Is there a chance they will take me back?

January 8, 2015 12:46 PM

I worked at Job A for 1.5 years. They hired me right after I finished my degree. Last month I heard Job B was hiring. Job B would give me the opportunity to work with a new and exciting patient population. I let Job A on good terms, and was kept on as a per diem employee and have remained on the on call calendar.

Job B is not working out at all and I am miserable there. I e-mailed my former supervisor from Job A two days ago saying that I really regret my choice to leave and was wondering if there was any way I could come back to them, even if it was with a different schedule or department. I haven't heard anything from them. Have you ever left a job for another job and then realized it was A TERRIBLE MISTAKE? If so how did you deal with the situation? Is there any hope for me?

posted by anonymous to Work & Money (11 answers total)

Hang tight, two days isn't very long and your relationship with A tells me might just be figuring out a response that includes a clear plan.
posted by rhizome at 12:52 PM on January 8, 2015 [5 favorites]

I have not personally done what you want to do, but my company has in the past year rehired two different people who left for other jobs and decided to come back. So it does happen.
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 12:52 PM on January 8, 2015

I've seen it happen twice, to two different people at my company (a multinational IT firm). One came back in ~2 weeks, the other in ~3 weeks, and as near as I could tell, All Was Forgiven. I've lost track of one of the people, but the other has had a really good career since then.

So - yes, it happens. And sometimes, some companies even aren't big dicks about it.
posted by doctor tough love at 12:58 PM on January 8, 2015 [1 favorite]

Yes it definitely happens. It's happened twice at my company. Both times the people were gone for a longer period of time but I don't think it really matters. Sit tight, I'm sure your boss will reply to your email.
posted by radioamy at 1:01 PM on January 8, 2015

Agree that you should wait it out a little longer, but that also your job will take you back. Also new jobs after a long period of time at a prior job are TOUGH. I cried my whole first week, after leaving a company I was with forever (5 yrs PT, 5 yrs FT). But it does get better once you get a little more used to all the new-ness.
posted by kmr at 1:03 PM on January 8, 2015 [1 favorite]

There's always job C.

There are downsides to going back. You may have to take a lower job with less pay, you OWE them for bailing you out. What if the job you go back to is problematic. Perhaps you're working with a terrible manager or the hours suck, or some other thing that's pretty hard to take. If you then make moves to leave again...it's just terrible, you'll burn bridges, especially for the folks who went to bat for you.

I will say that I knew that quitting to teach was a terrible mistake, it was horrible and the job market was TERRIBLE in Florida after dot.com bust. I tried like crazy to find a different job, and finally I sold my house and moved out of state to make it happen.

We're in a recovering economy, so you'll have better luck. You may get back in with Job A, and it may be okay. But see what jobs C, D and E have in store.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 1:30 PM on January 8, 2015 [1 favorite]

"All beginnings are hard." - Chaim Potok

It definitely happens, especially when you've left on good terms. You have a difficulty in that you JUST left and now you're asking for your job back. On the plus side, they may not have filled your position. On the down side, this might be seen as flakier than trying something else and a year later deciding it wasn't for you.

Joining the chorus to give the new job a bit longer trial.
posted by randomkeystrike at 3:11 PM on January 8, 2015 [1 favorite]

We really can't answer this question here - depending on how corporate/formal the job A work environment is, there might need to be an HR-approved and legal-approved business-need position created in order to hire you back, involving budgets, higher up approvals, etc. So lets hope for the best but don't take it personally if it's just not possible.

If the answer is no, keep in touch with the person you e-mailed and indicate your interest again in working for job A in the future, asking them to let you know if any there are any openings. And check their job listings every so often as you look for other jobs/start at job C.
posted by never.was.and.never.will.be. at 4:12 PM on January 8, 2015

Hiring back is very common in my personal experience. I've been hired back and I've seen about a dozen other people hired back in 3 different companies. In fact, some of the contracts here have a clause that you can't be hired back until 6 months have passed, and I've seen several people just wait that out and then get hired back afterward, all while management keeps track of exactly how long they have to wait to get that guy back.

So, in general, it's possible, and there may not be any repercussions at all. But every workplace is different, so we can't really tell what might happen in your case. Two days really is a short time, so let it sit for a while before you decide what other actions to take. Maybe you can contact someone on your old team and go out to lunch to talk about it "off the record" to get a feel for the environment without expecting any promises.
posted by CathyG at 8:48 AM on January 9, 2015

And by the way, if you do get hired back, ask HR about bridging your terms of service from your previous stint. For example, at my company, you get an extra week of vacation at 5 years. If you leave after 1.5 years and then come back, they bridge your service so you only need 3.5 more years to get that extra week vacation.
posted by CathyG at 9:14 AM on January 9, 2015

Sounds like you're some sort of health care professional. If you left on good terms (and still being per diem) is good terms, you should be able to return.

I have seen a lot of nurses, techs, etc. leave for "greener pastures" (usually for a bump in salary), decide the new place is not great, and come back. Because a lot of places ALWAYS have openings for nurses, or PTs, or rad techs, it is usually easier for these folks to come back then it might be for a desk jockey-type person to do so.

Give your old boss a week to respond, but also be aware you can apply through HR as well.
posted by jeoc at 9:48 AM on January 10, 2015