should I sign 'Bond' ?

Hello guys and girls,

First time I am starting some serious thread in fact have a query..

I am a web designer and a Fresher to be more exact with no corporate experience but I am doing freelancing for last 7 months which is going well but I got suggestion-advice that I should get some job to get experience..

so I went for interviews from which two of them are very positive but problem is they are asking to sign a bond.

first one is for 6 months bond with 20K deposit which they will return after 6 months/bond completion and second one is for 2 years bond and they will keep all original certificate..

So I am not comfortable in signing bond.. so need an advice from you all please help.. need to reply ASAP..

Edit :

First company : gowebbaby
second company : diaspark

Ok for 20k one, never hand over your certificates, ever.

first thing is should I sign bond.. is it good .. second company is very reputed one..

let me make more clear

First company : gowebbaby
second company : diaspark

Is it an option? I mean how important are you? Will those company hire you on your own terms? Without a bond?

I think the answers to these questions will give you your own answer and yes, as a fresher we all have to sign bonds, TCS, Accenture(not exactly sure cause I selected TCS), its not an option.

Bond means for next six months you can't leave the company, if you they would keep that 20K.

If you think you would continue at least for 1yr signing bond is alright. Else, say your terms to them, see what happens. But, being a fresher hardly you would be heard.

2rs bond is out of question. Don't think about it (unless they are paying higher which could be a decisive factor)

yes that is a point being a fresher every one asks to sign a bond.

second is it wiser to freelancing rather then job.. or you should some experience before you start on your own

Personally I am just doing this for experience I have no interest in working for others... would like to work for myself..

I actually talked to the first one.. and they decreased to 6 months at first they asked for an year .. but then they minimum 6 months.. and I don't think second company will even talk... today was the final Interview.. I was one of 6 they shortlisted.. they said they will let us know by friday.

well second company first said about an year bond and now in final HR meeting increased it to 2 years.. for first six months there offer was 1.4L/annul and next six months 1.8L/annul don't know about second year for now.

I was not aware about Indore. But here in Kolkata, generally this type of practices doesn't exists.

Exceptions are there, like some big firms.

Personally, I'm completely against Bond.

^^ just to be clear bond thing is only for freshers. so it must be everywhere isn't it?

^^ No it isn't there, everywhere.

Bonds are kept to retain freshers so that they don't run away after gaining knowledge from the company. bond security is either a deposit or handing over the certificates for the bond period. It is a very risky to hand over your certificates. unless you extremely desperate for a job, you shouldn't sign any bonds. its unethical for a company to demand security deposit. I have worked with many freshers over a period of time and I know their ordeal. BTW in my previous company my friend narrated his initial struggle as a fresher. A very posh looking company hired him as a fresher, IIRC he mentioned there were about 50 employees. they also asked for a security bond of 20K+. Looking at the office and the staff strength he agreed for the bond. monthly salary was suppose to be ~7K. After a month, there was a long weekend with declared holidays, but when they turned up next working day the office was empty.. no computers or other electronic items. even the building owner was in shock as he guy had to pay rent. 50+ employees were cheated.

Never Sign a bond.

look for a smaller company to work for.. you will get experience.. don't bother about salary initially(unless its too critical or your family cannot support you). salary will come with time.

Do not join. Show them the middle finger and walk off. They are holding you as mortgage or what, to harness their employee turnover. Please. These are cheap tactics, and am 100% sure the companies are even worse.

Also, never ever give original of any document to anyone. They can 'view' it for verification. And even if you keep photocopies of anything (PAN/license/marksheets); please cross them with a pen and write the reason. Example: "For cross verification of address". This will prevent misuse. There is a lot of fraud going on.

Asking a money bond is even worse. Refuse, and do not join, even if they waive the bond or negate receiving original documents.

If I'm allowed to say....all leading companies ask for bond for freshers. Its not applicable if you are an experienced person.

Just to name,
TCS
CTS
Infosys
Rolta (4yrs bond!!!!)
L&T
Patni
Mahindra Satyam
Wipro

Yes as I said, generally Big Firms asks for Bonds to freshers. and the reason is already mentioned by RCuber.

As per asingh and others siggested, I'd personally suggest you to stay away from all these. At times they can become worse.

Join from SOHO / SME's to gain experience. Generally you'd learn better in SME's than these Big Firms.

But at the End of the Day, it's totally upto you. Though the 6month bond looks fine to me. As anyone would spend 1 year anyways in a company. But never think of handing over your originals.

But as asingh said, these are cheap policies companies do for hiring freshers, so that you don't leave right then after learning

PS : Keep away TCS from that list, they don't practise these type of bond policies, at least not here in Kolkata, for freshers too.

krishnandu.sarkar said:
PS : Keep away TCS from that list, they don't practise these type of bond policies, at least not here in Kolkata, for freshers too.

But they used to; 50K for 1 year.

Hmmm....need to verify ur comment.

clmlbx said:
second is it wiser to freelancing rather then job.. or you should some experience before you start on your own

Personally I am just doing this for experience I have no interest in working for others... would like to work for myself..

any views on it. Well even I had a mind to deny their offers but needed an opinion that I am not making any mistake.

G

IMO
One word NO.You wont have freedom to change if you don't like your job.
It will lock you in the fear of paying the money.I still regret myself
joining a company with bond as i lost other good offers and couldnt join .

About the certificate thing, never ever do that.

But if you have any financial obligation, its upto you to decide.

rhitwick said:
But they used to; 50K for 1 year.

Hmmm....need to verify ur comment.

Are you sure..?? I didn't heard about it from my seniors, friends and juniors who are placed in TCS now.

lol.... I served that bond.
I can verify from my juniors for present conditions

but, we are going offtopic here...lets stick to Op's issue.

That's right. I was not aware of the thing.

Anyway, personally I don't suggest singing bond.

second is it wiser to freelancing rather then job.. or you should some experience before you start on your own

Personally I am just doing this for experience I have no interest in working for others... would like to work for myself..

clmlbx said:
any views on it. Well even I had a mind to deny their offers but needed an opinion that I am not making any mistake.

you should work in a company to gain first hand experience on how to deal with clients, understand their requirement and estimate the effort. Freelancing is good as you want to work on your own. but you need to consider the following.

you need to convince the client that you are capable of doing the work - best way would be to show case your work in your website / portfolio.

you should be able to convince about the fee you are quoting for the client. you should not settle for a lower fee just because you want to work/earn money. you need to set your standards first, justify your commitment you show towards the project and also the support you will be giving post deployment. with these points you should be able to convince a potential client to hire you.

you can master the above points only through experience. the best way to get experience is to work under a experienced person.

I would recommend you to join a company for 1-2 yrs, create a online portfolio and work on that side by side. also create free simple templates and put those up in popular template sites. once the general public start using your templates and you start getting popular you can start build very professional sites and start charging it. Also learn about various CMS available in the market, this will add weight to your portfolio.

hope this helps.

krishnandu.sarkar said:
Yes as I said, generally Big Firms asks for Bonds to freshers. and the reason is already mentioned by RCuber.

As per asingh and others siggested, I'd personally suggest you to stay away from all these. At times they can become worse.

Join from SOHO / SME's to gain experience. Generally you'd learn better in SME's than these Big Firms.

But at the End of the Day, it's totally upto you. Though the 6month bond looks fine to me. As anyone would spend 1 year anyways in a company. But never think of handing over your originals.

But as asingh said, these are cheap policies companies do for hiring freshers, so that you don't leave right then after learning

PS : Keep away TCS from that list, they don't practise these type of bond policies, at least not here in Kolkata, for freshers too.

TCS demands 50k for 2yrs, very bad policy, 1yr was ok, but 2yrs too much, this is from my offer letter which are same for every freshers everywhere in TCS.
*i.imgur.com/3yOK6.jpg

G

rhitwick said:
If I'm allowed to say....all leading companies ask for bond for freshers. Its not applicable if you are an experienced person.

Just to name,
TCS
CTS
Infosys
Rolta (4yrs bond!!!!)
L&T
Patni
Mahindra Satyam
Wipro

well my friends in cts dont have bond.Well it all depends on offer letter not company.

gopi_vbboy said:
well my friends in cts dont have bond.Well it all depends on offer letter not company.

But my friends in CTS had to sign bonds, looks like its a norm these days.

RCuber said:
you should work in a company to gain first hand experience on how to deal with clients, understand their requirement and estimate the effort. Freelancing is good as you want to work on your own. but you need to consider the following.

you need to convince the client that you are capable of doing the work - best way would be to show case your work in your website / portfolio.

you should be able to convince about the fee you are quoting for the client. you should not settle for a lower fee just because you want to work/earn money. you need to set your standards first, justify your commitment you show towards the project and also the support you will be giving post deployment. with these points you should be able to convince a potential client to hire you.

you can master the above points only through experience. the best way to get experience is to work under a experienced person.

I would recommend you to join a company for 1-2 yrs, create a online portfolio and work on that side by side. also create free simple templates and put those up in popular template sites. once the general public start using your templates and you start getting popular you can start build very professional sites and start charging it. Also learn about various CMS available in the market, this will add weight to your portfolio.

hope this helps.

yes I got same advice from others, to take a job for a year or so.. I am already working on my portfolio. bought domain and hosting .. still under construction.. sharing template on sites is new info for me .. will sure gonna do that any recommended sites. ..yes I know cms are very important so already started learning that.. done how to implement wordpress.. only one important thing remains is theme integration in wordpress. and then will start on joomla.. am also working and then interviews, portfolio,learning new things, best practices so every thing is together so it is going very slow..

clmlbx said:
yes I got same advice from others, to take a job for a year or so.. I am already working on my portfolio. bought domain and hosting .. still under construction.. sharing template on sites is new info for me .. will sure gonna do that any recommended sites. ..yes I know cms are very important so already started learning that.. done how to implement wordpress.. only one important thing remains is theme integration in wordpress. and then will start on joomla.. am also working and then interviews, portfolio,learning new things, best practices so every thing is together so it is going very slow..

you have done your homework

I need to check on template sharing sites.. cant do it right now :s

D

Don't ever join any company that asks you to sign some stupid bond. I worked on some freelance projects from 2010 to 2011 and then joined my first job from April 2011. They still considered me as a fresher since I did not have any office experience but I never signed any sort of bond. I got that job based on my freelance portfolio only. But I left the job after 8 months as I felt I was not gaining much in terms of knowledge & experience. Then I worked as a freelance artist again for 3 months before joining my current office on May this year. I haven't signed any bonds here either. My previous experiences have been enough. I don't plan to work here any longer than another 3 months (6 months total)), since I am working on some stuff that will help me start off something of my own. So if you want to keep your freedom, search for another job.

rhitwick said:
If I'm allowed to say....all leading companies ask for bond for freshers. Its not applicable if you are an experienced person.

Just to name,
TCS
CTS
Infosys
Rolta (4yrs bond!!!!)
L&T
Patni
Mahindra Satyam
Wipro

TCS doesn't have mandatory bond.
CTS doesn't have bond <and I'm going to misuse that..

>
Infosys does have at least 1 year working bond. If anyone leaves, he/she need to work one month for free to get noc. But who cares?

RCuber said:
you have done your homework

I need to check on template sharing sites.. cant do it right now :s

I think so.. but always ready to listen.. will be waiting for any recommended sites when ever you get time please share..

Thanks guys for all your input.. I have decides not to sign any bond so will see what companies have to say else nada.

clmlbx said:
I think so.. but always ready to listen.. will be waiting for any recommended sites when ever you get time please share..

check monstertemplates and other similar sites. you need do a little bit of research on these different sites, there should be sites which would allow users to upload and price their work. if not then a bunch of digit guys can create one

.. I can sponsor

Thanks guys for all your input.. I have decides not to sign any bond so will see what companies have to say else nada.

when denying a offer, carefully chose how you put your reply to them.. when you walk out of the room they should still be considering to hire you without a bond.

Simple no no to bond, especially if it involves depositing certificates or "depositing" money.

Bonds should be made illegal if you ask me. Until and unless it works both ways and has clear up front job description.

^^ nope already cleared that it is just one way only to bound employees, employers are free to let you go anytime.

S

Screw the second company, negotiate for the amount with first one, try to bring it around your monthly in hand! As far as bond amount goes, many companies even provide bond buyouts given the talent you've. So I think you can go with the first one!
Thumbrule: Never ever give your originals even to God! giving your originals ensures a foolproof chance of company making you their puppet and naturally you can't do much about it as you've legally accepted it. Even if you decide to leave them, they'll harass you by retaining the certificates, not relieving you on time et al. Not recommended at all!
Bonds are good for places where you are sure that you'll stay for long and can learn very much otherwise tell them to....!

gopi_vbboy said:
well my friends in cts dont have bond.Well it all depends on offer letter not company.

Yes !..

and +1 on Asingh's reply !!

So signing a bond is ok if they are not keeping the originals or taking some amount as security? In which case they have the right to retain the salary of last month? Or request from us to pay the penalty amount?
And do the bond of this nature even exist?

I am asking since during some recent interviews I had shown "no problem" response when asked about if I am willing to sign a bond. Does it mean, that I will have to choose from depositing some money and/or submit original documents at the time of joining?

yes I guess so.. as I asked them, bond itself is a legal document then why do you need security deposit or original certificates. their reply was bond is nothing legal we can't take any legal action against it as it has nothing written like that in it.. so we take this deposit..

S

First of all just try to get all important information about those companies. Regarding Bond, I think you should go with 6 months bond with 20k deposit as within short period of time you will be free from Bond and could try for another company if you want. On the other hand if you will go for 2nd offer that is for 2 yrs bond you will have to wait for 2yrs to get back your original certificate. From my point of view you should never handover your original certificate to anyone for such a long time. Rest is your decision.

^^ did you even read this thread? :-?

Well, I work for iGate-Patni Computer Systems, and we do have a bond here for the freshers. I had to pay 75k upfront, which would be paid back on completion of 2 years. However, the bond is in the form of FD, and is in my own Salary account, in my name. And I will get the interest on it too (in fact it shows the maturity date and amount too in my salary account).

Though in most of the companies (e.g. TCS) you dont have to pay upfront, but you are required to pay the bond amount if you leave within the limited bond time.

However when it comes to certificates, one should not deposit it to any company, as this is what one has really earned throughout his life so far.

Bonds should be less than of 6 months and 10k at max

P

6 to 1 yr bond is fine ! Don't hand over your original certificates .

Worked in Wipro, they did have a 1 year bond of 75k. You could leave without paying,in which case tyou weren't going to get any reliving letter ,and they also sent by post a legal warning (nothing to worry much about, they can legally pursue you to pay up but it'd cost them more than the bind amount to run a lgal case agaisnt a single person ). Also, people say you're termed as absconding from your current job which gets updated in NSR ( National Skill Registry ), your next employee might cross check your profile in NSR and might object if such comments are present, don't know how true that is.

Left company at the end of 8 months, had to pay 83k bond plus short notice period amount to get the relieving letter

$Sarang\m/$

I recently got placed in Hitachi consulting. I have to join in July. There is a 30 month service agreement but I donot know the details of the agreement. I tried asking in ppt but they didn't give any answer other than that I donot have to give some amount of money if I break the bond. I am not sure what the agreement actually contains. I have not signed it yet. Anyone from here knows about any such thing?. Agreement without any monetory penalty?

check before signing any bond, especially if it has money involved in it,

if you have signed a bond, and you want leave of have found a good job somewhere else, you can abscond (not a good thing to do), please note here you are not resigning from job, you just not going office, the company will wait for you to show up, and then start sending letters for you to come, you still have not resigned, after three later company will terminate your contract, in which case you dont have to pay anything as its the company who terminated not you, this way one can leave the job and not pay anything, also you dont have to reveal to anyone,

bond is just to scare people, and if a company pays 20k per month as a salary, having a 100000 bond is insane,

i know people who have left job without notice, especially in BPO industry attrition is very high, people come join get salary and leave without any trace, they just abscond, some of them inform the company some dont, this is very common for people starting career as they are not sure about company they are joining and what they want to do in future,

at the end, no company pursue it to the court as it involved money and time, also if you pay the bond price and salary in lieu of notice period, company will give you releaving letter but with big note that says that you did not serve notice and company had to struggle with that, which also not worth if you have already paid

so there is NO NO paying anything to any company,

one more thing, if you have spend more than a year with a company and you want to show that experience in future, always serve notice and leave on good note,