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How to tell when it’s time to get out of journalism

avatar by Published Mar. 8, 2012 12:01 am Updated Mar. 8, 2012 3:01 pm

In this week’s career chat, we talked about how to decide whether it’s time to get out of journalism. This is not a simple yes-or-no question, so we addressed its complexities and what they mean. We also asked chat participants about their goals and how/whether journalism fits into them, and talked about the skills that journalists can transfer to other jobs.

As I told chat participants, “Treat each new job as a bridge to the one after it, and not as your final destination.”

You can replay the chat in its entirety here:

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  • Anonymous

    So when is it time to get out of journalism?
    1. When you realize that you can no longer do the quality and quantity of work that energizes you.
    2. When you realize that you can’t achieve your life goals on your current path.
    3. When you realize that you have many more bad days than you do good ones.

    You don’t have to go down with the ship, but you will need a plan to get out of there before you are pushed out.

    Additional education also can help you make a transition out of journalism. However, you will need a clear goal for why you are returning to school and what you will do when you graduate. Is it worth your time to get a master’s to teach journalism? Probably not. Is it worth it to get a degree that will let you use your writing and people skills in a higher pay grade? Probably.