In the year 2001, I had recently graduated from college and was working as an academic bureaucrat. I was a student advisor for college students, coordinated orientation for new students, and recruited new students in local high schools.
My entire young career was entirely based in academia and college library work. I was wanted to become a writer and travel the world. I wanted to radically change my life.
So, I quit my safe and reliably college-based job. I had little money saved, so I explored Eastern Europe. I even spent a month in Hawaii.
I came back to New York City, my home city, for a short stay. I was planning to move to California, blissfully ignorant of how prohibitively expensive it was to live then
However, all of my plans got derailed by the September 11 attacks. I watched it on TV that moment in complete shock. I didn’t leave my house for a week.
Not only was I worried about my safety in New York City, I realized I was now unemployed and had no life options in a now radically changed world.
I asked for my old job back and got it. It probably wasn’t the best decision I made, but the past is the past.
Are you in a similar position? You are not alone.
Millions of Americans have been quitting their jobs for six consecutive months, from April to September, in 2021. Over 4.4 million Americans quit their jobs in September 2021. The phenomenon has been called the “Great Resignation.”
Many Americans are quitting their jobs for higher pay or to pursue personal ambitions.
Still, many who left their job may end up asking for it back.
Boomerang Workers
And many will ask for their jobs back. Such workers are known as Boomerang Workers. A large percentage of the Great Resignation wave will ask for their jobs back.
I did, 21 years ago, which was the last time large swathes of American workers quit their jobs in record numbers.
If you have quit your job, you may run out of options if your plans don’t work out. If you have to ask for your job back, here is how to do it.
Reach Out to Former Coworkers
Contact former coworkers to get a lay of the land and assess your chances. Only contact former colleagues likely to help you and not just gossip.
Also, don’t reach out to employers you have burned bridges with – if you quit your job in a spectacularly disrespectful fashion, you have no leverage to ask for your old job back.
Assess Why You Are Coming Back
It might be easier for you to go forward and find new work.
But if you want to ask for your old job back, ask yourself why?
Would it be a step backward professionally? What do you hope to accomplish?
Have you attained new skills and certifications that can make your employer see your rehiring as a benefit?
Why would it benefit your former employer to rehire you?
What did you do after you quit? Why didn’t your plans work out?
Ask yourself these questions before your former employer asks you. Then you may be able to confidently persuade them to rehire you.
Use Email
Contact your former employer by email. Be humble. And don’t make several inquiries looking for an instant answer.
Use that email to explain why you would like to be rehired, given a second chance, and given an opportunity for an interview.
Be Open to Concessions
When you leave a job, your coworkers may have had to take on your responsibilities until a replacement was hired.
Leaving your former job may have caused a lot of professional inconveniences you were unaware of.
Are you willing to take a pay cut?
What would you do if you got a smaller office? Would you accept a different job position?
Are you willing to go back to a job in a position that is a professional rung under the one you quit previously?
Just because you are offered a job by your old employer doesn’t mean you will go back to the same professional situation you left.
Plan Ahead
If you are considering quitting your job, don’t do it on a whim.
Make sure you have enough money to support yourself for a few months. Look up new job opportunities.
If you want to start your own business, then you should consider staying at your job until it is ready to launch. Use your job as a financial buffer so quitting it doe not put your life in financial disarray.
Long story short, if you want to quit your job, think more than twice about it.
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Allen Francis was an academic advisor, librarian, and college adjunct for many years with no money, no financial literacy, and no responsibility when he had money. To him, the phrase “personal finance,” contains the power that anyone has to grow their own wealth. Allen is an advocate of best personal financial practices including focusing on your needs instead of your wants, asking for help when you need it, saving and investing in your own small business.