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I resigned from a job after working there for only 2 months. I hated the job scopes and the micromanagement from my previous boss. Although I've worked there for a short while only, I did everything by the book, giving proper notice and all.

After resigning from that job, I've been working at my current company for around one year now. But the pay here is too low, I'm barely scraping by every month with my rent and stuff. Hence, I'm planning to reapply for that company again since it pays extremely well.

It will be a different position. My previous role there was engineering/statistics but this time I will apply for a programming/IT role. It will be on a different campus/site as well. (still in the same city though)

I'm wondering should I even bother? Do HRs have some sort of employee blacklist? I've made many good friends while working there and they are willing to refer me. Not sure if that helps.

My main questions are, How do companies respond to people applying who have worked there before? If so, is there anything special I can do during the hiring process in order to address this?

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  • Are you still in touch with anyone that works there? Perhaps you could informally ask them this question.
    – user2752467
    Dec 3, 2019 at 21:10
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    Can we get a location tag here? In some places, the fact that your current job is ~1 year and your last job was ~2 months will make you mostly unhireable anywhere
    – Mars
    Dec 4, 2019 at 1:03
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    Companies I've worked for have had a policy that the person who managed someone who resigned had to approve having them re-hired. Could make it more difficult if this type of policy is in place.
    – Bob Jarvis - Слава Україні
    Dec 4, 2019 at 14:33
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    The question requires us to make a prediction of the future based on the behaviours of people that you know and we don't. That's not a good question for this site.
    – Eric Lippert
    Dec 5, 2019 at 0:23
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    This question is being discussed on meta
    – dwizum
    Dec 5, 2019 at 16:18

6 Answers 6

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You've received several good answers, but I feel there is an important point that hasn't been emphasized enough.

Hiring managers are generally looking for individuals with the skills to complete job tasks, but also for individuals who will be happy, productive, and (ideally) long-term team members. That's hard to ask directly about in an interview, so hiring managers often ask soft, indirect questions - they may ask why you are leaving your current job, or why you left their employment after your two month stint.

So - before you consider applying, make sure you have good answers for those questions. That said, by reading your question here, I'm not sure you will have good answers. Telling them I want to work for you because you pay well might not be very convincing. You've also mentioned a change in jobs from statistics to development. These things may not seem damning on their own, but combined with your prior 2 month stint (which they will certainly know about), you're left being labeled as a job hopper.

No one wants to hire someone who might leave again after a short period. It wastes resources and can put projects at risk.

How do you avoid being labeled as a job hopper?

First, you need to ask yourself a few important questions. What motivates you? What is your ideal career path? How are you helping yourself make progress along that path?

A candidate who has a career path in mind, is working towards it, and can describe how the position they've applied to helps them achieve their personal goals will be much more desirable than someone who is applying for a different role than they've held in the past because they've heard the employer pays well.

So, in addition to the advice you've received in other questions, make sure you do the following:

  • Understand your own motivations. Understand what career path(s) would help you feel motivated and happy.
  • Determine if the position you're applying for fits well against your goals.
  • Study the job description. Be ready to talk, in specifics, about how this position fits in your plans for your own future.
  • Study the employer. Be ready to talk about how they are a good fit for you.

Do these things well, and no one will care about your prior two month stint.

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    This. I wish I could upvote it more. This is something OP needs to consider even if they're applying to other companies!
    – Mars
    Dec 4, 2019 at 1:06
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    My current role is as a software dev. Another reason why I left was because I wanted to leave the engineering field and do programming. Not sure if this fact can change your perspective a little. Hence, why I want to apply for a programming role there.
    – Crescendo26
    Dec 4, 2019 at 2:18
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    @Crescendo26 In that case, if you make it to the interview rounds, you can put an ambitious spin on it. "I entered your company because it was a solid job, that I was good at. However, I was looking to make the move to development and a great opportunity came along. I went there, got into the field, built a foundation, and now I'd like to return to Company Z"
    – Mars
    Dec 4, 2019 at 4:04
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    The other answers say "sure, what can it hurt?" without looking at the full picture. Applying now might not be as good as applying later
    – Mars
    Dec 4, 2019 at 4:06
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What’s the downside of applying again?

If you apply and get declined, the end result is you wouldn’t work there.

If you don’t apply, you also would end up not working there.

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    Presumably applying would take up time; if OP knows it would be a waste of time applying, then they would probably sooner save their time. Of course, it would not be a waste of their time.
    – ESR
    Dec 3, 2019 at 13:41
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    @ESR Last time I was job hunting, I was suggested to intentionally apply for positions I did not plan on actually taking, just to get interview practice. So, that in mind and thinking OP would in fact have chances, I wouldn't consider it a (total) waste in any case.
    – Fildor
    Dec 3, 2019 at 14:32
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    @ESR It's unlikely that, if the previous resignation were an issue, that a new application would even result in an interview. The time investment to simply apply is minimal.
    – chepner
    Dec 3, 2019 at 16:22
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    @ESR I would this writing this stack exchange question would take just as much time, if not more time, then sending in a job application. (assuming he already has a resume)
    – Quinn
    Dec 3, 2019 at 16:39
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    Also, be prepared to answer the question "Why did you resign last time?" if you do get the interview.
    – Gamora
    Dec 3, 2019 at 16:56
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I'm wondering should I even bother? Do HRs have some sort of employee blacklist?

It's unlikely that you are on a blacklist, but certainly both HR and the hiring manager will know that a year ago you left your 2-month stint.

Just be sure to have an excellent answer to the inevitable question of "why did you leave us before?" Make sure your answer is clear, but doesn't throw anyone under the bus. You might want to try to understand why the job scope for this position would be acceptable where the scope of the last job wasn't. And you might want to determine ahead of time if the micromanagement of your previous boss is the norm at this company or not.

References from your former coworkers could help. It sounds like you gave the proper notice and left on good terms.

You can't get the job if you don't apply. The worst that could happen is that you aren't accepted.

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    Also, New Position Department may understand why someone who's a bad fit for Old Department would work with them. I once worked somewhere where I would have fit in with the Unix admins (geeky, into SF - I took my breaks with them), but I didn't last beyond the probation because the other guys in MY area (Windows NT Admin) were bro-y fratboys who would never share information with me. Had my next situation not worked out so well, I was going to bone up on *nix and apply for the next thing in that team that I could.
    – April Salutes Monica C.
    Dec 3, 2019 at 14:03
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Apply. They'll notice your stint on your resume as soon as they glance at your resume anyway. Let them make the decision.

At one company I was at, one Vice President was famous for driving away his underlings, and no one blamed his underlings for quitting. In fact in that specific case, surviving more than one week under him was seen as a net positive by anybody that knew of his reputation.

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  • VP? Vice President?
    – gerrit
    Dec 3, 2019 at 19:22
  • @gerrit, Yes, Vice President.
    – Stephan Branczyk
    Dec 3, 2019 at 19:45
  • I'm curious what he was bringing to the company that losing so much money in the form of employee turnover was worth it.
    – Drew
    Dec 3, 2019 at 20:19
  • @Drew, Honestly, I don't know. His division wasn't the most lucrative either. Eventually, the company just hired temporary workers to be his immediate support staff. Not all his underlings suffered the same equal amount, his support staff is really the one that bore the brunt of his micromanagement and obsessive-compulsive behavior.
    – Stephan Branczyk
    Dec 4, 2019 at 2:11
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I've seen people quit and rejoin the same organization (even the same division) many times, unless you were fired for any breach of contract, in general no one holds grudges for leaving the company.

As you mentioned, last time you were dissatisfied with your boss, not the overall company policy and/or work culture - so I do not see any downside in applying again.

However, if possible, this time during the interview, if you make some initial progress, ask to be introduced to the team you'll be working with, and try to have a discussion about the work culture and the process followed for team management. This will clear things up upfront, before you can make a decision.

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  • Did those rejoiners leave after two months? Were those IT jobs? I could imagine that for a part-timer at a supermarket, but I can't imagine any IT company taking someone in, onboarding them, that person quitting, then the company rehiring them--unless there were extreme circumstances and a pre-announced plan to return at some point
    – Mars
    Dec 4, 2019 at 1:07
  • Also, this assumes that OP will make it to the interview stage. OP may waste a few hours applying, taking tests, etc, and then get dropped at the pre-screening stage
    – Mars
    Dec 4, 2019 at 1:08
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If you have access to a copy of the company's employee handbook (or similar document), you may want to review it to see if there is any policy regarding rehires. Some companies won't rehire as a general policy, some will rehire as long as you weren't fired or forced to resign, and some might not care at all. An employer of mine had a paragraph dictating that terminated employees should not reapply as they are ineligible, and another paragraph clarifying that "terminations" included layoffs and resignations alongside firings.

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