JOURNALISM as a thirty-something career change? What's the reality?

[Beedie]

Here are my dreams:

NCTJ training or 20wk fast-track Journalism at Darlington College
Pimping self to local papers for work experience for free
Flaunting my transferrable skills to agencies in the hope of foot-in-the-door at local paper/radio/tv station
Fully expecting low paid menial work, extended hours for very little money
Ultimate dream would be to work for the BBC as production assistant/editor/general runabout

Here's my reality:
34 years old, supportive partner, could manage on salary drop (just - if temporary..)
2 x DDs, 2.6 & 8 months
Well paid, mundane, soul-destroying public sector job which is rapidly dissolving my brain
Degree in English & Philosophy
Occasional amateur freelance copywriter
Superspeedy typist (alas, no shorthand)
LOVE pressure, people, deadlines, variety, fast moving environments
HATE well paid, mundane, soul-destroying, slow, isolated public sector jobs (my current role)
Interest in photography/photojournalism
This was my dream as a teenager, but wasn't confident enough (I am now!)

Any journalists/BBC insiders prepared to tell me whether I've got a cat in hell's chance?

bbc have a trainee scheme and being from a non traditional background might help your application, but as you can imagine, its hugely competititve

www.bbc.co.uk/jobs/jts/

i would always say go for it - mature entrants tend to be much more focussed and often progress more quickly than grads, as the extra maturity and wisdom/insight can help. i did what you are talking about aged 26 after working as a scientist and never looked back although my move was into factual tv production, not straight journalism (though i also considered the darlington course). your plan of attack sounds smart, although dont undersell yourself - nothing to stop you pitching directly to papers and magazines for freelance feature articles.

good luck!

I am 40 something and I am doing it, so you are ten years up on me.

I would love to apply for the PA News training in Newcastle, but reality is forcing me towards the NCTJ distance-learning course. I just finished their Periodical Journalism course, which I really enjoyed.

I worked for the BBC in my twenties and thirties. I would aim to be an editor if I were you - they get paid far more than researchers or PAs. You will never get rich working for the BBC, but it can be great fun.

I think that you should go for it. Like you, I always wanted to be a journalist and now I am on track to achieving that. It feels great.

Beedie, sorry, catching this thread really late on, but FWIW I think it's worth a crack. I'm in a similar-ish position, currently trying to make a go of it as a freelance journalist, 1DD (14 months) and a DP with a salary we can live on for now.

But, be prepared for the fact that it's bloody hard work. Also I used to be an editor (8 years experience editing/writing) so I'm using all the contacts I've got. I'm churning out feature ideas all the time and sending them to editors but every commission is like squeezing blood out of a stone and it's a terrible climate for it.

Having said that, once you get jobs in and do them well people do give you more work. If you can make it work then it's a great career but I'm having a negative day because I'm super-keen and really hard-working but there's just so little out there at the mo. (A friend of mine with 20+ years as a freelance newspaper journo has suddenly stopped getting regular commissions from one of the main broadsheets and is really struggling - and he's a very talented/well-recognised journo).

BBC traineeship would be great, I'd love to have done one and I looked into them a while back but I don't think they consider people who already have a background in journalism.

I'm a journalist (national papers) and you have to prepare yourself for the fact that there are hardly any staff jobs out there these days and even working for free is desperately competitive; that everyone is downsizing and that more and more places are looking for cheap/free copy because their websites are so hungry for content now. I am freelance now but have worked on several national titles, have about 15 years' experience and still have problems getting editors to return my calls/answer my emails when I pitch ideas - it is exhausting.

Is there something in your job that requires specialist knowledge because, if there is, I would suggest using this as an "in". There are a lot of specialist titles out there so I would try to write for them first. It might be a bit spoddy but if you can come up with ideas that are current and/or broaden out the specialism, you can develop that into more general stuff.

Agree with lala, it's dire, I'm switching away from journalism and trying to make money elsewhere. Tried proofreading but even that is oversubscribed. Unless one is very pushy (meaning good at cold calling) and has a cushion of savings, I wouldn't advise it. It's very competitive as many experienced journalists have been made redundant. Yet courses are churning out hundreds of trainee journalists! Oh and many publications have closed down, while startups want writers for free. I'm truly disgusted as I use to make a good living.

Agree with lala, it's dire, I'm switching away from journalism and trying to make money elsewhere. Tried proofreading but even that is oversubscribed. Unless one is very pushy (meaning good at cold calling) and has a cushion of savings, I wouldn't advise it. It's very competitive as many experienced journalists have been made redundant. Yet courses are churning out hundreds of trainee journalists! Oh and many publications have closed down, while startups want writers for free. I'm truly disgusted as I used to make a good living.

The attitude of almost every publisher is 'why pay writers when there are millions of people who will write for the thrill of getting their names in print?'