Dear Rachel,
How can I find a more flexible media position? What is the average for most agencies? At our agency we have to work pretty much 8 to 5, due to client demands. Is it possible to have a flexible schedule in the media industry at a senior level?-- Inflexible
 
Dear Inflexible,
Flexible schedules are a very popular idea with media people, especially mothers with young children, and a number of media agencies strive to work out flexible hours where they can.

But before you go in and ask for flexible hours, you must decide exactly what you're looking for.

Do you want to work three long days a week and have the other two days free? Or do you yearn for pajama work that will allow you to crawl out of bed, stumble to the computer, and put in a good day’s work without ever setting foot on the front porch?

Once you've come up with that, then set about crafting a convincing proposal for your boss.

“The main thing he will need to show is that the schedule he desires won’t affect the amount or quality of work he is able to do,” an Austin media friend tells me.

“So if he has a few years of steady accomplishments to show, so much the better. The more he can prove that he is reliable, committed and able to work under a variety of conditions, the stronger his case will be.”

Remember that you have to make your desired schedule work for the agency too.

Your supervisors are doing you a favor, in essence, and they're doing it because they value you as an employee. They want to keep you. But at the same time, they know that going along with a schedule that causes a lot of headaches will come back to haunt them.

“An agency may allow you a flexible schedule but they aren’t going to turn the entire shop upside down for you,” my friend tells me. “So cut them a little slack, too. Make your case but be willing to compromise.”

If you are truly senior, say a supervisor who is accountable for a number of employees, you'll have a harder case to make.

True, you have the track record, and that works in your favor.  

But will your team perform as impressively if you are working irregular hours? You will need to be able to demonstrate how you effectively can supervise them on your days off or on the afternoons you leave early.   

As to the issue about going out to find a flexible media job, in theory it would seem to be a logical course to pursue. But in reality your best chances are at your current agency, where presumably you've built up good will.

Looking for another job and one that at the same time will give you the hours you want is going to be a lot tougher, and if you do find one you'll have to give up something in exchange for those hours. 

To find that job you'll want to find yourself a good headhunter. A headhunter can point you to agencies that are open to flexible schedules.

As to hours, you are right. Most agencies run on a typical 8 to 5 business workday. But as you doubtless know by now, ambitious media people generally put in many more than eight hours a day.

It's where they're putting in those hours that's changing. After all, a lot of what media people do can be done on the run, with a laptop and a cell phone working from the neighborhood coffee shop.

And with the time difference just in this country alone, the days get stretched out, and work schedules are having to adapt.

Luckily, many agencies are getting savvy to this. Others will need someone like you to show them the way.