Going back to old job after a week?

Hello,

After about eight years at my last company, I received a great offer to leave that included almost a 30% raise and increased responsibilities and scope. So even though I was extremely comfortable in my current role and loved the people, I took the new job as it offered progression and the money would be nice for my family.

When I sat down day one, my gut told me right away that I should go back to my old job. The company seems great but the scope of the job is a bit out of my comfort zone and it just doesn't seem like it's going to fit. Now I'm having serious thoughts about going back to my old job. Has anyone here done that and been successful long term? Or counter to that, would anyone recommend against it?

Your advice is much appreciated

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Comments

Chev Chellios

Hey,

From my own experiences I would say give the new job chance at least a little longer. Sometimes having a good job before is bad as you stick to your comfort zone and compare everything else to it especially the role and previous colleagues.

What is it about the new place that's giving you second thoughts as progressing and stepping out of your comfort zone is usually difficult at first in a new role.

kohr-ah

This is normal. You are out of your comfort zone and my mind plays these games all the time.

Stay where you are and it'll pass. You can't judge a role after a week. Give it 3 months at minimum and if it still doesn't feel right then re-evaluate your situation.

cyberguypr

Can you expand on what is making you say that the job is ouside your comfort zone? Was it sold to you one way and it ended up being something else? Is it perhaps that you are having some sort of "buyers remorse"? Are the tasks more complex than you thought? Or finally, are you just uncomfortable or did you see something that made you say "heck no, I need out now!"?

Just trying to get a clearer view of what's going on.

networker050184

Eight years is an eternity in a job these days. I can imagine you were completely comfortable at the last position. Sometimes it's good to challenge yourself and get out of the comfort zone.

Mooseboost

You are in a new place, with a new role, and with new people. Give yourself some time to adjust.

N2IT

It happens, I wouldn't worry about it. I usually find my gut is right.

Cyberscum

I had the same feelings about my current position. I stuck it out and had those feelings for about 3 months. I can honestly say I made the right choice. Change is never pleasant but sometimes necessary.

iBrokeIT

After a week?! You're not even giving your new job a reasonable chance.

Like others have said, it takes about 3 months minimum to get acclimated to a new job before making a fair decision about it.

Mosaic3

cyberguypr wrote: »

Can you expand on what is making you say that the job is ouside your comfort zone? Was it sold to you one way and it ended up being something else? Is it perhaps that you are having some sort of "buyers remorse"? Are the tasks more complex than you thought? Or finally, are you just uncomfortable or did you see something that made you say "heck no, I need out now!"?

Just trying to get a clearer view of what's going on.

Sure, there are two main reasons:

1) My previous role was more of an support / analyst position that I was extremely comfortable in. My new role however is much more hands on and more in the systems engineer realm. That's not to say I can't do the work, but it has been a bigger change than I expected.

2) I really had a great relationship with my former co-workers / manager, more than I even realized while I was there. So that in itself has left a bit of a hole for me.

On the flipside though, the new job was about a 18k raise, so that is a lot to give up.

N2IT

18k is a lot.

kurosaki00

I think most people wait a couple of weeks. Depending on the job and the complexity of the company infrastructure/software it could even take months before you establish a good routine or feel OK with the tools and information.

To leave 30% raise on the table without even trying ... I wouldn't have done that. But if you like your old job, you like your job.

N2IT

Kurosaki something to be said for liking your job. Agreed, if you liked your job you like your job.

successrealm

You left for a reason.
IF you went "back", trust me.....they won't look at you the same way ever again.

STAY at the new job, and move up. (Hint, don't stay anywhere for 8 years, anymore. The days of truly retiring and getting that "gold watch" and actually being DONE are gone. Long gone. If I would have known that simple concept years ago about how IT really works, I would have never stayed somewhere for 5 years here, 7 years there, et cetera.)

Corporations do not love us, and it's best to think of yourself as a commodity that they can easily ship overseas for 2 bucks an hour on any given day.
Last bit of this rant? SCREW them. Move up, move on, move up, move on. Trust me...I learned the hard way. The thing corporations love the most, is when they have you at a certain pay and you are happy with your title, and you stay there year after year after year, until you look back on your peers getting Director jobs after 8 years while you're still LOYAL to one company...still doing support/analyst/tech boy.

Ok, NOW my rant is over.

N2IT

That was quite the rant. You should put that energy into a podcast

beads

successrealm wrote: »

You left for a reason.
IF you went "back", trust me.....they won't look at you the same way ever again.

STAY at the new job, and move up. (Hint, don't stay anywhere for 8 years, anymore. The days of truly retiring and getting that "gold watch" and actually being DONE are gone. Long gone. If I would have known that simple concept years ago about how IT really works, I would have never stayed somewhere for 5 years here, 7 years there, et cetera.)

Corporations do not love us, and it's best to think of yourself as a commodity that they can easily ship overseas for 2 bucks an hour on any given day.
Last bit of this rant? SCREW them. Move up, move on, move up, move on. Trust me...I learned the hard way. The thing corporations love the most, is when they have you at a certain pay and you are happy with your title, and you stay there year after year after year, until you look back on your peers getting Director jobs after 8 years while you're still LOYAL to one company...still doing support/analyst/tech boy.

Ok, NOW my rant is over.

Neither management nor your coworkers will trust you in the same way(s) again. Everyone and I do mean everyone will be wondering when you will leave again or wait for you to demand more money to stay. New people will come in to the organization and further change things in ways you may not have a great appreciation. New platforms, rules, software and worse of all, the old politics (how to get things done) may change leaving you feeling a bit cut out of the old loop or doing things the "old way".

Granted it may only be a week and people at the old workplace may miss you but you can have beers with them over the long weekend as well. Nothing wrong with keeping in touch - to a point. But after a time its going to be time to further your overall career by taking on new tasks, new challenges and new people. This is also your time to grow personally and professionally or the new organization wouldn't have offered you more money to get you to come aboard. Take that as a sign of confidence in your skills as well.

Congratulations on the new position, by the way.

- b/eads

successrealm

N2IT wrote: »

That was quite the rant. You should put that energy into a podcast

Indeed. I need to do something with my thoughts.

Friggin' studying for CISSP is making me want to choke-slam somebody...

TLeTourneau

I would recommend giving it more time. You're comfort zone will expand to encompass the new skills and it will become less intimidating with time. Did your former coworkers stop talking to you after you left? If so perhaps you and they have a different perspective on the relationship.

On another note, I disagree in general with the blanket statement of not staying with a company for an extended period. I believe that it depends on the company and opportunities for internal advancement. The company I work for has over 7000 people in the IT departments so meaningful advancement can happen internally. We have several people that retire after 30+ years with the company.

VinnyCisco

Give it more time. Like at least 3 months. I am in a similar spot - Just started at a new site back in January. The first month was mostly trying to fit into the culture. I was not sure if I wanted to last past March. Well, June is almost here and I still have some moments where I wonder if I want to stay put, but those moments are less frequent now.

Give it a shot. Get into a new comfort zone. And take it from there.

BradleyHU

Mosaic3 wrote: »

Sure, there are two main reasons:

1) My previous role was more of an support / analyst position that I was extremely comfortable in. My new role however is much more hands on and more in the systems engineer realm. That's not to say I can't do the work, but it has been a bigger change than I expected.

2) I really had a great relationship with my former co-workers / manager, more than I even realized while I was there. So that in itself has left a bit of a hole for me.

On the flipside though, the new job was about a 18k raise, so that is a lot to give up.

i think most pplz on here, would jump at the chance to move up in responsibility, especially from support to sysadmin/engineer role, and not even think twice about it...

and i'd never give up $18K to go back to a lesser role...

N2IT

Bradley I always like your takes.

If you had a job for 10 months would you bounce before a year for 20 k?

BradleyHU

N2IT wrote: »

Bradley I always like your takes.

If you had a job for 10 months would you bounce before a year for 20 k?

it depends on if its the type of firm(law, financial, healthcare, tech, etc) that i want to work for. Also I would research how the company is doing, and the culture there, and if there's high turnoever, etc. I'd also see how I like it where i'm currently at. If I like where i'm at now, and it isn't my dream job(not that I have one) that's calling, i'd stay put for another year to 18 months. I'm sure I'll still get that $20K jump in the near future again...he'll i got almost that when I made this jump i did last year. But now if we're talking something like $40K+ jump, however unlikely that is, i'm out in a NY minute...no regrets or nothing.

inverse_one

Don't make a mistake like I did and go back too early. Things aren't the same if you do go back; people will remember you couldn't make the move and came back. You have to figure not only are you changing jobs, but also a bit of your social circle. My advise is to dig in, feelings will change.

zaleonardz

Resistance to Change is one of the greatest human weakness.

In your old job, you were secure, knew exactly what you were doing, thus your confidence and competence level was not being questioned every minute,

Stick it out at last 3 months bud, you will adapt,

--chris--

Cyberscum wrote: »

I had the same feelings about my current position. I stuck it out and had those feelings for about 3 months. I can honestly say I made the right choice. Change is never pleasant but sometimes necessary.

Days 1-20 at my current job were like this. "Oh man, I need to call my old boss ASAP"...

Those feelings went away. Its that uncomfortable zone of having to prove yourself again and learn new processes and meet new people all while living up to the expectations that bring on that new level of pay.

Its tough, but you will find you probably made the right choice.

UnixGuy

Ok few points

1) OP you answered your own question - you feel uncomfortable because you stayed for 8 yrs in a company (extreme complacency). Even if you stayed for 8 months, any change is uncomfortable, it's just that you haven't done it for a long time that makes it harder

2) Completely disagree with the "staying in the same company for years is bad"...depends on the company, every situation is unique.

3) I'm in the same boat OP I left a very comfortable position (easy six figures, no stress, no weekends no on call, I was almost my own boss), and I moved to a very stressful 24/7 environment, and been learning new technologies and wondering why did I even do that move but I'm growing...I thought of walking away but I've been here for 3 months, I'd like to stick it out for at least a year, time passes quickly.

TerminalB

OP, it sounds like you left your old company in very good standing, so I would give this new job 6 months to a year and see how it goes. Worst case, you still don't like it and you go back, maybe even with a raise due to your increased skillset. In the interim though, there is no reason to give back all of that money and potential growth so soon.