There are even freelance editing jobs, as well as copyediting jobs for businesses like newspapers and magazines. These sort of jobs are not as difficult to get as many people think. On the other hand, there are also a number of people who seem to believe that if they’ve graduated with a passing grade from a 10th grade English class, they’re going to be skilled enough to be a copyeditor or get other jobs in editing. This is typically just not the case, though. Editing jobs just aren't that easy to qualify for.
Here are ten tips, then, for getting a good editing job.
1. Your ability to qualify for editing jobs begins with your education. You’ll need to have at least a BA in English literature or some closely related field. This level of education is usually enough to qualify you for some kind of entry-level position in the writing or editing field. If you wish to begin your career at a higher level, however, you'll need an MA. Even if you’re going for freelance editing jobs, you'll have to display a considerable amount of acumen, and you'll need a solid education and to be able to speak honestly about your educational credentials.
If you can't attend a university, try finding distance learning courses online. These can save you a lot of money and make getting your English degree possible.
Although you can be a self-educated high school dropout and make it as a writer, and even though you could gather very similar knowledge and skills to be an editor, for most any editing job you’re going to need either years of experience in the literary world or a college education. You’re going to be working on other people's work, and they or the organization that employs you for the task are going to demand the proper credentials.
2. If you’re going into freelance editing, be sure to have a work portfolio ready to show. If you did any editing in college, such as for the school newspaper or school literary magazines, use this work in your portfolio. Otherwise, you can show your writing work and provide references from those businesses or people you have already done editing work for.
3. If you want to establish yourself in the field of writing and editing jobs, get your degree and then accept entry-level positions such as assistant copyeditor or local traffic court journalist for the local newspaper. Do your work well, and you can advance quickly.
4. Don't just focus on getting jobs in the publishing or news media fields. There are many businesses that could use an in-house copyeditor. Many businesspeople and their employees have shockingly lousy writing and editing skills. Clear communication is the key to any successful business. Look around for any and all opportunities to work as an editor, and leave no stone unturned. In fact, you could even begin sending out emails to businesses asking them if they've ever considered using an in-house copyeditor to make their company image stronger and their internal and external communications clearer and more efficient. You could very well land a job that way.
5. Use networking to get your foot in the door. Increasingly in business, it's not what you know, it's who you know. Many people are quite willing to help other people get hired. Just make sure you don't abuse your contact's time. People are busy and have a lot more responsibility than merely helping you with your job search.
6. Look into outsourced proofreading jobs. These are easiest to find in writers' magazines and online forums. Publishers will mail or email manuscripts for you to proofread, and you get paid per assignment. It's not a great deal of money, but it’s legitimate experience that you can add to your portfolio and resume for later on.
7. Make sure your letters, cover letters, and resume are perfect. How can you expect to be taken seriously by those companies advertising jobs in editing if you are too sloppy to edit your own material? With most other jobs, a small typo or a couple of misspelled words can be overlooked, but not for an editing job.
8. Create a website and show how you would edit such-and-such a work if it was on your desk. You should probably make up the work to be edited, then show the editing process you would go through. You could even make this an "editing tutorial" website. This approach could be perfect for someone who doesn't have a lot of real-world experience.
9. If you don't want to get, or just haven't got, the education, become a freelance writer first. You can publish online and take on freelance jobs or ghost writing. Make sure your writing work is edited to perfection. After a couple of years of this, you should be able to establish the fact that you know how to edit.
10. Write book reviews. If you can review a whole book and provide good writing about it, you can be an editor. Establish yourself in this way.
