Devaluing your skills

Damn, dude. 60 percent? Mind me asking what field you went into?

 

THIS POST should encourage anyone on the fence about changing careers to TAKE THE LEAP.

'cept most of us journos are idealistic fools who understood they weren't likely to earn much money. when we're young, the tradeoff for having a job you really, really like (even love) wins out... but as your responsibilities with a growing family increase daily while your income seems to decrease daily, it's time for many to take jackson browne's 'the pretender' to heart:

 

i'm willing to bet the 60 percent is more of a reflection on how little he was being paid compared to now; not that what he's making now is necessarily a king's ransom. am i correct?

 

Not that many years ago I talked with a non-profit about becoming editor of its quarterly magazine and taking on some other publishing duties — newsletter, etc.

It wouldn't have quite doubled my annual salary, but it would have been close but they were embarased because they thought it wouldn't have been enough money to pry me away from where I was working. They just assumed people at the paper all made near six figures if not beyond.

It was a pretty interesting process and I would have taken the job, I think, if it had been offered, but it wasn't.

 

This is true. I am by no means rolling these days, but for what I was used to, life is very comfortable now. That, plus working somewhere that matches up to eight percent for retirement has made it all very worth the leap.

@Big Circus, I took a job in communications for a university.

 

shockey: Any reference to Jackson Browne tunes is welcome here!

Back on topic ... I think there IS a problem when people go from the always-in-crisis mode of many newsrooms to the more orderly world of other professions.

Planning ahead seems to be an Achilles' heel for many in journalism -- myself included. There's a reason so many weather stories appear in newspapers on "slow news days."

We're built for nights where tons of live sports, elections or breaking crime news is going on. We adjust to that, quickly decide what's most important, and work at a speed that's just fast enough to make deadline.

Most other professions -- teaching, law, purchasing managers, to name a few -- put their work flow emphasis on planning ahead.

 

I left full-time sports journalism about five years ago and received a 100% pay increase (almost to the dollar) when I went to PR. But really, all it did was put me more in line with what other people my age were making. I'm now at about 150% from where I was when I left, but that's mostly because my journalism pay was so, so bad.

And I fully agree with needing to adjust from a deadline-driven environment to a corporate environment where things take days, weeks and sometimes months to come together. I still feel I function much better when there's a fast-approaching deadline, and the PR job was brutal when it came to long-term projects and long turnaround time. I remember one press release taking 6 to 8 weeks from the time it was written to the time it was approved. My current job is better about day-to-day activity and results, but still doesn't come close to the newspaper enviornment.

 

When I interviewed for my current job, it went the exact same way. They seemed worried that I'd get bored (which I do sometimes) and wouldn't like the slower pace. I assured them I could handle it. Thankfully, they believed me.

 

When I left newspapers two years ago, my salary jumped like 45 percent. Now, it's at about 60 percent. Different salaries for MUCH different jobs. My current job isn't even close to what I was used to. It took some adjusting, but what I do isn't exactly rocket science, so I made it work.