Work Advice: Why won’t my old employer hire me back?

Work Advice: Why won’t my old employer hire me back?

Reader: Three-and-a-half years ago, I started working for a tech company with colleagues from a previous role and was incredibly successful, landing a major deal during my second year that “saved” our team when we were struggling. I also was a leader in our employee affinity groups, mentored summer interns and hosted an all-hands call with our biggest customer.

About six months ago, my first boss who hired me out of college reached out and offered me a role with a small start-up. He recruited me pretty aggressively, appealing to me emotionally since I had just become a dad, going on about how it could set us all up for good.

Leaving my job for the start-up was the biggest professional mistake I’ve ever made. My boss was toxic when I was 25, and he remains the same 10 years later. The start-up is dysfunctional. There is gossip, lots of locker-room talk and constant jockeying to undermine other teams. The technology doesn’t seem to be a priority.

My original company this week posted a job opening similar to my old role, under the same managers. I applied and within hours got the dreaded “not moving on with your application,” without even having their recruiter screen me. I’m not sure why they won’t hire me back. I left on good terms with a hug from my manager, and my director noted our success working together and expressed hope we would get to do so again. My former colleague in charge of diversity has told me one of their hiring goals is to rehire some “boomerang” employees each year. I was liked and respected by my colleagues, some of whom reached out to me on LinkedIn asking me to come back. Is there any point in trying to return to that company?

Karla: Boomeranging is one thing, but you’re coming across as more of a ping-pong ball. It’s okay not to have every step of your career mapped out, but you seem to be flying largely by the seat of your pants and letting hope blind you to evidence — for example, taking your former boss at his word despite having seen his toxic side 10 years ago.

(Workshopping an analogy: Tech start-ups are the dude version of multilevel marketing. Whether they are hawking disruptive apps or scented oils, friends lure you in with promises of fun, freedom and financial gain — but the further you are from being the founder, the less profit you can expect to see.)

Especially now that you have a child depending on you, it’s time to really look closely at the facts before you knock again at your former employer’s door. Start by figuring out why you were rejected.

It’s possible your application was filtered out by an automated screener because you didn’t include the appropriate keywords. Or, ironically, your experience may make you look overqualified (read: too expensive) for the old job.

It’s also possible you were turned down for policy reasons. Despite your friend’s comments about boomerang employees, the company may have an official or unofficial rule against hiring back anyone who left within the last year, even on good terms.

In the above cases, it might be worth holding out hope of returning to your old employer after the boomerang period expires. Or you could use your start-up experience to come back at a higher position with a bigger salary than your previous role offered.

But you also have to consider that maybe your performance wasn’t valued as much as you hoped. Maybe people in charge of the decision want to punish you for leaving, or just have it in for you. That’s not a situation you would want to return to even if you could.

So how do you find out the real story? First, when you have recent history with an employer, don’t start by running the application gantlet as if you’re a new candidate fresh off the street. Take advantage of your existing network to find out whether your history is working for or against you, and whether trying to get rehired is even worth the effort.

Ask friends who are still with the employer what they know about the position and the current environment. If you can, track down whoever recently vacated the role and ask why they’re leaving. If you make it known to your connections that you’re open to being rehired, word will spread to people making the decision.

And shift your mind-set from “Why don’t they want me back?” to “Why do I want to return?” You have choices besides staying put or going back. If you’ve outgrown the role and the employer in the last six months, would getting rehired feel like progress, or retreat? What did the start-up offer that the old job didn’t, and what other employers might be offering something similar? Use what you have learned from this experience, as well as input from your network, to help you scout ahead before you make your next jump.