Charles M. Blow: Career advice from a career in the trenches

Thirty years ago, I arrived at The New York Times as an intern. I never planned to be a “company man.” I had no real plan. This is just the way things worked out. Young people often ask me for career advice. Well, here it is. During a career conference at my college, I remember a journalist describing what I thought was an appallingly lower than average starting salary for newspaper journalists. Hyperventilating, I excused myself, ran to the bathroom and threw up. I had been poor my whole life, and I remember thinking, “I can’t go to college and still be poor!”