Am I being too impatient?

[Tock389]

Hello. I'm 31, and a reporter for a large daily regional newspaper. Basically, at the age of 26, I left a boring but well-paid job in business to retrain as a reporter.

This went well and I found a job very quickly. The thing is, I'm not at the stage of wanting to buy a house etc- something my friends are doing in droves, but although I am glad I did the career change and am moving up the ladder, it is all happening slowly, and I feel a bit frustrated- journalism isn't that well-paid.

My mates think I can't have it both ways - i.e. have a job I love and for it to be well-paid...the question is, should I bide my time and continue to pursue the career I always wanted , or leave and do something better paid? Just feel a bit frustrated...am I not realising how lucky I am, and should I bide my time and let things continue?

[Ethel]

You will find it bad enough tied to your mortgage for years without hating the job you have to do fund it.

It won't make you happy - you'll be bitter and resentful.

Stay in journalism but look for opportunities to enhance your income - further training for example.

In the meantime, if you possibly can open a high interest regular saver account and put a fixed amount in each month.

This will all help towards your mortgage.

But don't forget to enjoy life as well!

[jno]

might be worth doing a boring job for a few years - as long it was just boring, not really horrible - in order to build up a nest egg (because you may want a home some day, and saving enough to get yourself on to the first rung of the property ladder is the hardest bit), then downshifting later in life. There's a lot to be said for having a job you enjoy, but how secure is it? Journalism these days seems a slightly risky trade.

[shoshanna]

In my experience, you can have a job you love and be well-paid but if you make a career change, at whatever age, the pay takes a while to catch up with your expectations. If you love the new career enough, you'll wait; if you don't you might end up back where you started thinking it wasn't so bad after all. But what matters most is you took a risk and gave it a try. Does that make sense? I switched from journalism to law and back to journalism again (happily and well-paid) in my 40s. You're never too young or old to try something new and you're never too young or old to change your mind again.