Left old job, want it back...

Transform_IT

Transform_IT

Transform_IT

Associate
Joined
18 Oct 2012
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482
Morning guys,

My wife recently left her old job and moved companies with the hope of career progression. 4 weeks into her new job, she is having major doubts and in reality hates the new job and the company. They were both sold as something completely different and in reality, not what she expected... at all.

So, we have had a sit down and discussed things in great detail and the only thing that would make her happy is having her old job back. Obviously, things aren't that simple and luckily her old job is still advertised. She has been in touch with her old boss and the HR department at her last company and they have said the only way to make the process fair would be for her to apply.

I have told her to write a cover letter expressing why she wants to go back and how she has made a mistake etc. But, I was wondering if you guys had any tips or pointers which may help with her trying to secure her old position?

Many thanks,

T_IT.
 
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I would really try to avoid that, it would make for some particularly interesting (read, negative) interpersonal/political dynamics I imagine.

Transform_IT said:
the only thing that would make her happy is having her old job back
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Are you 100% sure about this? It's only been a few weeks since she thought she wanted to go elsewhere! The chance of the only route to satisfaction being getting her old job back is essentially zero, surely?
 
Well, on-topic, 4 weeks is a really short time tbh, and it probably won't look great from the perspective of her old employer either...
 
What was her reason for leaving? Lack of progression, training, development?

It all depends on the conversations and reasons for leaving - if she wasn't liked there is no chance they'll re-hire, or if she gave crap reasons for leaving or bad mouthed the business/colleagues.

If they are missing her and struggling to fill the position they could accept her back, but it should be based on interview as any other job would be. She has a massive advantage though with alreayd knowing the business, colleagues and systems - play on that and it should be easy to go back. Whether it will work out well for her future career though is an entirely different and more concerning point.
 
Depends on the company and the people she works with but it can be pretty toxic. I did it and you have people that resent you because you left and others that think you must be a failure as you couldn't get a job elsewhere, wasn't really the same. I left on good terms as well and went back at their request. Wouldn't do it again.
 
Two observations
1. The same reasons she left in the first place should not be expected to have been improved, if their face doesn't fit and she was getting overlooked, expect all that to come back quite soon.
2. If the company haven't jumped at the opportunity of taking her back on as a 'known' entity which would save recruitment fees and/or all the overhead of taking on a new person, then I'd say IME they are being polite but the chances of success would be low

I'd look around for other opportunities and you can 'explain' it away fairly easily in the current climate..
 
Best thing to do is basically grin and bear the new job until she can get another one. Going back to the old company saying you made a mistake etc is not as endearing as people think it is. She would potentially be placing herself into a position where she is going to get no real career as the old company will think she can't hack it somewhere else and incorrectly think she is an easy touch, especially as it has only been 4 weeks.
 
My wife did this, though she only lasted one day in the new job. Unfortunately, the grass isn't always greener, better the devil you know etc.

She had to go cap in hand and explain to them that she'd made the wrong decision, that she regretted it etc and remarkably, they took her back. Showed amazing bravery and strength of character for her to do that. I can't imagine how nervous/scared she would have been. The old job, in her scenario, was also ****, but it least it wasn't uncomfortable.

She ended up securing a much better job not too long after, and the company was bought out by Topps Tiles at some point after they haemorrhaged staff for a few months. Good that she got out of there.
 
Transform_IT said:
Morning guys,

My wife recently left her old job and moved companies with the hope of career progression. 4 weeks into her new job, she is having major doubts and in reality hates the new job and the company. They were both sold as something completely different and in reality, not what she expected... at all.

So, we have had a sit down and discussed things in great detail and the only thing that would make her happy is having her old job back. Obviously, things aren't that simple and luckily her old job is still advertised. She has been in touch with her old boss and the HR department at her last company and they have said the only way to make the process fair would be for her to apply.

I have told her to write a cover letter expressing why she wants to go back and how she has made a mistake etc. But, I was wondering if you guys had any tips or pointers which may help with her trying to secure her old position?

Many thanks,

T_IT.
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It's not unusual to feel like that. I've felt like that in several jobs I've then gone on to enjoy. That said, I've also experienced lots of people bouncing after no time at all and many going back where they came from although not back to the job they left.

However, if she really wants so I'd do the explaining it in conversation/interview not in a letter, that's too open to misinterpretation. I'd make the application letter completely bland and have an "as discussed" somewhere in there if you really must.

Personally I would go with a new application/cover letter and follow up with a call. Trying to explain any of that in writing is an invitation to a backfiring.
 
I've seen this with a few people I have worked with, there isn't really a correct answer as it will depend entirely on the reason your wife left her employer and the dynamic of the environment she left.

In my workplace one guy left and returned after about a week because the role he moved to wasn't as it was sold to him, so he says anyway. He burnt a lot of bridges at the new company in how he carried himself during that change. To best honest it felt like a bit of a betrayal to our team and company when he decided to leave us because of the way he handled it also, I wouldn't have had him back if it were up to me but the positions are hard to fill and it was much easier for them to welcome him back. On the flip side to that there were colleagues of mine who after a year or so with us returned to their original employer as they missed their old work and their previous employers and teams were really happy to have them back and they were good people but also left on good terms so there was no hard feeling it sometimes happens you realise you preferred your old role. We have had people who have left as permanent members of staff and had time out travelling etc or trying a new role and then came back as contractors, again welcomed back no problem.

It really depends on the circumstances, the culture of the company and why and how your wife left the previous role. If she left because of things like lack of progression, dissatisfaction with the role, cultural problems etc then is it realistic to expect anything to be different when she returns? Probably not. There are a lot of companies out there of course. I'd also say 4 weeks isn't quite enough time to get to grips with a new environment, but also sometimes you do just know in your gut when something is wrong.
 
Thank you for your feedback. I don't believe she should return, however, she has already made her mind up and in reality there is very little I can do to change this. As a result, there is no other choice but for to apply for her old position and hope she is successful. Legally, the company doesn't have to advertise the position if they believe they have the ideal/suitable candidate. But, I've told her not to expect to be given the job and to have to work in order to potentially secure it.
 
I would prepare her for disappointment now.

The very fact they're making her apply rather than taking the easy route of giving the position back to what can only be the most immediately suitably qualified candidate going, suggests to me right off the bat that they're at least partly expecting to not give her the job for whatever reason. Maybe it's political, maybe they think she wasn't actually that good at it in the first place and are actually looking forward to getting a fresh face in the role, maybe they're just being ultra ethical now the post is advertised but it doesn't bode well for her chances whichever way you look at it.

Given it was a 'career progression' move, they may well be considering the fact that even if they took her back, if they had no career plans for her to start with (whether by choice or simply no opportunity) then they'll be half expecting her to leave again within a few months when she finds a new better career option meaning they'd be wasting money on the recruitment process twice over.

To echo a few comments above, i've also never seen people return in favourable circumstances regards attitudes from other employees unless you're talking a few years. People are often either very bitter that you felt 'better than them' and had to move on or they view you as a failure for having to give up so quickly and come back.
 
Why not look for other jobs as well, she already knows she will struggle to get career progression in the old job, so going back sounds like a negative move. Might also look odd on the CV and further limit future progression i.e. if someone left a company then came back into the same role after a couple of months it could potentially raise red flags with prospective employers in future, here is someone who is institutionalised and/or can't hack the pressure of changing jobs, we don't want to risk taking them on.

I know looking to move on so quickly will look odd anyway, but I'd probably have more confidence in someone who had worked at:

Company A role 1 for x years
Company B role 2 for 3 months
Company C role 3 for 2 years

than someone who'd done:

Company A role 1 for x years
Company B role 2 for 3 months
Company A role 1 for 2 years.

The first scenario demonstrates that the problem was Company B role 2 and that they've been able to progress elsewhere; the second scenario you aren't sure, as you've never seen them successfully move out of Company A role 1.
 
Sounds like a terrible idea to me. Obviously the grass is not always greener, as she has found out, but if she had reason enough to leave in the first place then I can't imagine she will be happy for that long if she returns.
 
Fubsy said:
It all depends on the conversations and reasons for leaving - if she wasn't liked there is no chance they'll re-hire, or if she gave crap reasons for leaving or bad mouthed the business/colleagues.
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We had someone leave bad mouthing colleagues especially management in the process then stuff didn't work out and they came begging for their old job back - they rehired him as management wanted to see him taken down a peg or two - he was very humble for a few weeks.
 
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