DEAR JOYCE: My family is at a difficult crossroads -- in my mid-40s and a single parent, I was laid off in February. The only jobs I've been offered pay about 30 percent less than I've been bringing home. My mother advised me to take the next offer, even at a cut-rate salary, and worry later about working my way back up the pay ladder. I don't know the right decision. -- H.B.

The recession sinkholes across the workplace are dropping a number of unemployed professionals headfirst into lower-paying positions that most would have sniffed at a couple of years ago. Further, some white collars are making ends meet by taking sweat-equity jobs that introduce them to a world they went to college to avoid.

And despite cheerleading provoked by the economy's leading indicators, the job market is a lagging indicator, and many close observers believe it'll be a miracle if hiring picks up before 2011.

To help you make a good decision that works for you, start by reflecting on these five considerations:

1. DEGREE OF URGENCY. When will your unemployment benefits run out? What savings do you have? Are other resources available? Can family help you? Is the wolf at your door?

Most people would side with your mother's practical bent: When your financial house is on fire, they say, first put out the flames and deal later with getting new fire insurance.

2. THE BIG GAP. When you hold out for a better job, won't employers wonder why, if you're truly so valuable, you were jobless for a very long time? Yesterday, yes, they would. Not so much today. With 13 million Americans already out of work, rational employers realize that huge numbers of qualified people are scrambling to find new employment.

3. BLUES FACTOR. When you hold out and your job search lingers, will you become depressed and not do your best, especially at the critical juncture of interviewing? Depression is a serious hit on your employment prospects.

When you think about it, you know that in an extended campaign, rejection is a certainty. Black clouds jam feelings of self-blame and inadequacy into your formerly positive outlook. Continued...