Should I leave my low paying job in media?

Is it what you want to do?

Have you done the research to find out what the requirements are for policing? In my area you need to take a college course (that would be community college for those in the States) about Police Foundations before one can apply to be a police officer.

No job is 100% recession proof. Policing also pays well because you stand a risk of losing your life in an encounter. Working in media is much less risky, a bad ad won’t get you killed :)

As well, how low paying is your rut? Do you have 6 months of living worth of savings in the bank? Before you consider doing something risky, you should evaluate your current position.

Hey Dynamic!
Where I live you need a degree from University generally…although it doesnt have to pertain to police foundations. I have looked into everything, the tests,(there are a lot) and yes the fact of being killed is a very real risk.

My rut is somewhere over 30K but not over 32.5K, and yes i have 6 months saved up thankfully. The good thing is that i can pursue this without leaving my current position.

It depends on what is most important to you.

You should make a grid with the factors that you think are important. For example, Job Satisfaction, Salary, Potential for Advancement, etc.

Rate those for yourself and your life. Then put your current job and any potential jobs into the grid and rate them on each of those factors.

I have nothing against police work, but to counterbalance the factors you cited, I would mention that there is a huge

divorce rate,
“The national divorce rate is 50%. All research shows police suffer a substantially higher divorce rate with estimates ranging from 60 to 75%.”

suicide rate
” POLICE AT RISK
The suicide rate per 100,000 people for:
Law enforcement officers: 18
People ages 25–50: 14.6
Total U.S. population: 11.1
Source: Centers for Disease and Prevention, USA TODAY research”

and addiction rate,
“our alcoholism rate is 2 times the national average ”

because it is a very high-stress profession.

Glad to hear you have a good financial safety net.

Based on what you’ve said, assuming this is really something you want to do, then by all means I would suggest pursuing it, especially if you can do that without leaving your current position. That seems like a great way to go, as it leaves you with your media job if you decide that being a police officer is not something you want to do anymore.

Would you need to get the university degree, or do you already have a general one that can be counted?

Hey Marina!
My father is a police officer as well, and thankfully my parents are still together. However 8 guys my dad works with directly are divorced…it’s scary.

And yes, I have definitely had the whole Pro and Con debate with respect to radio and media. The potential for advancement is great in both industries, however as you progress in policing, the salary jumps immensely. I do hope for an opportunity in communications and media relations when the opportunity arises, because I went to school for those, and would feel much better using that skillset and policing..

Big decision…

Hey Dynamic!
I have a college Diploma and a University degree.
So we shall see, but I thank you for the advice!
Im new to this, but I like it.

Beats the hell out of Facebook.

Welcome to the site :) It’s a nice casual place to hang out and share your knowledge. I hope you stay :)

It seems like you are a well informed individual with a working brain (seems to be a rarity these days…). I’m confident that you are the kind of person who wouldn’t rush in to anything without really looking at it wisely.

You may be right indeed – the entire world will be evolving to use technology more and more, so having your technological skills while working as a police officer may very well lead you to be in charge of the police department’s online media communication, or website, or whatever other media job may come to be.

Thanks for the kind words!

And the latter, is exactly what I am looking to do!

Our local police dept and our sheriff dept just had big layoffs. Not so sure that career choice is recession proof.

Hey BASP!

I’m in a Large city of over 2.5 million.
All local Police services are hiring out the wazoo right now.

And I’ve often heard that when there is a recession, the crime goes up.

So who knows, I suppose it depends where you live?

Talk to police officers. See if you can shadow one for a day, go on a ride-along. It takes a particular sort of person to be a successful police officer; it’s not just about salary.

And it really isn’t a recession-proof job; it depends on the city budget and tax base. A lot of places in the US are considering laying off police officers in order to balance the budget.

I’m actually in Canada, and for some reason everyone is hiring, including the RCMP.

And yes, I am actively pursuing a ride along as well. It’s not always about the money, but it is nice to warmly compensated for doing such a job!

Policing is not recession proof at all. I live in Columbus, Ohio where several new police recruits were in jeopardy of losing their jobs before they ever really had them. If it weren’t for the intervention of the federal government, they would have.

Would you consider a job in nursing? Or the health care industry? There is a huge need!

I don’t think so.
That would mean more schooling, and I’ve already had 6 year under my belt :(

Kritz
Sounds as if you already have your mind made up to make the change. Looking for validation for the decision, perhaps?

not sure…
I just feel like maybe I’m letting a few people down.
I am in media, radio, I’ve even acted on TV etc…
But the work is drying up, and I think i change is in order.

Perhaps it’s validation, or maybe it’s just for confirmation.

Hope it all works out for the best, whatever you decide.

I doubt your dad, a police officer, would be let down by his child joining him on the force :)

And don’t worry about letting people down. What does it say if that person is happier feeling let down than feeling happy for you enjoying what you truly want to do?

Dynamicduo
What a good point! Never thought of it that way but you put it inwords that make a lot of sense.