Handing in notice at new job

[afaloren]

I started a job a month ago which I don’t enjoy. I dread going in, I’m not sleeping, my heart lurches every time the phone rings etc.

An old job (not the most recent) have asked me to come back and I want to accept. I left because a piece of legislation made it very difficult for me to do the job but that legislation has now been rescinded.

How should I approach handing in my notice at the new job? I feel guilty for letting them down and that they’ll have to recruit again but it’s doing my mental health some real damage.

No need to feel guilty. Just say thanks for the opportunity but you have realised that it isn’t the right job for you. They might be able to contact the people from your shortlist so in a way it might be easier than if you had been there longer.
I wouldn’t mention the other job though.

Hand your notice in and look after yourself. Never let guilt guide you, sit with the feeling and then move on 🤗

Don't feel guilty. In the slightest.

(This will hopefully be me in the not-too-distant future!)

I took a job that is turning out to be utterly dreadful, in probably one of the most toxic environments I've ever worked (and I've worked in some absolutely hellish places). There's an unmanageable workload (in my last place, fixed-term contract sadly, there were FOUR of us doing the job I'm now expected to do on my own, I'm not afraid of hard work but this really takes the biscuit). There's also a culture of fear of senior management (again, don't know if they realise that, they're too busy organising AwayDays and various other trendy Awareness Month events to make people think they're busy - there's an absolute doozy coming up later this month...) plus a level of workspace disruption that wouldn't look out of place on a 1980s Spanish building site.

Your first responsibility is to yourself, and if you have other options where you'd be happier, take them, hand in your notice in writing (personally, I'd email both the manager and HR as well, just in case anything goes missing), keep the letter to the point, and don't look back.

Don't worry about them recruiting someone to come in after you either - the recruitment thing is one of the duties HR and managers get paid for (not that many of them seem to actually realise it!).

Best of luck in your new old workplace, and hope you are much happier there.

Do it and don't feel guilty..it's an honourable way to behave and probation works both ways

The relief will be immense

I've been in this exact situation.

I just apologised, told them the job wasn't what I'd been expecting (that was on them, they weren't very honest in my interview) and said I was struggling mentally - I was, I lost so much weight in 5 weeks.

They were lovely. Apologises they hadn't given me a better induction. The relief when I knew I was leaving was unbelievable!

Good luck

No need to feel guilty. Attrition happens in the workplace it is normal. You got to do what is best for you. Just find out how much notice you need to give - have you got any outstanding holiday entitlement that you could use to enable you to leave sooner?

Thank you everyone for the encouraging and thoughtful replies. I handed in my notice today and they were really nice about it. Even better they are only going to make me work one week’s notice, hooray! The countdown starts now.

Result!!!