Software company asked me to resign because of lack of funds to pay salary - What reason should I tell in interview?

Question

I have worked with this company for 10 years and I was performing well. Due to this virus the company stopped working on the on going projects and said they will work on only those projects through which they can earn money right now.

Out of our 5 member team, two (including me) were put on leave with pay for a month and then leave without pay for other two months. Now they have told us to resign since the project on which we were working will start next year and they can't keep us on leave without pay for that long.

I have resigned.

Question: What should I mention in interviews w.r.t my reason of not having a job currently such that they don't feel I have been unemployed for my lack of skills etc.?

In some jurisdictions, you may have rights e.g. to unemployment pay if you are laid off by your employer that you lose if you resign. Check into that before deciding to resign. — Patricia Shanahan, Jul 01 '20 at 04:21
I haven't heard of any unemployement pay in India. @PatriciaShanahan — Aquarius_Girl, Jul 01 '20 at 04:47
@Mawg they have already said they will call me when the project starts. Nothing like this can be received in writing in india — Aquarius_Girl, Jul 01 '20 at 05:43
Does this answer your question? How to convince potential employers that I was not laid off due to poor performance — BSMP, Jul 01 '20 at 09:31

score 6 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 01 '20 at 04:43

6

Be very careful about resigning.

You don’t state your country, but in many, resigning is legally different from being laid off. Resigning often prevents you from collecting unemployment insurance while you search for a new job.

Ideally you would not tell the potential new employer anything. Make it a priority to get resumes out there which say you are presently employed (as that makes you more marketable). You won’t be by the time interviews come up, but by that point it will matter less.

If you are still sending out resumes once you are let go, just tell them that your employer ran out of money and had to pay you off.

answered Jul 01 '20 at 04:43

Matthew Gaiser

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I have resigned already as the HR manager called me and told me to resign that very day. – Aquarius_Girl Jul 01 '20 at 04:49
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I am in India. Haven't heard of anyone collecting unemployement pay. – Aquarius_Girl Jul 01 '20 at 04:51
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@Matthew, it isn't uncommon in India to be "asked to resign". – An SO User Jul 01 '20 at 08:57
@LittleChild is there no redundancy pay - and googling redundancy is on a first in last out basis? – Neuromancer Jul 02 '20 at 19:58
@Neuromancer there's severance but no redundancy pay. – An SO User Jul 03 '20 at 13:14

score 5 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 01 '20 at 08:50

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Tell them the truth during your interviews.

There is no shame in admitting what happened. Obviously, find a positive way to describe it.

But my point is, you have an excellent excuse for having been laid off.

answered Jul 01 '20 at 08:50

Stephan Branczyk

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Disagree. Stating this up front may weaken your negotiating position for pay since you may be seen as desperate. – IDDQD Jul 03 '20 at 14:34
@IDDQD, If you have a better suggestion, I'd like to hear it. Right now, anyone who's unemployed may be seen as desperate anyway. I don't think there is a way to avoid that. – Stephan Branczyk Jul 03 '20 at 23:04
True. But there's no reason to tell a potential employer that you're desperate and you'll soon be jobless. That will give them additional ammo to be used against you during negotiations. – IDDQD Jul 03 '20 at 23:39
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@IDDQD, The OP has already resigned. Plus in India, they have something called "relieving letters" which they must show their new employers, which shows the starting date and ending date of their previous jobs. – Stephan Branczyk Jul 04 '20 at 03:49

Software company asked me to resign because of lack of funds to pay salary - What reason should I tell in interview?

2 Answers2