Are you a video editor or thinking about becoming one and are curious if you can be a video editor for your entire career? Is it possible to spend 30-40 years in the edit bay? I discuss my thoughts on this in the video and article below.
Can a person be a career video editor?
Editing is a Young Person’s Game
There’s a lot of truth behind video editing being clearly for younger individuals. Keeping up with technology and trends is much easier when you are closer to the early stages of a career in video editing. The “hustle” and long hours it takes to be a video editor also is easier for people in their 20s rather than their 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s. As I rapidly escalate through my 30s there are just so many more obstacles that get in the way of the hustle. I can only imagine it gets more difficult from here.
Does this make it impossible to sustain a career as an editor though?
Experience Needs to Be Valued Appropriately
I know plenty of editors who have sustained their careers into their 50s and 60s. That doesn’t mean it’s been easy though.
From personal experience, I’ve segued into less of an editing role the past few years just because that’s where years of working in the corporate world lead me. The cap on where I was headed staying an editor in my niche industry was lower than if I repositioned myself to an adjacent role in the producing and project management area. I’m still in the video industry. I still cut as a piece of my 9-5 and as a freelancer on nights and weekends. However for me personally I felt it was best to pivot, at least for now. And as you gain experience in this field maybe you’ll come to the same conclusion.
Experience though, back to the point I was trying to get across, makes being a video editor so much easier than those first 1, 2, or 5 years breaking into “the biz.” The longer you’re in this game the more connections you have. The more connections you have, the better you can network. And the better you can network the more likely it is you can land jobs. This alone makes it possible to answer the question: Can you be a video editor your entire career?
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– Josh
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