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Quick background: I joined a company last month, for a project manager position. For past few weeks I was going through KT with the person I was supposed to be replacing. I had not started actual work yet, as in no tasks are assigned to me yet.

Now, last week, senior project manager told me that "client has closed the requirement". Just 5 days before that, client accepted my profile for the position. So, it sounds weird that they accepted my profile and 5 days later, closed the whole position. Anyway, I didn't say anything because it is still a possibility.

2 days later, I got calls from multiple job agencies, for same position, in same office location. Now, possibility is company fired me for a different reason, which they are unwilling to share.

Now, I have no interest in working in this company anymore. Call it lack of interest in dealing with shit. But I still want to know what went wrong. If there is another reason for firing me, it will be helpful for me in the future. Because clearly it was not the performance.

I am wondering if it would be a good idea to even talk to HR about this. After all, I am going to accuse them of lack of integrity by even talking about this. I don't really care much about what they think of me. I just don't want to have unnecessary drama, as I am hoping to get my one month's salary and one month's notice.

P.S. I joined this company because I accepted their offer before other two companies sent in their offers. Next time, f integrity, I am joining whichever company pays me more.

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    Did you start your employment, but not start doing actual work, or were you waiting for you first actual day of work? That first paragraph is a bit confusing. Commented Aug 26, 2019 at 5:25
  • I was just going through the knowledge transfer phase. I have not done any actual work yet. There was no task assigned to me. Commented Aug 26, 2019 at 5:27
  • Sorry that happened. What's most likely happening with the agencies is they are just trying to place a candidate. Don't blame you for not wanting to work for them, even if they actually had an opening again. I was placed in a contract position 28 years ago and got the "bounce" early. Let's just say that I never worked for that agency ever again. That kind of drama just plain sucks. Commented Aug 26, 2019 at 5:38
  • That's the problem. If agencies are trying to place someone, that means client never closed the position, and company has no integrity. If so, I would love to put it out in the open, to get full clarity. Obviously, it is not a good look for me for my future job applications to say "I left after 1 month". Commented Aug 26, 2019 at 5:44
  • Can you contact the client directly and ask if the position is still open (maybe be hired by them directly) because one company told you A while at the same time agencies contact you telling you B. Commented Aug 26, 2019 at 8:00

3 Answers 3

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Since this is Indian context:

Last week, senior project manager told me that "client has closed the requirement"

This is quite possible if the client didn't just close the position, but the contract as well (for your employer). Even otherwise, requirements for contract positions can be in flux depending on business scenarios.

On the other hand, recruiters can blindly cold call/email about opportunities just to get hold of your resume/contact details, so that they can pitch you another role which they actually have. So don't pay this too much attention. I've had incidences where recruiters reached out to me for the same role at the same company I was already working for, so never treat a middleman recruiter as source of truth.

I joined this company because I accepted their offer before other two companies sent in their offers. I am joining whichever company pays me more.

In my experience, the hiring process is broken, and offer shopping is very real in India. Even companies are aware of that, and few even plan for that (Hiring X+Y devs instead of the X devs they need because their past experience showed that Y in X devs don't turn up).

I've seen instances of companies being wary of presenting the proper offer letter, instead sharing offer details on plain text email so that they can get the candidate to actually resign, but not use their offers to shop further (doesn't work, but they try). Many a times candidates hold 4-5 offers before really joining the one they deem best.

As such, if you are really being undervalued, as per the market reality, you have the option of telling the company that you have received a better offer, and checking whether they can match your offer or not. In a competitive market, if the employee has to be competitive with skills, employers too have to be competitive with work environment and compensation. I have seen wide distribution of salaries for the same role with similar experience even in larger organizations, so negotiating doesn't hurt, though the way you negotiate might.

as I am hoping to get my one month's salary and one month's notice.

They are only going to pay you the amount mandated by your offer letter. Unless you have entered a messy organization which likes to renege on the offer letter terms (which would be against the local laws), they would be obligated to pay you. Going for the legal process can be very lengthy in India, so no point in burning any bridges.

Now, I have no interest in working in this company anymore. But I still want to know what went wrong.

Confront someone high enough in the food chain about it, but be polite when you do so. Since you have applied for a project manager role, in all probability you would have interacted with 2-3 other managers, or director. Ask them what they think happened wrong. Keep this informal (no written communication) and tell them that you ask because you want to understand if there was anything you could have done to get a more positive output.

As long as you ask out of genuine desire for self-satisfaction (yes, no fault of yours, but was there scope for being more proactive or get KT faster?), and not make it look like you are blaming someone/them/organization, people will not be defensive and will try to answer you professionally to the detail they can.

In my experience, HR in India can be completely clueless about the actual business decisions, and hence, other than reiterating templated responses, they are not a genuine source for understanding what went wrong.


My opinion based on your comments to another answer (IANAL): The company lost the position due to business reasons with the client. In the interest of self preservation of their own business, they have decided to let you bear the brunt of it, which is completely unethical. Since they have acted shady, they most probably will be (ab)using the clause of quick termination under X month probation period that most offer letters in India contain. If you have such a clause in your offer letter contract, do also check about the notice period pay in such case.

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    That's the end goal here. To figure out if something done by me could have fixed it. I did talk to the senior project manager (my reporting manager), but he simply said "I can't help if the client closes the position". I will check the clause of notice period pay for sure. Commented Aug 26, 2019 at 13:11
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If you know you were not hired for performance reasons, there is little to be gained from finding out why you were fired.

It's hard for me to answer as frankly, the Indian way of employment doesn't make much sense to me.

From my understanding, there are three levels where the screw up may have occurred:

  • Job Agency
  • Employer (aka Company)
  • Client

It's unlikely your only company is going to be honest with you on why they fired you.

It's also quite possible that the client project has indeed changed, and the job agencies are not aware.

As an aside, you are not lacking integrity for going for the company that pays you the most. It's up to you to decide what you value. Remember that companies will dump you at a moment's notice, so you need to do what's best for you.

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  • That's the problem. I don't know what was the reason for this change. I was already reporting at the office, going through the knowledge transfer process, applying for access cards etc. It was so sudden, I just don't know how to react. I am just wondering if I should push HR for the exact reason, considering I am still receiving calls for the same job. I need to know if I should ever consider this organization again in the future. If it was really just the project change, then I should still keep the possibility of coming back. Commented Aug 26, 2019 at 7:24
  • @jitendragarg If the client has already approved you, it's a big risk for your company to fire you. What if the client doesn't approve the new guy? If the client has spent time training you, they will be pissed off. So, the client must have not been happy with you, or the project must have been cancelled. Commented Aug 26, 2019 at 7:33
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    @jitendragarg What usually happens when the project ends? Do you remain employed with your company, and get moved onto a different project? Or are you unemployed? Commented Aug 26, 2019 at 7:33
  • In this case, I am unemployed starting tomorrow. :( And as for client, apart from sending them my profile, I have had no interaction with them. They approved the profile. There was no background check done by the client or company, so no possibility of any issue there. Also, since I have not started working yet, or had any interaction with the client, it is still a possibility that my company decided to fire me for some random reason that I am unfamiliar with. It won't be a big issue as I never took over the role as far as client is concerned. Company can say 'he decided not to join". Commented Aug 26, 2019 at 7:37
  • @jitendragarg Another possibility is that your company lost the contract, for whatever reason. Commented Aug 26, 2019 at 7:38
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Ask yourself: What do you want to achieve? And will you achieve it by confronting HR? It seems unlikely that you will achieve anything that will improve your own position. Unless you have found out that you were fired because someone wants to give your job to a friend or relative, in which case HR might decide that's not in the best interest of the company since they have been paying you about a month of salary for nothing.

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  • I just want to ensure that it was not a mistake of mine. Because if it was not, then few years down the line, I can definitely come back for a better role. If it was a mistake of mine, I can at least try to fix the same for the future. Commented Aug 26, 2019 at 13:08
  • I upvoted because I think this answer really gets to the heart of the matter. @jitendragarg - search for other questions on the subject of "how to get feedback on why I was let go" - it's not typical for employers to give specific reasons for letting someone go.
    – dwizum
    Commented Aug 26, 2019 at 13:46

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