usually, most companies provide the Relieving Letter with the Date of Joining in that Company and the Date of Leaving that Company. The terminology may vary, like "Worked till....," "On Rolls until....," "Relieved on....," etc. So, your Date of Resignation may not even be included in that document. I guess the problem is solved? 

Since you have already resigned and are in the notice period, I suggest you check with HR on the format of the Relieving Letter. I assume you don’t need to provide them with the reasons for asking this information. This should make things clear for you if what I suggested would work out.

Assuming it works out, you don't need to raise, discuss, or inform the Date of Resignation at all with the new company. Just check out the Date of Joining preferred and handle things accordingly with your present company, depending on whether the Buy-out Option is practical in your case (whether you buy it out or the new company).

Even if your company has the practice of mentioning the Date of Resignation in the Experience/Relieving Letter, you can ask HR for this point not to be mentioned. Since they won’t have anything to lose nor are you asking for anything out-of-the-way or incorrect, they could agree.

Handling Critical Situations

This is what I have tried to follow: Always try to speak the truth. But when speaking the truth puts you in a very critical situation, use your head to get out of the situation, but even then, never tell a lie. I used this in some life-threatening situations in my life a few times in the past.

Please keep the forum informed of the result.

And yes, a more important thing: never ever resign the way you did without having anything in hand in the future. Learn the lesson.

Regards,
TS

Hi TS, Oh, come on, you don't need approval, TS . You are already doing a fabulous job here on the forum. And yes, the solution perfectly makes sense. Just one point: some companies mention the date of resignation in the experience letter as well, so this guy has to be careful about that. I completely agree with you and would like to recommend SanjuAmerican not to repeat the same mistake again, as it could lead to trouble. Thanks again, TS. I'm obliged by this gesture of yours. God bless...