Dear Joyce: My wife is still working, but we have three children and a pleasant lifestyle that a single wage earner can't sustain. A manufacturing company downsized me four months ago. The cupboards are bare in my industry and my locale. The latest development is a job offer at a smaller company in a services field, with a somewhat lower compensation and title -- I was a director, and I would be a manager.

My wife thinks I should take it. I'm unsure. Would a backward step spoil my unbroken upward track record? -- S.W.

Dear S.W.: A step down places you on a slippery slope. Retreating raises question marks in recruiters' minds. But then, so does extended unemployment.

In this variation of the "overqualified" debate, arguments can be made for both rejecting and accepting the job offer.

Yes to Offer
You need to pay bills, your wife is pushing the panic button and you are willing to be convinced that a backward move won't ruin your résumé. Some cheerleader coaches tell clients that a detour won't damage career momentum.

"Stepping down isn't the kiss of death. It isn't necessary to always be heading up," they say.

No to Offer
Well, yeah, it is. That is, unless you are: (a) fortune's child and the job market comes roaring back soon enough to obliterate any perceived slippage; (b) talented and positioned to rise like cream in the new job; (c) good at strategizing and finessing.

Unlike 18 months ago, when employees ruled, today's employers can cherry-pick the crop of applicants. The slightest résumé blemish may cause the perfect job to fall from your grasp.

Alternative to Offer
Another approach to a retrograde position is to counteroffer, based on the following formula:

"Because I'm coming down in job title, let me suggest a slightly different proposal: I'd work as a contract consultant at the pay rate you offer for (a given period of time, three, six, 12 months)."

Whoa. The employer will have to think about this turn in direction. You're overqualified. You've turned down a regular job for a contract. Hmm. Does that mean you're out of there at first dawn? Is your proposal a tip-off that the recruiting machine will have to be cranked up again in a month or two?

Be prepared to allay these legitimate concerns by identifying the benefits of a time-limited contract. Make assurances you intend to honor:

"A contract basis would effectively serve as an audition. We would check each other out. You'd look at my performance as I'd look at my potential here.

Ideally, we'll both be more than satisfied. But if we should decide for any reason not to continue my employment, I give you my word that I'd select a replacement and train that person before leaving. Can we agree to try this arrangement because it offers such good benefits to both of us?"

What's in It for You
Listing your job title as "consultant" (validating your assertion by naming a specific client) implies expertise, while a drop in job title can be read as an act of desperation or title inflation in your earlier jobs.

Moreover, the smaller company may turn out to be a serendipitous choice. As an insider, you can more quickly find out your prospects than you could as an outsider.

If you do not choose to stay with the smaller company and you are asked to explain your consultant title, fashion your response along these lines: "It's important to me to work while I consider the rest of my career. My contract employer and I decided to put together a mutually advantageous arrangement, which gives me more time to be sure about my next move."

Your Call
Manpower president and CEO Jeff Joerres makes an interesting side observation relating to your situation:

"It's only after six months of looking for a job that someone says: 'I can't do this anymore. Maybe I need to make a compromise and do something that is not as interesting or something that pays less.'" You have a couple of months to go.

Send career questions for possible use in this column to Joyce Lain Kennedy at Box 368, Cardiff, CA 92007, or e-mail her at jlk@sunfeatures.com. Sorry, the volume of mail makes personal replies impossible.

©2001 Tribune Media Services, Inc.