Facing Career Roadblocks Due to Past Absconding: Should I Be Honest with Future Employers?

Some 5 years ago, I absconded from two companies—one after 20 days and the second one after 4 days of joining. I completely removed these two absconding details from my resume and never shared these companies' details with my subsequent employers, as the BGV checks were not that strict before. However, now, almost all companies conduct UAN-based service history checks, making it impossible to hide any job details.

Keeping that in mind, I approached these two absconded employers and requested them to release a relieving letter, but even after many follow-ups, they are not providing me with anything. Now, I am completely stuck in my career growth as it's almost impossible to get a job in a reputable company. The BGV team can easily discover the absconding case through the PF service history. I want to be honest from my side. So, should I tell my future employer during the selection process about my absconding history? Will they accept me for onboarding?

Probably, you have no choice since all the previous instances of such short tenures are easily traceable, and they are undeniable facts. The question that remains is not whether you quit those employments or not, but what a recruiter would look for is why you quit them so soon. So, you need to have a clear, convincing answer for them. Now, you are continuing with the existing employer for nearly 5 years, which is a redeeming feature, and you can highlight it to prevent any adverse inference.

Hi, Great that you understand the importance of proper relieving from an organization.

If you have absconded and been relieved within a month, there is a fair chance that your PF contribution may not have been done. Also, organizations usually don't issue a relieving letter in case the employee leaves before one month.

Can you confirm if you can see the two short experiences in the service history of your PF portal?

Since you already have an experience post the two absconding, my limited suggestion is to not include such experience in your resume, the reason being not of absconding but of a very short stint, i.e., < 1 month.

Typically, organizations do the BGV for the last experience. Even if they ask you a question on why you have not shown the two experiences, you can mention that they are less than 1 month and hence not relevant in the context and tell them there is no letter to back up as nothing was provided to you since it's < 1 month. Let's be practical here, a 1-month experience isn't even considered an internship.

Thanks.

Yes, those two employers have created a PF account, and the same is reflected under service history in the UAN portal. Now, I can see that the BGV team tracked the previous employment through the PF service history as well. So, there is no way I can hide these employers from my profile. The important thing is that I am unable to obtain the relieving letter now as they are not entertaining my request. In that case, the only option I am left with is to tell the truth to my future employer about my absconding history during the selection process, which I am still unsure if it is a wise decision. Could someone please guide me on how to proceed now?

I presume you have already received wise suggestions in this forum. Please note that if you provide your previous employment history, a competent recruiter may raise an eyebrow while noting this.

So, all of these need to be taken into consideration while making an appropriate decision.