Hello all, I'm about to be unemployed and I have a bit of a dilemna, as I'm torn between going back to a job I previously had or switch to a slightly different field with more options.
Bit of a background: I have trained and have always worked in a field (public/academic) with not so many job opportunities: 2,5 years ago I left a job I was at for the previous 5 years. I was passionate about that job but was unhappy with lots of things there, including lack of stability (think short-term contracts being renewed all the time but never a long-term thing). When I left, my previous manager admitted that he didn't realised how much work I had done. He told me that if I wanted to come back the door was open. Last year I bumped into him and he thanked me for leaving things very tidy, as my attention to details ended up saving him from losing him lots of money.
The past 2,5 years I was at a job that turned out to be disappointing: the big projects I was supposed to manage never happened (due to the funders fault, not mine's) and I ended up doing boring things below my competence. Because it was never given the opportunity to use my specific skills, I am not valued here like I was in my previous workplace. After one year at this job, it became obvious I didn't have a future there, but then I got pregnant so didn't feel like job hunting then. Now my contract is ending, those who fund my position have decided to go to a different direction, that I'm not really qualified or interested in doing.
As I'm about to be unemployed (I have been job hunting without success), I'm hesitating between going back to my previous employer and negotiating on the things I was unhappy about (including asking a long-term/stable contract), or switching to a new direction with lots more opportunities, better pays and more stability (mostly in the private sector/pharmas), but I'm not that passionate about and not 100% sure I'll be good at. The new direction would involve doing some training (3 months full time max) and possibly taking a step back for no more than a couple of years, which I can afford.
On the one hand, I'm thinking that now is the right time to make a switch, as I'm afraid it will get harder and harder to take a step back in few years, on the other hand, I'm afraid that the new direction will turn out to be a failure again, knocking my confidence even further (at least in my previous role I felt useful and good at what I did). On the one hand, it might be wise to train in the new field before asking to return to my previous role, as I will be in a better position to negotiate my return to my previous role (as I won't be a beggar, like I am now, and I'll gain skills and contact that could be a real asset to my previous workplace), on th other hand, it's been 2,5 years since I left my previous job, I'm afraid if wait another 2 years, things would have evolved too much in my previous workplace and I won't be as wanted as I am now.
Any words of wisdom? advice?