Feeling Trapped After Joining: Can I Quit Before Training Starts Without Issues?

Hi all, I had been indecisive about my decision to join this organization, and in the midst of my uncertainty, I joined. Now, after just one day, I want to quit.

Company Background

The company is one of the top-tier IT companies in India. I have completed the first two days of the induction program and now wish to resign. The HR department has informed me that if I resign now, once my employee ID is generated, I will be considered as absconding.

Training and Resignation Concerns

The company plans to put me through a 2-month training program starting tomorrow, and if I resign after serving a notice period, they may seek to recover the training costs from me. Therefore, if I continue for the next 2 months and then resign, neither I nor the company will benefit. I have signed various documents related to the client for whom I was recruited, as well as agreements regarding conduct and other guidelines.

Uncertainty About Resignation Terms

I am unsure about the resignation terms since the formal appointment letter has not been issued, and I have not signed any copy of it. I am yet to begin the training and have only participated in the induction program.

Please refrain from sharing your opinions on how this decision may impact my career; my choice to quit is personal.

Request for Advice

Kindly advise me on how to handle this situation. Should I report to work tomorrow? I have only signed a few documents that pertain to adherence to certain organizational and client policies, not the appointment letter. I have also accepted a provisional offer letter, which stated that the appointment would be confirmed upon the issuance of the formal appointment letter.

Thanks!

Steps to Resign Immediately

The simplest way is to resign from the services of the organization with immediate effect. If there is any notice period mentioned in your offer letter, show your readiness to pay the same and have a clean and nice separation. Do not forget to take acknowledgment from HR on the copy of the resignation letter.

Do not accept an appointment letter even if they try to issue you one. Do not attend any training.

In the worst-case scenario, send an email from your personal email ID to the concerned officials and stop reporting to work.

Regards,
Preetam Deshpande

Hi Preetam, thanks for answering my question. I called and spoke with the HR who hired me, and he tells me that they will mark me as absconding and blacklist my future candidature. I am okay with blacklisting, but he says even if I submit a resignation, he would not accept it and make me abscond.

I am not sure how to proceed with this. I have not received or signed the appointment letter, and the provisional offer letter said nothing about the notice period. The company is Tech Mahindra, and the HR is a newly hired guy. I am forced to believe he has very little experience and knowledge. Before accepting the offer, I told him about my situation, and he still managed to convince me to join.

After joining, I understand that he was part of TAG and has now transferred the responsibility to TMG as his role was only to get resources into the organization. Now, he tells me that I should apply my brains before making a decision. It's a good learning experience for me, but now I want to make sure that I have resigned. Please suggest a short and effective course of action to get out of this mess safely.

I have not reported to work today. Should I go to the office and speak with some senior HR?

Thanks!

Yes, you should go to the office and speak with a senior member of the HR team. Nobody can blacklist your future candidature unless you have breached the code of conduct of any organization, which would lead to a criminal offense. You have already mentioned that the person you communicated with was from the TA group. There is always a way to get relieved from an organization. Please do not conclude things based on some communication statement you had with a team member in the HR team.

As you have mentioned that the reason behind it is personal and you are not concerned if they would blacklist your future candidature, I believe that the reason behind your action is worth considering. However, I would suggest you think over the situation as job opportunities for a fresher (I believe so) are not that easy, considering the current market situation. Good luck!

@Mahesh - Thanks for your advice, Mahesh; it's much appreciated. I contacted a senior HR, and they want me to come and meet to discuss my plans with them. After reading this person's blog: anikeshkumar.blogspot.in (replace "dot" with "."), I'm now scared to go to the TechM facility. My training was supposed to start today, and I have not reported to work.

I think I will send a resignation with an apology to the HR department, mentioning the reason, and request them to accept it. I would send this by registered post with AD and hence will have proof of communication as well.

I believe that until I have not signed and returned the appointment letter, I am under no direct or indirect obligations to the organization. I was not issued any asset, badge, or anything.

Please share your views if I should do something additional as I am now scared to go to their office after reading the horror story of Anikesh.

Regards

Considering your mental situation, you should send an email and a written resignation via registered post. Anikesh's issue is entirely different from your case. He worked with TM for a year, and that incident clearly reflects corporate politics, a common phenomenon prevalent across all corporations.

I also recommend sending three copies of the written resignation letter to HR, Operations, and your immediate manager/supervisor. Please avoid mentioning your name on the cover. Good luck!

Thank you for suggesting my actions, Mahesh. Could you also tell me what the worst that can happen if I don't take any action and just end all communications with them? The HR said they will abscond and blacklist me in TechM and nothing else. I am really not bothered with blacklisting at this time as I don't want to work with TM at all. I am concerned if they will share data with NSR, which I have confirmed they don't do from my sources. Apart from this, what more liabilities can they create? Any inputs would be very useful.

Thanks!

I am not even sure about the terms of employment, the notice period, and other details as I never received the appointment letter.

The worst part is that you will not be able to rejoin TM again. Apart from NSR, remember that the world is small, and we might meet again in this corporate world. It would always be better to avoid having our name on the absconding list of any corporation, even though it is controlled by the HR of the company and not a general body. Submitting a resignation letter via registered post would not cost you more.

Regards

Thank you for your valuable advice, Mahesh. I am going to send them a resignation through the post and close it off. Hopefully, this will be the last case of indecision in my career! I am all set to join an extremely large corporation next week . I hope these TM guys don't come in my way. 

Regards,

Hi Test.King,

Did you face any problems from Tech Mahindra after you sent the postal of your resignation?

Hi,

Did you face any problems from Tech Mahindra after you sent the resignation via postal mail?