How to Return to a Job After Quitting

It's been three months since you quit your job. Maybe you just can't stand your new profession or you simply can't stand your new organization. You're pining for your old job. Before you go running back to your former workplace, weigh the pros and cons. After all, there was a reason why you left the job in the first place. If you made a too-hasty decision the first time around, you must first humble yourself, be able to admit that you're wrong and be prepared to answer some tough questions from your previous boss (and now prospective boss) before you begin the quest to get your old gig back.

Instructions

1. Evaluate why you want the old job back. Weigh all the good things about the job and weigh all the cons. This will remind you why you left the job the first time around. If you are simply having a hard time adjusting to a new position, give it some more time. If you have given it time (at least six months), or if the job is starting to impact your physical and/or emotional health because you are so unhappy, these are all legitimate reasons to seek your old job back.

2. Decide what makes you happiest. If you are simply going with the lesser of two evil jobs, maybe you should look elsewhere entirely. However, if you are a career changer, for example, and your motivation to leave the job was monetary, yet you were happier at your old job, then you should really pursue your old gig. Realize, though, if there were things that drove you crazy about your old job they will probably remain there when you return. No job is perfect.

3. Ask if your old job is even available. Before you quit the current profession or position, make sure the gig you want back even exists. Someone may have filled that position by now. There may not even be a place for you in the old organization.

4. Contact a former colleague or someone you trust within the organization. Run the idea past her and see what the likelihood of getting your old job back would be in the first place. Talk to someone who doesn't tell you what you like to hear. You'll want an honest take on not only the chances of getting your job back, but how people perceive you now that you left. It could make it all the more difficult, if you do get that gig back, for people to accept you if there was some animosity when you moved on to another place or different career.

5. Reach out to your old supervisor. If you left on good terms, this should pretty easy. If you did not leave on good terms, why are you even looking at your old organization again? The best mode of communication is in person (second best by phone), and the best approach is to be direct and sincere. Prepare exactly what you're going to say.

6. Anticipate the questions your boss will ask before you meet or call him to ask for your job back. Rehearse your answers. Do so in front of a mirror so you can see the visual cues you may be giving off to your employer. Your boss has every right to ask you the uncomfortable questions, number one being: "Why should I hire you back?" If you really want the job back, it will show.

7. Be honest. Tell your boss you made a mistake. Tell your boss all the ways you are invested in the company. Demonstrate ways you'll enhance, for example, workplace morale when you return. If there were any skills you were shaky on, tell him or her how you've grown and worked on your weaknesses while you were gone.

8. Use colleages and your old connections to the job as leverage. If you have been gone for awhile, a co-worker may now be the department supervisor or may have been promoted to another position of authority. If this person respected you, they'll have a lot more pull to try to get you hired the second time around.

9. Create a functional resume. If you can't get your job back (at least right away), you'll want to create a resume that highlights your skills, as opposed to a chronological resume which may only convey that you are a "job jumper." This is especially useful if you changed careers for a short period of time.

10. Seek temporary, freelance or part-time opportunities. If your old full-time gig isn't available, see if you can still contribute to the organization in a smaller capacity. You do have many things working in your favor, including that you know the company and won't have to be retrained.