Do What You Love, The Money Will Follow - Maybe Not

 From The Wall Street Journal to Reuters Legal to Politico there are pragmatic analyses of the investment - time, formal degree education, apprenticeships, money, hope - in a career path and the average compensation over the long-term. 

These "exposes" are eroding the conventional wisdom: Do what you love and the money will follow. In play also is the job sercurity in a growing number of career paths during these post-normal economic times.

Especially chilling is the profile of careers in journalism presented by Politico.

The master's degree program at Columbia University School of Journalism sucks off nine-and-half months of a life. 

The cost is about $121,290. Despite generous financial aid graduates tend to be heavily burdened with student-loan debt. 

The average compensation after graduation ranges from $36,000 to $58,000. Moreover, most of the supposed "good" jobs are in pricey metro areas.

The article does not delve deeply into job security. With so much disruption in media, layoffs are to be expected. After the Q2 2022 lose of $54 million, Gannett, which operates 250 newsrooms, laid off about 70. That was as of mid-August. More are expected.

Those cut out for journalism probably consider it a kind of vocation, not a job. However, there is no necessary correlation between that passion and the ability to earn a middle-class living. 

On the side, for decades, I have done journalism. Yes, I love it. But I never assessed it as platform for a well-paying career. Exactly for that reason I never took on the sunk costs of an advanced degree in the field. In college, no, I didn't enroll in a journalism course. In my early 30s, I studied the models of effective journalism on-my-own, then parachuted in. 

Along my several career paths in executive communications, marcom, and influencing I often did what I didn't love. The money was wonderful. 

Your just-right professional fit. You can bypass the usual pain points. That includes Tarot readings, both spreads and one-card pulls. Complimentary consultation for coaching, job-search materials, and interviewing. Please contact janegenova374@gmail.com or text 203-468-8579. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Akin Gump Julia Ghahramani's March 2021 Cocaine+ Death - So?

   It had been way back more than a year ago that first-year associate at law firm Akin Gump Julia Ghahramani died from cocaine laced with fentanyl. Yet that story keeps resurfacing.  This week  RollonFriday  revisits it. And  Reddit Big Law  considers the issue if the energy from cocaine is what's making possible those 2,500 hours billed in law firms.  Is what's keeping this on the radar the hunch that use of the illegal substance cocaine is common among those practicing law? After all, in addition to being an energy-booster, it provides a nice reward for such hard-working lawyers. Also, they have the earnings to afford it. Most of the rest of gunners have to stick with boozing. So, why not?  The reality might be setting in that the death could simply have been an aberration. Think about it this way: Ghahramani had bad luck in her alleged choice of dealers. Others might be able to exert more scrutiny in overseeing the content of the illegal drugs they sold. The message c
Read more

Up-or-Out: McKinsey Raises the Pressure, In Contrast Some Law Firms Ease It through Nonequity Partner Tier

" McKinsey & Co.  warned some US consultants last week they are running out of time to win promotion, raising the 'up or out' pressure on staff as the global consulting industry struggles." - Abovethefold Article in Bloomberg , March 27, 2024 This is yet another sign that once-iconic McKinsey is a professional services firm in trouble. One challenge is overcapacity of manpower. It has also warned about 3,000 consultants about "concerns" regarding their performance.  In addition to the overall slowdown in management consulting, McKinsey faces scrutiny from myriad sources about its client list including assignments with China and Saudi Arabia. There also has been that hatchet-job book "When McKinsey Comes to Town." The most damning aspect of the expose is that former employees dump on it. Posts on the professional anonymous network Fishbowl Consulting aren't optimistic about a turnaround at McKinsey or at other players in that sector. In cont
Read more

Down Memory Lane - There Was Actually a Time in When $70k for New JDs Was Big Money

  Let's cut to the chase. The year was 1987.  On a Monday in October the stock market crashed.  Corporate downsizing, made an art at GE by Jack Welch, was purging the system of middle-aged middle managers. Staples caught the wave of accidental entrepreneurs forced out of corporate careers. It created the new category of office supplies for small business. We the purged agonized at Staples about what color business stationary.  It was the worst of economic times, at least since The Great Depression.  Meanwhile, large law firms were getting a lot of attention because they were paying inexperienced law-school graduates starting salaries of up to $70k.  Cravath got the ball rolling on that. The phenomenon was enough to attract a major article by The Washington Post.   The kicker was this: The money wasn't enough for young lawyers to stay with those jobs which they found long in the hours and short on stimulating assignments. Often they were locked into proofreading documents at the
Read more