Should I stay or should I go?

average hero

This is a bit of a long story so please bear with me.

About 6 months ago, a friend who I hadn't seen for about 2 years prior got in touch with me. I was working in Dublin, in a stable pensionable job but I wasn't particularly excited or enthused by my work. My friend, who is European pitched me a job at a startup in his home country in central Europe. It was a bit of a hard sell over 4 weeks but after attending a conference that his company was presenting at, I decided to head out to Europe and work with his company.

I was changing profession (although I have a cert in my new profession) and was taking a massive step down in seniority but I was told that would be fine because there would be a number of different entrepreneurial ventures and work with developers that I could do to start up my own venture on the side.

Fast forward 6 months, I feel as if I made the wrong decision and want to return to Dublin. The work with the developers has not materialised and to be honest, I think I could do a lot of it from Dublin. There is not a lot stopping me returning to Dublin but I feel as if I return early it could be a blot on my CV.

To top it all off, my friend is in senior management and unfortunately he has come across as snooty in the workplace towards me. I don't think he means it, but he has quite a poor manner to him in work. As I said, I took a risk and a big step down in seniority. The culture in the workplace is not great as there is quite a lot of politics in the office and everyone vying for the attention of the CEO. I have started to dislike work and want to return to Dublin.

What I am struggling with is is:
1) Is it okay that I feel this way and want to return to Dublin? Is it a rational decision? I have given it 6 months and fear if I stay that I will be wasting time.
2) How would I explain the decision I made on my CV to future employers? Or now to my current company - personal reasons?

Thanks all.

Purple Mountain

All I will say is to trust your gut and tbh it sounds like your gut has given you your answer.
I wouldn't give 2 fiddlers about what the current company will think once you work out the agreed notice period and for your own sake, leave on good terms.
I would simply be honest but confident telling them that the opportunity you'd hoped would present itself in the new job hasn't materialised and that you know you have more growth potential at home. You tried the job, it's not for you, you could throw in that you realise now that you want to live in Ireland etc but you are grateful for the offer and chance to work in another country and business bla bla.
As for your CV or other jobs, honesty is always the best policy.
It may or may not arise as a question in an interview. Just have your answer ready and again be direct and honest but confident.
You had the opportunity to work in another country, you took it. Here, outline what new skills you learned and projects you oversaw so an employer knows you used the 6 months to grow and learn. Then, just say something like there was the hope of you becoming more senior/getting more responsibility etc but unfortunately this opportunity didn't come quick enough for you either financially or for job satisfaction purposes so you made the call to go back to Dublin before you put anymore time or effort into a role you felt wasn't going to add to your career path any time soon.
For what it's worth, I left a well paid job after 9 months that on paper looked the bees knees. However, I need to work with people and in a client centred role and this role was anything but. I got asked about leaving this job in subsequent interviews and had my honest answer ready about not being fulfilled working solitary with just a PC as company and that while I learned X Y and Z to add to my skill set, it wasn't fulfilling for me as a person or an employee to be there.
Good luck with it.
Trust your gut always x

JeffKenna

In your situation I would hop on a train and travel Europe for a month or so. Don't even bother giving notice. Come back to Dublin and for the purposes of your CV you travelled for 7 or 8 months.

Olsky

Gap of six months will not be an issue. Just leave and say you left previous job to do a bit of travelling.

SozBbz

I think employers really only worry if you've moved around a lot and only had short tenure in a lot of jobs. One six month stint on your CV is unlikely to raise any eyebrows.

Teyla Emmagan

Totally go back. You can just say it didn't work out. You gave it six months. It's a job in another country, it is a huge adjustment. As long as every job on your CV isn't short term there is no problem.