Additionally, he's going from a booming industry to a hand-to-mouth industry where the top producers at a firm are often making four figure salaries. What's mo

Additionally, he's going from a booming industry to a hand-to-mouth industry where the top producers at a firm are often making four figure salaries. What's more, the design industry runs on freelancing. Consequently, direct-to-fulltime positions rarely open up for non-management positions, since most design firms have a cadre of long term contractors already waiting to make the jump. My wife was laid off from a design firm, and had 2 interviews in a year for full time positions. The rest of the time, she contracted. I had 3 interviews last week, and 2 this week and 3 more next week, with several companies in the wings. At the same time, since it's a freelance industry, there are always people trying to farm out contract opportunities, which suggests that the author isn't interested in finding paying work, just in finding a paycheck. Finally, even more than in software, you are your portfolio. It's really almost anyone cares about. If the author can't find >any< work, he should look there first. Finally, I call bullshit on 'any good employee will leave'. It's a very design culture thing to think that professional relationships are inherently competitive rather than cooperative in nature.