You need the energy of youth and as you get older you get jaded In the future I see

You need the energy of youth, and as you get older you get jaded In the future I see myself earning more and working less. When I started out I didn’t have any knowledge, so I had nothing to lose Now I have a reputation to consider Young people bulldoze through and get things done. In my early twenties I tried to act older than I was and a lot of the people I work with don’t realise how young I am.”Initially, perhaps, people were jealous, but now I have less front and I’m more laid back Anyway, the people I hang out with have brilliant jobs, too. Then in 1990 I approached Emap, the magazine publishers, and they are still my main client My youth has attracted attention. When Lynne Franks resigned, the London Evening Standard featured me in an article on the next Lynne Franks. I was only 23.”My enthusiasm has carried me through, but I’ve mellowed since those early days. So when I left school I did a secretarial course for a year and instead of getting a Saturday job at Sainsbury’s I’d write for magazines.”My real break came at an after-show party when I was 18.

I was being chatted up by Joan Baez’s drummer, but I could see Harvey Goldsmith and I knew I had to talk to him. After that he wanted to set me up as a freelance in his office. I went over and tapped him on the shoulder, made a pitch and got the job, or the gig, as we say in the trade. However assiduously you doctor your CV, wrinkles cannot be denied forever.

So, whizz kids, better make sure you have a watertight pension plan.’i want to retire at 40′TOP PUBLICIST AT 18Name: Anita StrymowiczAge: 26Job: Clients include Emap Publishing, Harvey Goldsmith, Northern & ShellQualifications: A-levels in English Literature, French, PoliticsSalary: pounds 20-pounds 30K”I always wanted to do media studies and write about pop music, but the nuns at my school didn’t approve; they wanted me to have a proper job such as being a teacher or radiographer. “In the States it’s illegal to put an age limit on job ads, and people don’t put their age on their CVs In my opinion it is genuine discrimination. When someone says, ‘You’re 36, I can’t take you’, it’s the equivalent of saying, ‘You’re a woman, I can’t take you’, or ‘You’re black, I can’t take you’.”Mr Campbell wonders if “older” people will become more employable in niches such as human resources, counselling, training and management consultancy, where experience and stability are important. “The teachers in their late forties, early fifties who used to give stability and experience are going, so the mentors and role models in the classroom just are not there any more.”Mr Grout would like to make age discrimination a legal offence. I wouldn’t rule her out, but she would have to wear something smarter for a client meeting.THE POP PRODUCERPaul Conroy,Virgin RecordsA very nice suit.