"I Love Writing" - Useful Skill, Satisfying Hobby, But Probably No Way to Make a Good Living

For reasons I'm still trying to figure out, youth is seeking out Boomers like myself for career guidance. When I entered intuitive coaching/tarot reading full-time I assumed my target market was restricted to the over-50.

Well, currently I provide more and more complimentary coffee chats to college students and 20-something career-changers. To my surprise, despite all the media coverage of how AI is eliminating content-creation slots, they light up when telling me this: I love writing. 

They know that I had had a lucrative high-profile career in creating content, all kinds. The assumption is that I will be resonate with their obvious.

Gently, I lay out how the Law of Supply and Demand has been operating. Content creation is a declining sector. Parts of that have been going on for a while. Back post-Enron speechwriting collapsed. But some in that category retrained for researching and providing content for slide decks. Those were becoming standard for everything from board presentations to new business development. Now we find out that McKinsey essentially has transferred that function from humans to AI. The platform - PowerPoint from Microsoft Office - could become obsolete. 

No question, I hammer for them, that writing is a useful skill for getting, holding and moving on up in work. Having that talent since high school has saved me a king's ransom in not having to pay a communications professional for any paid service. That ranges from coaching for the personal essay for admission to Harvard Law School (I did get in) to pitch snail mail for the boutique I launched in 1987.

In addition, writing opinion articles for major publications and blogging have brought me tremendous personal satisfaction. Wonderful hobby.

Although I cringe in being a Debbie-Downer in guidance on earning a living I sum up the situation for young people with this macro observation: Loving what you do, passion for what you do - those have become luxuries. What counts is being able to star in which you do. 

See, the labor market has become binary: dazzling twinklers and all the rest. All the rest are expendable or not even hired. Way back in 2021, Paul, Weiss partner Brad Karp said law firm dynamics functioned via star power. Now that applies to all sectors.

Takeaway: Don't enter a line of work in which you'll be ordinary. And, never take your eye off the Law of Supply and Demand.

Careers? So Over. It’s about Earning a Good Living. No matter what.

Complimentary consultation. No Pressure. Street-smart Guidance. Contact Jane Genova janegenova374@gmail.com.


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