the job hunting environment is a grim, unforgiving, humbling place to be right now. on the somewhat bright side of things, i’ve been having potential job related discussions with a couple of very promising ad agencies with national, prominent clients. did i say discussions? right now, it feels a little more like a kick in the nuts (if i had nuts).

what i’ve come to learn is that if i want to work at some of the more innovative, groundbreaking, creative organizations, it’ll come at a price. a price that i haven’t been paid for about 5 years. it’s a demotion with a side of paycut.

now, the logical, reasonable part of my brain (which is, by far, not a terribly  big part of my brain) says that this is a tough economy. i’m lucky to find any promising bites, including the bites from guppies, anchovies and the occasional sardine. if i am hungry, and i have what would normally be used as bait on my line, i should eat.

the other part of my brain thinks differently though. this is the part of my brain that still relishes in my 2002 advertising softball league catch and tag out at home plate during the playoffs. that guy never saw it coming. my ego says, “the last time you made that salary, the ‘thong song’ was in the top 20” (this statement isn’t entirely true, but my ego has a tendency to exaggerate). i worked very hard to get where i am now, i was a sardine for 4 years and this could end up being a red flag on my resume.

so, which part of the brain will win? time will tell. i’m going to continue talking to the agencies. maybe i’ll uncover some potential bonus to eating humble pie. or, maybe my ego will get the bets of me.

as we move forward, i guess the biggest things i’m taking into consideration are:

• yes, it’s taking the delorean back to poodle skirts and egg creams. BUT, i wasn’t too unhappy then either. i didn’t have to worry about the trials and tribulations of an entire department. i didn’t have to worry about staffing and firings. i didn’t have to worry about driving the agency into the wave of the future. i was a passenger and navigator, and it wasn’t uncomfortable.
• is the organization appealing? as i go through the interview process, i can take the opportunity to take the agencies’ temperatures. if its an ideal environment, maybe this would be a good place to start growing roots. after all, i’m not leaving detroit any time soon.
• do i have any leverage? considering my salary history is a lot higher, maybe there are other areas that are more flexible that could act as the dangling carrot (in a less demeaning way). more vacation/holiday time? working from home? could i negotiate an early scheduled review for potential promotion/raise?
• can we afford to? it’s a paycut, so i may have to sell a solid gold toilet or two, but it’s not chump change. i just hope that “lisa needs braces” wouldn’t haunt me during my tenure (25 points for naming the reference).
• who would be my boss? if we’re talking about potential bruises to my ego, let’s make sure its not a hemorrhage. would my boss be unqualified to lead me? would my boss expect that i know nothing about the business? would my boss teach me a thing or two about leadership and politics?
• is the job market going to improve in the next 6 to 12 months? in detroit, probably not. even the magic 8 ball knows that the outlook is not so good. in spite of it all, maybe this is as good as its going to get for a while. A bite, even a small one, could still be a good thing.

stay tuned, sports fans. things should get interesting…hopefully.

UPDATE: next interview went well. one more interview to go, which i’ve been warned might not happen within the next week or two. and i’ve discovered new information. not only would this be a demotion, but all of the responsibilities i had as a new graduate, 9 years ago. so, there’s good and bad in that. mostly good. i like rolling up my sleeves. i like being involved. the bad: that’s a lot of responsibilities. and its still a demotion…but, mama has needs and watching ellen doesn’t pay the bills. i do wish watching ellen would pay the bills. she pays lots of people’s bills, come to think of it. but she’s not paying mine. until that loveable, bright eyed vegan is paying my bills, i will be examining all options with an open mind.