How do you say thanks, but no thanks? (sorry, long)

[HelloMama]

I'm posting this on behalf of DH as he in a bit of a tricky situation, any advice would be welcome!

DH works for a large international company where he is a bit of a design odd-bod. Basically he does most of the graphic design work for the company and he helps out with presentations, corporate events etc. He's the kind of person the whole company uses, but he doesnt really belong in a particular department. His old department basically wanted to use his services, but didnt want to pay his salary, so they sent him on a 'secondment' for 6 months (but basically with no other job to return to, or that he would want to go back to). The secondment has been a bit of a nightmare and now he has been offered another 'secondment' (on the sly) to a different department, which could be good.

Its a bit difficult because he's over a barrell really. He cant just leave the company as he doesnt have a degree and most companies expect a degree in his line of work. Whenever he's been for other positions in the past he was turned down because of not having a degree. I think his current employers know he is in this situation, thus the messing him around and not paying him enough!

Anyway, the question is: how does he tell the current department that the secondment is not working out? He thinks they think its going really well and they want him to stay, but he hates it, especially his boss. He has a meeting tomorrow. Help! Any ideas or advice would be most welcome!

anyone?

Does he actually need to tell his current department that it isn't working? Perhaps he could just say that this offer is more his kind of thing, or he needs a change. He could phrase it that this other offer is a fresh opportunity. What about personnel? He could speak to them confidentially about the situation overall and see what they have to suggest. HTH.

Is there anything that the department could reasonably change which would make dh like the job more?

Can he use lines like 'I do like the secondment but I would feel much more secure in something permanent,I do have a young family to consider' or 'I have really enjoyed this secondment but I really feel that the new position will help me develop my skills/give me more opportunities/offer me more long term benefits in tems of job security and finances' ?? Could he also phone different agencies just to test the water for a new job with a different company - surely experience is as good, if not better, than a degree? HTH- not much use, sorry.

thanks so much for your help! any other advice would be appreciated! any managers etc... what would you want to hear?