Q: Part of dealing with a negative person in the long term is to pinpoint whether or not they are negative or simply someone who's had a bad day.  Negative people often become that way as a result of being constantly disappointed and hurt, and the anger that is associated with these circumstances. Negative people tend to blame all external factors rather than themselves. Of course, there are those people who are totally negative about themselves, and that can be just as draining for a listener. Long-term friendships or work relationships with negative people can drain your patience just as much as your time and energy, but it's important to avoid lecturing or preaching at the person. Even the most positive among us aren't great at accepting criticism, and a negative person is more likely to see it as evidence that you're also against her or him rather than taking the feedback constructively. Even if “getting it off your chest” will help you to vent, it ultimately won't help the situation. If you must vent about the negative person, do it to someone else you trust in your support group besides the negative person. One way to help both yourself and the person mired in negativity is to do nice things for the negative individual that aren't triggered by a specific situation or conversation. Rejection from other people will always reinforce a negative worldview, so an act of acceptance can make a difference.  People can naturally take for granted the support they receive when they're already in a negative mindset. Show the person a positive action in his or her direction even when it's not prompted by a negative situation. You may have a larger impact on the person's interactions with you by doing so. For example, if you occasionally make excuses for why you can't see the negative person while he or she is ruminating over a negative situation, try instead calling the person up to hang out when they're not in a bad or ruminating mood. Remind the person of a fun time you spent together or a funny situation. Give him or her a compliment for something that you thought they did well. It reminds the person that someone is invested in them and helps bring a measure of positivity to the person's day. For example, ”Good job with that essay. I was really impressed by all the research that you did." This act can be anything from chores for a day to inviting the person to watch a movie with you or even taking a walk together. This is a good way to affirm positivity to the negative person without turning it into a lecture on their attitude, which few people take well. Sometimes the best way to deal with a negative person (especially if they are part of your friend circle) is to organize group events so that their negativity is diffused among all the different people. However, you must take care to ensure these situations don't end in the group ganging up on the negative person. This step works best when everyone in the group shows the same empathy for the negative person and uses the same strategies to try to help the person overcome the negativity. Being social creatures, human happiness is often dependent on the quality of your relationships with other people. However, you and only you are responsible for your positivity and your happiness.  Being happy in spite of the circumstances means gaining control over your emotional response rather than over the situation. For example, if you're dealing with a negative friend, you can either allow the friend to drain you of your own positivity, or you can shore yourself up with reminders of positive things before and after dealing with the friend. Governing your own emotional response is like working a muscle. You have to practice being in control of your emotions in response to outside situations, such as dealing with a negative person. In the end, sometimes the best way to deal with a negative person is to remove him or her from your life completely. There are times when their negativity brings you down too much to offer you a fulfilling and mutually enjoyable relationship.  You'll need to examine the pros and cons of removing someone from your life. This might be hard to do if the person is part of a mutual circle of friends. It might even be impossible to do, such as when the person is a coworker or a superior. Take an honest inventory regarding what you get from your relationship with the person, and don't rely too heavily on the way the relationship “used to be” if the person has become negative over recent months or years. If you can't get rid of the person entirely,  avoiding the person will be your best option. Remember, you have to take care of yourself. You don't owe anyone your time and energy, especially if the person drains you of it with negativity.
A: Identify the negative people. Avoid lecturing or preaching to the person. Act instead of simply reacting. Send the person reminders of positive things to help with positive refocusing. Do something unexpectedly sweet on occasion. Hang out in groups. Take responsibility for your own happiness. Evaluate the person's role in your life. Avoid the person.

Q: Say, “Congratulations! I’d like to offer you the position.” If they don’t pick up, leave a voicemail saying, “I’m getting back to you about the graphic design position. Please call me back at your earliest convenience.” Call them back the next day if they don’t return your call. If they still don’t get back to you, send them an email. If they don’t respond to the email, move on to the next candidate on your list. If you can’t agree on a salary or hit another snag during negotiations, you can offer the job to one of the other designers you interviewed. Rank your choices so that you know exactly who to go to next if you need to. Call up the candidate and say you’d like to extend the offer to them. Now is the time to be specific about the salary you’ll offer. A designer with a large portfolio and lots of relevant experience should be offered around $100-$150 per hour, while you can pay someone with less experience closer to $50 per hour. Depending on the size of the project, this could be anywhere from $300-$400. This is a good option if you’re running on a tight budget and can’t afford to pay a designer for every hour they spend on the project. You should have a good idea of how many drafts the designer usually needs from your interview, but state up front how many concepts you expect to be shown. Let them know if you don’t mind taking a look at multiple drafts, or even prefer that as a way to track their progress. If you’d rather have a more hands-off approach, and be shown just 1-2 drafts before you get a final product, say that instead. In this succinct, 1-2 page document, briefly sum up what your business does. Specify what medium you want for the final product, whether that’s a PDF file, an image, or something printed. Set a deadline you’ll need it done by. Describe the goals of this project, your target market, and general do’s and don’t’s for the designer. For example, if there’s a certain style you know you don’t like, tell the designer. Give examples of designs you think are effective or relevant that they might emulate. Many designer retain ownership, giving you only the agreed-on final product, which means that if you want a re-print or need to change the design later on, you’ll need to go back to the designer to do so. Negotiate for ownership if you can, so that you can make these changes more cheaply later on.
A:
Call the designer with an offer. Wait to turn down the other candidates until the designer has accepted. Offer $50-$150 per hour, depending on their experience. Offer a flat payment if an hourly rate is too expensive. Talk about how many rough concepts you expect from them. Draft a design brief that shows exactly what you want. Discuss ownership of the final project before they start working on it.