Current Events > Anyone here to back to your old employer after a few months?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Can you share what your experience was like?

:(

To give some context, it looks like Ill be getting an offer with a new company. Theyve asked for references.

But I had coffee with an executive at my former company whos made it clear he wants me back. Ill be meeting my old boss later this week just to talk. The executive said to just say the word and hed advocate for me if needed.

I feel really conflicted. I was happy at my last place. I left because of internal politics/favoritism but after experiencing what a real toxic work place is like, that stuff was trivial. New company seems fine but on some level I worry. Its a devil you know type situation I guess.

Is there anyone else you can get a reference from?
I know most of the people I worked with on contracts used other workers on the contract as references, citing they knew them better and their boss was more of a administrative manager directly/they didn't work for the company anymore
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ask for more money

It sounds like you want to go back... maybe I'm wrong... but that's just what I'm picking up from over here. If you want to go back, and you've someone advocating for you... then why not? Just make sure you ask for more money.

All work places involve people, and with people... comes drama. For 5 days a week you're all spending 40 or more hours at a place you don't want to be. Drama is inescapable.

It really comes down to asking yourself "what degree of drama can I tolerate?" If your last job has a smaller, more manageable, amount of drama (and you actually want to go back), then I don't see why not.
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Depends, are they going to hand off your files for no reason again?

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Don't look back, you left for a reason.

If anything, you tell yourself, now you are a new person...and ignore the Bullshit.
Enjoy the Honeymoon period!
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We walked past each other one day. He smiled and nodded but I didn't realize til afterwards who it was. Looked a lot less tall.
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Goats posted...

We walked past each other one day. He smiled and nodded but I didn't realize til afterwards who it was. Looked a lot less tall.

Was he The Man Who Sold The World?
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BignutzisBack posted...

Depends, are they going to hand off your files for no reason again?

Well technically their reason was to promote someone over me lol. Apparently it pissed off a lot of others as well. They also recently promoted some other guy who wasnt deserving of it and now a bunch of other people want to quit. They hired a new VP finally and shes been calling them out for the BS and plans on changing things. Which makes it more promising.

But I dunno if I care anymore about titles. I do plan on asking for more money though. Better than getting in arguments with crazy people who lie and cheat to steal your clients and get away with it.

I do hesitate and this other company seems great. But I worry I wont like it and I dont want another short term job on my resume. So just want to consider all options

If you know it's toxic and you left because it was toxic, it's probably still toxic. Leverage the old offer if you're still in compensation negotiation. Maybe play a few rounds if you're good at it with both companies.
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Dont go back if its the same or similar role IMO - it rarely works out and people will remember you walked out once before and question your long term commitment. As others have mentioned work out what you want out of it and stick to it - whether its title, more money, etc.

I agree that it sounds like you want to go back but Id say part of it is familiarity and everyone likes to go where they feel wanted. Obviously having senior people advocate for you is a good thing but also bear in mind both expectations and whether or not those senior people will actually have much influence on your day to day work life.


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IllegalAlien posted...

If you know it's toxic and you left because it was toxic, it's probably still toxic. Leverage the old offer if you're still in compensation negotiation. Maybe play a few rounds if you're good at it with both companies.

Thats the thing. It was never toxic. This current company is, which is why Im leaving after a little over 3 months. I was on good terms with people. But yeah Im expecting an offer from a new company soon and would definitely leverage it.
gloBal enemy posted...

Dont go back if its the same or similar role IMO - it rarely works out and people will remember you walked out once before and question your long term commitment. As others have mentioned work out what you want out of it and stick to it - whether its title, more money, etc.

I agree that it sounds like you want to go back but Id say part of it is familiarity and everyone likes to go where they feel wanted. Obviously having senior people advocate for you is a good thing but also bear in mind both expectations and whether or not those senior people will actually have much influence on your day to day work life.

Yeah I would ask for more money. And this is an executive Id work with directly. My former manager had wanted the other guy to work with him over me (to justify his promo) but this guy doesnt want to play those games. He knows what Im about. So if I go back it would be somewhat different.

At this point Im just exploring and going over pros/cons. What has me thinking is that this new company also has toxicity issues from what a couple of other former employees have told me. So I really want to cover my bases.

Just so I have some context what type of work/role is it? I see you mentioned clients earlier so wasnt sure if they are clients you had to win yourself or worked on extensively and will get back, etc.

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$ is what matters

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So interesting turn of events, I discovered a former coworker of mine works at this new company. We got along well so I reached out and he helped me get the inside scoop of everything. Seems very similar to my old job and he also brought up I should consider going back to our last company since I had it good there. I told him that was what I was deliberating. Both are good options.

So I texted my old boss and asked that we meet for lunch and talk. He was happy to hear from me and were meeting later this week.

Then a little after that, he (my old boss) called me to say he was also on his way out soon, and hes still more than happy to help me get back in. But he wants me to consider working with him at this new company hes going to lmao. Its a company I also like and contemplated applying but theyre a big commute from me but if my boss is there Im sure we could figure something out (Ill talk to him about it at lunch)

Sooo I guess I have a third option now lol. This is why it helps to get on peoples good sides at work. You never know where they will go and if they can help you later. Ive never done the whole networking thing before but its helped me quite a bit with this job hunt so far