Some employers welcome back "boomerang employees" like Kevin Keegan with open arms. Photograph: Paul Ellis/AFP
Maybe the first day back might be a little awkward. You may have some regrets about what you said at your leaving do. Some feelings of guilt that you can't remember what colleagues bought you from their whip-round.
But why should returning to an old job be such a stone-cold no-no? Following Kevin Keegan's return to the hot-seat at Newcastle United, we've heard plenty of piffle about jobs being like relationships: you should never go back.
Yet for every Howard Kendall who makes a hash of things second time around, there's a Harry Redknapp or Walter Smith making a decent or better fist of it. For every disastrous All Saints reunion there's a triumphal Take That or Led Zeppelin reprise.
There are plenty of "boomerang employees" who can point to successful returns, slotting straight back in, and carrying on from where they left off. They're big enough to admit they made a genuine mistake in leaving. Or they can spin it another way, claiming they took some kind of sabbatical from the company, gaining experience and expertise elsewhere, before returning with their newfound knowledge.
Some companies have a policy of not re-employing workers who quit. But for most bosses, it's a great opportunity to say "People love it here so much, they can't stay away!" Many discover that once reunited, these returning employees actually prove to be more loyal to them.
Of course, the organisation may have moved on since you were last there. The management may have changed, the culture transformed. But if it doesn't work out, so what? You've been brave enough to break one workplace taboo - finding another job shouldn't be too scary.
Have you ever gone back to an old job? Were you received with open arms? Or did it all end in tears?
