Dear friend,

I’ve been looking for a new reporter for three weeks — and am getting beyond the mildly frustrated stage and spiralling inexorably into the tearing what is left of my hair out stage.

I’ve only had two candidates for the position and the dearth of talent has to be seen to be believed!

I thought journalism was the sexy career option that had young people beating down the door to sign up to, but I must be out of touch. On this showing it must be right down the pecking order along with refuse collection and, (dare I say it?) a career in insurance!

The gap between reality and perception is rarely laid so bare — it’s such a disappointment.

Résumés brimming with ‘Young journalist of the year awards’ on paper, in the flesh reveal lumpen and turgid mounds of inanity and inexactitude, who don’t look like they would be able to tie up their own shoe laces without parental assistance.

So I’m going for a radical solution — as a former broker I know how good the best can be at presenting often complex information. So I wonder if any of you out there felt like a change of career?

Why not swap doing reinsurance for writing about it? Broke some information instead of stressed risks?

The money is not quite so good, but the job satisfaction is tremendous.

Plus I guarantee you will never:

Get called by a client wanting to know why his claim has not been paid
Get called by a reinsurer wanting to know why his premium has not been paid, his line has been signed down, or why on earth his security is not acceptable in Botswana!
Have to argue about the price of beans or worry about another potential E&O again.
You get my drift — you always get to cut out the dull day to day stuff and cut straight to the interesting bits.

So those able to work in the EU who can write well in English — please hit reply now.

You know you want to!