Writer's Insight: Steven Short

Steven Short reflects on the 'Unsweet Spot', being too young to retire but too old for a big job or career pivot.

Welcome to the latest edition of the Writer’s Insight series!

This week I spoke to Steven Short, an editor and writer with decades worth of experience. Steven has a unique and personal insight into the Unsweet Spot, the age at which someone is too young to retire but too old for a big job or career pivot.

With how quickly this industry can change, it’s important to think carefully about the future - not just in adapting to new technologies and platforms, but also in recognising the value and expertise that seasoned professionals bring, built across decades of experience.

It’s a thought-provoking read, especially for those of you considering your professional future and what the industry might look like in the coming years.

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A quick reminder that if you’re not doing NaNoWriMo this month, but still want to join lots of other writers in completing the November Novel Writing Challenge through Write Your Novel!, you still have time to sign up.

Just follow this link to the article with all this information, and if you’d like to join the progress tracking sheet (which includes all the relevant links) then you can do so here.

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Steven Short is an experienced writer and editor who has worked in the publishing and content marketing industries for over two decades. Now running his own company, Short Stories, Steven creates award-winning content in print and online for brands in the worlds of interiors, property, design, travel, luxury goods and gourmet living.

A few weeks ago [early September] a leading recruitment company posted a graphic on its site defining ‘career stages’ by age bracket. The last figure in the graphic decreed that workers between the ages of 55-65 were in the ‘Decline’ stage of their careers.

Following widespread criticism the graphic was taken down, but it resonated with something I have been thinking (and Substack writing) about recently. I am 57 and feel like I am at the ‘Unsweet Spot’ of my career: I’m 10 years too old for a ‘big’ job/career pivot and 10 years too young to retire. 

This summer, having stepped down from editing a glossy global magazine after 12 years, I had capacity for new clients and so applied for a few positions. I went for jobs that I am absolutely qualified for, but have either heard nothing back or have had a ‘Thank you but we are not progressing your application’ email response. 

Unless the companies already had candidates lined up but had to advertise for due diligence reasons, the only thing I can think of that goes against me is that I am obviously in the later stages of my work life (I don’t put my age on my resumé but my experience obviously shows my rough age bracket). Perhaps potential employees worry I might be too expensive? Too set in my ways to learn new ways of working?

There seems to be quite a few of us feeling this way just now – print magazine people who feel we need to ‘reinvent’ ourselves. Who feel that our experience, once our USP, is now something of a hinderance. Lots of people I’ve known and worked with over the years are at the ‘What now?’ point of their careers, especially as decent magazine gigs are scarcer and digital margins ever fiercer. Lisa Marks has written well about this in her Substack newsletter The Third Shoebox, with advice on how to thrive during ‘the younger stages of mid-life’. You can sign up for it here. 

By not considering older people, employers are missing out on years of experience and the ability to come at things from different angles that can only be gained from years on the print and digital coal faces. I know I’m much more resilient and flexible now than I was 20 years ago. After long careers, we older writers, editors and content creators are also natural mentors (and those of us lucky enough to have paid off mortgages, don’t need to command megabuck salaries). 

My career in print and digital has been a mix of luck and being in the right place at the right time. I started my first magazine – Muy Fragil – in Barcelona in the early 1990s after meeting a guy who wanted to start something in print in a bar. Eventually, five of us worked on MF. We winged it, learning as we went along how to put pages together. Everything was done on paper and we had one day on a brand new Apple Macintosh computer to do this magical thing called ‘repro’ before printing.