Very interesting read. I have never had an (x) year plan. My goal has always been to be the go-to person when an international publication/media house needs someone to report on an issue in Ghana. I said that during an interview for a full-time gig in March 2021 and still got the job. Left that job later for a different one and currently freelancing full time.
I started working at 25 after a Masters in English Literature and post graduate diploma in English journalism. In my first job in English language journalism in India, I was made to feel I don't know the language at all. I left the toxic place soon. I have changed more jobs than my friends in my 6 years of "career" because I could never keep up with the crazy back-breaking hours. Had I stayed in India, I was headed towards corporate communication because journalism wasn't paying the bills anymore. After two breakdowns, getting diagnosed with anxiety disorder and PCOS, and other health issues, and moving thousands of miles to a new country and finding myself unemployable as I stare at 31 while being back to where I was at 25, I have had to reevaluate. I chose to do an NCTJ course because as an immigrant I want the industry rubber stamp, but I still want to pick a communications role than a journalistic one. Those skills transfer after all. I have worked without a plan most of my life but I can't keep doing that. Need to be able to afford healthcare, real estate and care for my parents (I'm South Asian and this is expected of me). I have cats to pay for and maybe adopt a child in the future. Everything costs more money than a journalism job can give.
Very interesting read. I have never had an (x) year plan. My goal has always been to be the go-to person when an international publication/media house needs someone to report on an issue in Ghana. I said that during an interview for a full-time gig in March 2021 and still got the job. Left that job later for a different one and currently freelancing full time.
I started working at 25 after a Masters in English Literature and post graduate diploma in English journalism. In my first job in English language journalism in India, I was made to feel I don't know the language at all. I left the toxic place soon. I have changed more jobs than my friends in my 6 years of "career" because I could never keep up with the crazy back-breaking hours. Had I stayed in India, I was headed towards corporate communication because journalism wasn't paying the bills anymore. After two breakdowns, getting diagnosed with anxiety disorder and PCOS, and other health issues, and moving thousands of miles to a new country and finding myself unemployable as I stare at 31 while being back to where I was at 25, I have had to reevaluate. I chose to do an NCTJ course because as an immigrant I want the industry rubber stamp, but I still want to pick a communications role than a journalistic one. Those skills transfer after all. I have worked without a plan most of my life but I can't keep doing that. Need to be able to afford healthcare, real estate and care for my parents (I'm South Asian and this is expected of me). I have cats to pay for and maybe adopt a child in the future. Everything costs more money than a journalism job can give.