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‘There's no going back”, or so we are often told. Yet, it is possible to return to an old employer without your tail between your legs. Indeed, one in four private sector organisations proactively track and re-hire former employees – a trait called ‘boomeranging'.
But, before you take the step of contacting your former boss and asking for your old job back, take a moment to consider if you are really doing the right thing.
Avoid nostalgia
If they are contacting you for a position that has arisen ask yourself the question “Do I really want to go back there?” It's easy to look back fondly on an old job, especially if the hopes and aspirations in your current company have not been realised.
Remind yourself why you made the decision to leave your old company in the first place. What guarantees do you have that an problems you had will be resolved this time around?
Making contact
If you're contact them with regards to a role, be sure to make it clear that you genuinely miss the company and how they do business. You can make tentative enquiries to your old boss about the possibility of a return but explain that you left the company in the belief that you were being offered an opportunity that was not available to you otherwise.
Try and keep it quiet in the initial stages, especially if you work in a close-knit industry where gossip spreads like wildfire.
How to make the transition
Never assume that things won't have changed when you return. People, jobs and even the office décor may have changed. Even if you are going back to the same job you held previously, it is possible that the role itself may have changed in response to organisational priorities. You will need to be fully prepared for this and you should check on the new company methods before ploughing on with things.
You left your former colleagues with the notion that you were leaving for the promise of better prospects, a higher salary and greater challenges. But, now, you will be walking back through the same doors you so eagerly walked out of, and it won't be easy.
There may be some resentment from former colleagues who think that you are getting preferential treatment, and you'll face many questions about why you have returned. Be open and honest and don't skirt around the issue. The fact that you returned will reassure colleagues that the grass isn't always greener after all.