Is there a professional way to say....

[jedimaster91]

.....Not if this was the last job on Earth?


A couple years back, I transferred from Hospital to one of the outpatient facilities. I didn't realize how awful it really was at Hospital and how stressed out I was until I was out. My old boss is a real piece of work. Never around unless she was (literally) yelling at us, good at talking at you without really saying anything, and generally unpleasant to deal with. In the time since I left, they hired another tech, J, who by all accounts is just like her so they get along great. Over a few months, every. Single. Tech I used to work with there left--citing J as the final straw.


So today I got an email from OldBoss saying another tech is leaving (not J) and they need help. Even for double my regular pay--which they would never agree to--there's no way I'd go back. Ever. But I suppose laughing or saying no way in Hades wouldn't be very professional.

[greyblade23]

If you choose to respond (not responding is an option too) focus on the positive aspects of your current position. Maybe mention that your work-life balance is much better now, you have less stress in your life, and you are (or are thinking about) taking classes to improve your career prospects.

[morgana]

I would laugh myself nauseous, print it out to post on my wall, and . . . not bother to respond.

[snugglegirl05]

Sounds like a former boss I had.

His persona was like night and day.

[RealUnimportant]

Honestly, I'd just say exactly why you don't wanna go back, and explain that's why everyone else keeps leaving too. It may not do any good, because if they haven't made the connection themselves by now then they're being wilfully blind, but you never know.

[jedimaster91]

Honestly, I'd just say exactly why you don't wanna go back, and explain that's why everyone else keeps leaving too. It may not do any good, because if they haven't made the connection themselves by now then they're being wilfully blind, but you never know.

They probably know and just don't care. Clearly those of us who have left just can't hack it and don't know what we're doing.


Hubz doesn't want me to burn the bridge--even though I'd love to douse it in gasoline, light a match, and roast marshmallows in the flames.

[Trixie]

Honestly I don't think you have to give a reason why you don't want to go back. Saying that you're happy in your current position is enough. I don't think companies care about what is wrong.

[Android Kaeli]

I bumped into one of the managers from Random Craft Store a few years ago and she asked if I could come back working there, as they needed people what didn't call out e very shift.. I told her that the company couldn't afford me and that what I wanted in return for coming back would have me on the Do Not Rehire faster then she could blink. She didn't like that and every time I see her, or another person from there, they give me a glare and walk in the other direction.

[dalesys]

... She didn't like that and ... give me a glare and walk in the other direction.

Of course. You are lacking in the Olde Stoole Spirit! (not full of shit)

[taxguykarl]

I agree with Morgana and Trixie. Either ignore the request or refuse to give a reason. Your old boss sounds like one of mine: never a positive sentence to me and had no idea why I walked.

[SpyOne]

There is a professional way to say anything.

It sounds like what you want to say is something along the lines of:
I would be willing to entertain an offer to return to work there. My minimum requirements would include matching what I am currently earning and my not being placed in a position where I am supervised by, or have to interact with, you.
Since leaving my position there I have had the chance to work under other supervisors and this has given me perspective on just how much your behavior contributed to making the work environment there more stressful and unpleasant than it should be.
I am given to understand, through candid conversations with other now-former employees, that you have hired a new tech who behaves similarly, which has magnified the problem. I would, of course, want to not have to interact with that tech as well.
It should go without saying that any offer you make would have to be better than what I have with my current employer to even begin to interest me, and it may well be possible that such an offer is beyond your means. It would have to include not just monetary compensation, but also assurances that my supervisors would behave in a professional manner and had been adequately and properly trained in how to perform their duties.

I look forward to future correspondence.

[morgana]

So, OP, did you reply? What did you say?

[Kit-Ginevra]

There is a professional way to say anything.

It sounds like what you want to say is something along the lines of:
I would be willing to entertain an offer to return to work there. My minimum requirements would include matching what I am currently earning and my not being placed in a position where I am supervised by, or have to interact with, you.
Since leaving my position there I have had the chance to work under other supervisors and this has given me perspective on just how much your behavior contributed to making the work environment there more stressful and unpleasant than it should be.
I am given to understand, through candid conversations with other now-former employees, that you have hired a new tech who behaves similarly, which has magnified the problem. I would, of course, want to not have to interact with that tech as well.
It should go without saying that any offer you make would have to be better than what I have with my current employer to even begin to interest me, and it may well be possible that such an offer is beyond your means. It would have to include not just monetary compensation, but also assurances that my supervisors would behave in a professional manner and had been adequately and properly trained in how to perform their duties.

I look forward to future correspondence.

Or there's...

You were such an obnoxious odious bitch that having my genitals chomped by a parade of hungry fire ants would be better than ever having to work in your presence again.If you want me to work for you again,you'd better pay me at least double and learn to behave like something resembling a human being and not something a drunken baboon has just scratched out of its genitals.

[Kittish]

I think I would go with "No, thank you." and leave it at that. Either respond to any further attempts with another "No, thank you." or ignore them.

[dalesys]

Give them a gift card to the nearest Vietnamese restaurant for a bowl of Pho Nuk?
(includes uncomplimentary pacifier to suck on)