Decision time
This last Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, I got a gig from 52 Ltd to temp as a production artist at a downtown advertising agency called Leopold Ketel & Partners. They have about 30 staff and have some great accounts, including a lot of not-for-profit organisations like Planned Parenthood, Oregon Public Broadcasting, the Oregon Humane Society and more. It's always nice to see an agency with heart, rather than one that's just interested in making money.
The work there was pretty simple stuff - presentation and pitch boards and books and some finished artwork. However, I handled it all with my typical ruthless efficiency and so wasn't particularly surprised when my supervisor came to me early on Thursday morning and asked whether I was interested in a full-time position. We had a brief discussion about it and I told her I'd get back to her next week with a decision.
Full-time work would be great, that's for sure - it would bring a lot of security that we currently don't have. Struggling for enough part-time work to meet the rent each month sucks. But this position is only as a production artist with no guarantee of any creative work whatsoever. We didn't really discuss pay at this early negotiation stage, but you can bet it would be substantially less than what I was earning in Australia. On the other hand, LK&P seems to be a truly creative agency (with no egos!) and I feel I could learn a lot there. Who knows, if I keep blowing them away with the quality of my work, there could be plenty of opportunity for advancement.
So I feel that the best course of action is to let LK&P know that I'm interested and see what pay they are offering. If it's below a certain level (I do have standards!) then I'll pass and keep on with 52 Ltd, maybe asking them to start looking for full-time creative work for me instead of just part-time. But if LK&P's offer is good enough...
Posted in: chaosboy, employment, portland on April 26, 2008 at at 9:31:00 AM
