The new Plan B

Unlike many jobs, it's a given that most people who are journalists, want to be journalists. We're certainly not in it for the money. But what happens when the unthinkable happens and you lose your job, or you have to move somewhere they don't need journalists, or you get married and have kids?

Traditionally the escape route of choice has been to PR, and for many, of course, it still is. Better pay, shorter hours, no death knocks ... oh, and did we mention better pay? What's not to like?

But now, as the competition to land a cushy PR position hots up, and many journalists quit much earlier and look for a complete change of direction instead, there's much more variety. We've heard of journalists who've left their jobs in the last few years and gone on to train as lawyers, doctors, landscape gardeners and bus drivers, to name but a few.

This one is new on us though. Amber (we can assume that's not her real name) gave up being a financial journalist seven years ago, aged 25, 'and now earns around £40,000 a year working as a stripper in pubs in London's East End.

The Independent reports:

The 32-year-old, who has three A-levels and a journalism degree, said: 'I had always been fascinated by the idea of being a stripper. I was disillusioned about the work I was doing. I think many people who have worked hard at school and university get out into the real world and find it's not what they expected. Someone I knew had a partner who worked as a stripper, so I went to see her perform at a pub in the East End.'

'I think it's everyone's dream to be self-employed, to not have a boss and to work as much or as little as you want. In journalism, it didn't matter how many hours of overtime I put in, I still got paid the same. Now I can work really hard one week and earn good money, and then I can have a week when I don't work so hard and don't earn so much.'

Which won't be for everyone, of course, but as Plan B's go, it's a beauty. And if it all goes, er, tits up? There's always the journalism to fall back on.