A candidate called me this week. "Good problem to have," she said.
Two offers on the table. One from my client. One from her former employer — a company she left eighteen months ago, stayed on good terms with, and genuinely liked.
"They reached out to me directly. Said they want me back. It feels safe. Familiar."
Here's what I told her.
First question: Why did you leave?
Not the polished interview answer. The real one.
If the reason she left — the manager, the ceiling, the culture — is still sitting there unchanged, going back just means rediscovering the same frustration. Faster this time, because she already knows where to look.
If the problem has genuinely been fixed? Different conversation. At least worth considering seriously.
Second question: Do you actually know what you're going back to?
This is the part candidates underestimate.
Eighteen months is a long time. People have left. New people joined. Priorities shifted. The team she loved might look completely different. The manager she respected could be gone.
Familiarity feels like certainty. It isn't.
You know what that company *was*. You don't fully know what it *is* now. And you definitely don't know what it's *becoming*.
Third question: Have you actually compared the two offers properly?
Not just salary. Scope, growth path, team quality, leadership.
Don't default to the former employer simply because it feels known. "I know what I'm getting" is only reassuring if what you're getting is genuinely good.
My honest take
The comfort of going back is real. But it's not a strategy.
Evaluate it like any other offer. With clear eyes. Not nostalgia.