A buddy from a company where you once worked calls one day and confesses, "we could really use your skills back here. Would you consider returning?" You're flattered by the offer. "They couldn't live without me," you think. "I have to go back and save them!"

But before you give in to those feelings of warmth and heroism, remember that this is a company you managed to tear yourself away from once already. Think about the job from a career-growth point of view. Ask yourself whether you're being drawn to it because it seems new and exciting, or lured back because it's easy and familiar.

"Once you've left a place, you tend to forget the bad stuff and only remember the fun you had on the bowling team," says John O'Neill, president of the Center for Leadership Renewal in San Francisco. To shake off that false sense of familiarity, he says, "make a point of talking to four people in the organization." Typically, you always can think of two people to contact, but talking to four is a stretch that provides more points of view. The object is to figure out what's new in the organization, how it has changed since you left, how the old employer might use some of your newer skills, and how the power structure has shifted.

Kevin Cashman, founder of LeaderSource, a career-coaching firm in Minneapolis, says it's also important to question the acquaintance telling you about the position in depth. "It's a familiar situation so people tend to be less aggressive then they should be," he cautions.

Welcome Back

Going back to a company that hasn't progressed is like trying to wear a favorite old sweater you've outgrown; familiar as it is, it's not comfortable and you're soon yearning for elbowroom.

Susan Bishop, a New York recruiter for media executives, says many clients left large, slow-moving media companies to "jump on the new-media and Internet bandwagon" a few years ago. Now, she's seeing a reverse exodus. "You hope the company wants to use what you've learned while you were away because it caught up and is moving forward in the same way you are," she explains. "But if the exact same management is in place a year or two later, and the goals and strategies are pretty much the same, that's a real warning sign."

A mid-level manager who returned to his former financial-services company realized six months later he had made a mistake, says Mr. Cashman. "He left to go to a company that was similar but more progressive and flexible," the career coach explains. But the old company missed its high performer and eventually offered enough money to woo him back. "He wanted to take the new knowledge he'd gained and really make an impact, but they hadn't changed at all," says Mr. Cashman.

"Catch the company during a new cycle of growth," Mr. O'Neill says, so you can apply your new skills in a way that will stretch you as well. Ask which new values have the organization's focus, and where it's struggling. How has the company's direction changed, and what new challenges is it facing?

The Old Neighborhood

Damian Birkel, founder of the not-for-profit organization Professionals in Transition in Winston-Salem, N.C., suggests talking to employees who aren't in your future division or to executives who left after you to get a close-up, but outside, perspective on what's happening. If the "official" version doesn't match their views, "follow your gut."

But face it, in a sluggish market like this one, people take jobs despite all sorts of reservations. If a former employer is asking you to return and you aren't sure whether to accept, Mr. O'Neill and Mr. Birkel concur, sign on as a consultant to try the place on for size.

That's the advice Mr. O'Neill recently gave to a Silicon Valley executive he's been counseling. "A few of the people she used to work with are very gung-ho to bring her back," he explains, but two new executives seem reluctant to have her return. Moreover, when she left the company, its stock was worth "probably 10 times what it is now," Mr. O'Neill says. "So lots of people, including the CEO, are poorer than this person who's returning."

Resentment from those who hung in there and suffered for the company isn't likely to become apparent until she's already on the job, Mr. O'Neill notes. An assistant might have felt left in the lurch, a boss may have used you as a scapegoat, or a former peer might resent your coming back at a higher level while his loyalty has been overlooked. "And don't forget these are people who worked with you and know your strengths and weaknesses," Mr. Birkel says.

Mr. Birkel recalls working for Sara Lee Corp. in North Carolina, when his Fuller Brush division was spun off to another company and moved out of state. "They began downsizing, then hired back some of the people as consultants to help with the reorganization," he recalls. "The consultants thought they would be able to pick up the ball and run with it by asking favors of people they knew." But because many of their contacts would be laid off as soon as the move was complete, they resented their former colleagues for speeding things along. "Instead of helping them out, we put up barriers and made it harder for them to get things done," Mr. Birkel frankly admits.

It's possible this company was trying to put some former employees to work. But it's also possible these folks were hired back because experienced consultants would have recognized an ugly situation and stayed away. "You always have to think about what their motivation is for wanting to bring you back," says Mr. O'Neill. To paraphrase an old comedian, be wary of any club that invites deserters back as members.