How to switch careers when you're 51?

[bandit957]

I haven't mentioned this here, but I had heart surgery on Friday because of a heart condition I've had for a long time. The good news is that this surgery is said to greatly improve quality of life and restore your normal level of energy. The problem with that is that I will most likely need to get back to work, because they don't give out disability benefits unless you're practically on your deathbed.

I haven't been able to work in a while because of heart and other conditions. When I worked before then, I wasn't earning nearly enough to retire at 51. I made a little bit of money from some scattered projects, but not much. I have to start my career over, and I want to become an investigative journalist.

How do you become an investigative journalist when you're 51 with no college degree and you have a gap in your work history?

Again, it is extremely - and I mean extremely - difficult to qualify for disability. And it's just as hard to stay on it for more than a few years. Odds are you will be thrown off disability before long. I have PTSD because of some things that happened in my youth, but I don't think the government takes PTSD seriously, so I can't just qualify on that alone. Also, some of my life history is not the best, but that wasn't even my fault. Other health conditions I have also are not being taken seriously. I've been chronically ill for over half my life, but I'm expected to work as hard as I did when I was an energetic 21-year-old when I worked at the library.

I've done a lot of amateur and semipro writing projects over the years, but how would I really make investigative journalism a self-sustaining career at 51? Should I try to buy a printing press or something? Should I just grovel at some news site until they hire me, even though I don't have a degree?

It would be great if I could become relatively healthy again, but I know that my remaining health problems won't be taken seriously, so I will need to find some source of income instead of just disability benefits.

I worked very hard when I was younger and healthier, and it frustrates me when I can't keep working.

Also, keep in mind that around here, there's no sort of social services to help people with employment, housing, or any other basic needs.

[Scott5114]

Even the investigative journalists with decades of experience are having trouble keeping jobs these days. The average person is not willing to pay to subscribe to a source of journalism. Investigative journalism is more expensive than other kinds of journalism because an article can take months of work to produce and sometimes it doesn't even pan out to anything. This is why so many news outlets known for investigative journalism are owned by billionaires; they're the only ones who can afford to lose money on an unprofitable institution (and of course now they're directing their editors to spike content left and right to suck up to the people they'd be investigating in normal times).

There's also the problem these days that you could put in months of effort on a story, completely nail the bad guy's ass to the wall, and then about half the population will call it fake news and completely ignore it. Or the subject pays off enough people that your story is swept under the rug and forgotten.

If none of this deters you, you probably need to freelance until you break some sort of story that gets wide attention, so you have some sort of credibility to whoever you'd be applying to work for.

You might also need to move to a different region. The area you live in is not exactly awash in the sort of stories that the few people getting paid to do investigative journalism tend to cover.

[kernals12]

1. I'm very sorry to hear about how life has treated you and I hope things get better
2. It's 2025, the printing press is an anachronism and most news outlets are firing off people with a lot more experience than you left and right. I think your best bet would be starting a substack.
3. If you are in a precarious financial situation, then don't bet on this as your bread and butter. Just find work, even if it's not enjoyable, that will let you make ends meet.

[vdeane]

The average person is not willing to pay to subscribe to a source of journalism.

Not to mention, the way we consume news these days doesn't support that model.  Just 30 years ago, people would subscribe to the local paper, watch the news on TV, and if they were really into news, maybe one of the national papers like the New York Times, and they would get all of their news from those sources.  These days, we've become accustomed to clicking links from social media and news aggregators to any number of sources.  Having to subscribe to individual outlets doesn't make sense in the current model.

Personally, I'd be willing to pay for news, but it would have to be something where I could have an account (like E-ZPass, but for news) where I could be assessed a small amount per article and then get billed on regular basis (say monthly) based on what I read.  I'm not willing to give up being able to read news from wherever.  I'm not paying for that many subscriptions (bad enough I'm subscribed to six streaming services because each of them has at least a couple things I want to watch), and it's easier to just remember not to click on the few sources that have paywalls I can't easily bypass.

[kernals12]

You might also need to move to a different region. The area you live in is not exactly awash in the sort of stories that the few people getting paid to do investigative journalism tend to cover.

That is not the kind of advice I would give to someone in his situation.

[Max Rockatansky]

I'm planning on considering something like a career change (probably safety administration) once I hit my full pension tenure.  I have 8 years to that point myself but don't plan seriously on looking into I hit 55. By the time I'm that age I'll have been working in the same field for 36-37 years.  A change would be welcome, especially if it has me in line for another pension. 

That said, print media and journalism is about as dead as it can get.

[Scott5114]

You might also need to move to a different region. The area you live in is not exactly awash in the sort of stories that the few people getting paid to do investigative journalism tend to cover.

That is not the kind of advice I would give to someone in his situation.

If you find yourself needing to start over, relocating is often a good step—one of the things that can hold you back, especially in a career situation, is a lack of jobs in the field of work you want to pursue. There are also benefits to immersing yourself in the culture of a city or state that is not familiar to you—being too ensconced in one's comfort zone can make it more difficult to achieve one's goals, career or otherwise.

This is not to say that everyone can or should relocate from where they're used to. But it is often helpful, or perhaps even the only way to achieve certain goals. If you grew up in Tonopah, Nevada, you are probably not going to have a very successful career as a marine biologist unless you're okay with moving away from your hometown.

(I would imagine these are all things you've thought a lot about, having gone through a major move yourself recently. I have as well, and while there are a few things about my post-move life I'm not entirely happy about, altogether I feel like I'm quite a bit better off than I was.)

[Max Rockatansky]

A change of scenery is healthy every couple years I've found.  I've moved across the country for both career opportunities and because I was bored (if not both).  That said, all of these moves were all done before I was married. 

[Rothman]

A change of scenery is healthy every couple years I've found.  I've moved across the country for both career opportunities and because I was bored (if not both).  That said, all of these moves were all done before I was married. 

Marriage is the great anchor.

[Rothman]

Bandit, what's your background/education in?  Do you have a degree?

[kernals12]

You might also need to move to a different region. The area you live in is not exactly awash in the sort of stories that the few people getting paid to do investigative journalism tend to cover.

That is not the kind of advice I would give to someone in his situation.

If you find yourself needing to start over, relocating is often a good step—one of the things that can hold you back, especially in a career situation, is a lack of jobs in the field of work you want to pursue. There are also benefits to immersing yourself in the culture of a city or state that is not familiar to you—being too ensconced in one's comfort zone can make it more difficult to achieve one's goals, career or otherwise.

This is not to say that everyone can or should relocate from where they're used to. But it is often helpful, or perhaps even the only way to achieve certain goals. If you grew up in Tonopah, Nevada, you are probably not going to have a very successful career as a marine biologist unless you're okay with moving away from your hometown.

(I would imagine these are all things you've thought a lot about, having gone through a major move yourself recently. I have as well, and while there are a few things about my post-move life I'm not entirely happy about, altogether I feel like I'm quite a bit better off than I was.)

I'm worried Bandit might move to Washington (easily the best place to start a career in investigative journalism) on a wing and a prayer and burn through all his savings ultimately unable to get his dream job. And if his health takes a turn for the worse again, it would be very bad if it happened in a city where he has no friends or family to lean on.

[bandit957]

Bandit, what's your background/education in?  Do you have a degree?

I was majoring in radio/TV in college but I wasn't able to get my degree.

But I wasn't really studying investigative journalism, because I was mostly into radio production.

[kernals12]

Bandit, what's your background/education in?  Do you have a degree?

I was majoring in radio/TV in college but I wasn't able to get my degree.

But I wasn't really studying investigative journalism, because I was mostly into radio production.

And what kind of jobs have you had since college?

[bandit957]

And what kind of jobs have you had since college?

I worked at the local library for a while, had a temporary job delivering phone books, worked briefly on a federal government project (which was abandoned), and worked as a writer. Now I don't really write to make a living, because the stuff I write is for people who don't have any money to actually pay for it. I know I tried to do something else too, but I forget what it was. Whatever it was, it didn't last long.

For a few years, I actually had ads through Google AdSense on my blog, but then AdSense yanked my account and stole the money I had coming. There was a class action suit about this, and I would have won good money from it, but my incident was just a few weeks outside the time frame the suit covered.

[kernals12]

And what kind of jobs have you had since college?

I worked at the local library for a while, had a temporary job delivering phone books, worked briefly on a federal government project (which was abandoned), and worked as a writer. Now I don't really write to make a living, because the stuff I write is for people who don't have any money to actually pay for it. I know I tried to do something else too, but I forget what it was. Whatever it was, it didn't last long.

For a few years, I actually had ads through Google AdSense on my blog, but then AdSense yanked my account and stole the money I had coming. There was a class action suit about this, and I would have won good money from it, but my incident was just a few weeks outside the time frame the suit covered.

Have you thought about starting a podcast?

[bandit957]

Have you thought about starting a podcast?

I used to do a regular YouTube feature, but it wasn't anything big.

[Max Rockatansky]

Getting that kind of stuff to generate revenue isn't exactly easy either.

[bandit957]

This is a video of Flint, Mich., but it reminds me so much of my hometown of Highland Heights, Ky...

Highland Heights used to be a pretty good place, but it got really bad in the late '80s.

[kernals12]

Have you thought about starting a podcast?

I used to do a regular YouTube feature, but it wasn't anything big.

Do you know what you might do if your journalism dream doesn't work out?

[bandit957]

Do you know what you might do if your journalism dream doesn't work out?

I'd probably be out of luck. I might try to do other forms of writing again.

[bandit957]

I should also note that I was not the most efficient reader and was basically a lousy student throughout my youth. I read very slowly. Our school system refused to make accommodations for this.

[kernals12]

I should also note that I was not the most efficient reader and was basically a lousy student throughout my youth. I read very slowly. Our school system refused to make accommodations for this.

Dyslexia?

[bandit957]

Dyslexia?

Probably.

[NE2]

Run for president.

[kernals12]

Another thing is that I assume being an investigative journalist requires you have a lot of friends in high places. They're the ones that will give you hot scoops.