careernav.

General Description

This is an ideal career for intuitive thinkers. An editor reads and corrects content written for publication. Content may be written for books, magazines, newspapers, advertisements, brochures, manuals, reports, calendars, and other published material. You check for grammatical errors and punctuation, correctness, accuracy, formatting, cohesion, consistency, style, and even design and layout. Editors need a strong grasp of the English language, knowledge of word processing, and strong typing skills.

Career Advice - Editor Career

As an editor, you may decide on editorial policy and the content of publications or news items. If you are an editor in a senior management position, you will manage the production of multiple publications and other staff including associate editors and sub editors. You consult with writers and supervisors in order to decide on editorial content, which piece, what headline and edit the most appropriate piece of material.

The editorial career path has multiple rungs in the ladder to climb before you reach the editorial position.

What you do every day

Depending on your area of editing and the size of the organisation you work for, you could perform a range of tasks during a standard working day. Editors make content selections for publication based on the opinions of the editorial board. Editors also ensure adherence to editorial policies and guidelines. You review headlines and copy to guarantee that it follows style and format rules, supervise staff and assign them various tasks. You may also edit material, and write articles, editorials, or reviews.

As an associate editor, you are probably employed in a large organisation with responsibility for the preparation of a section of a magazine, newspaper, or other publication. If you’re a news editor, your day revolves around managing the collection, selection, and editing of news: whereas a book editor prepares manuscripts for publication. Your daily work will have you reading submissions, selecting and proofreading news articles or manuscripts, working with journalists or authors, editing material, and ensuring it is engaging reading, relevant and suitable for publication. 

A chief sub-editor is in charge of the pages and article inclusion. Reporting to you would be the senior sub editor, who decides on the design, layout and headlines of the pages, writes headlines and generates new ideas. As a sub-editor you assess the suitability of material, edit where necessary and decide on page layout, photo inclusions and general operational detail. Then there is the proofreader whose role is to read the typeset proofs or computer printouts to check for errors, either in text or typesetting, before the publication is printed.

In all these positions you are chasing the elusive tone and manner of your publication. You find relevant topics and devise headlines to stop the reader; then include rich informative content to keep their attention and finally inject that X factor that holds the reader’s thoughts or triggers discussion with others. And you do this everyday and if you’re involved in daily newspapers, you do this day after day under the pump of deadlines that must be achieved.

Best thing about this career

Being an editor can be a rewarding and intellectually stimulating occupation. Your daily work enables you to use your language skills, as well as your knowledge of the subject matter. Editing can give you the opportunity to incorporate your knowledge or interests into your work. For instance, you may have done a course in literature, and so work as a book editor in a literary publishing house, or have an interest in sport, and edit for a sports magazine. You are also continually learning as you read new information each time you edit. The job can also be rewarding.

After you’ve dedicated hard work, time and effort into certain material, you get the satisfaction of seeing your work published at a high, error-free standard. Higher editing positions are relatively free of supervision, and so you get the freedom to work independently and make your own editing decisions.

Worst thing about this career

It can be difficult to find employment as the industry is always in demand. Voluntary experience to help you get a job can be frustrating and time-consuming. Once in the field, the pressure of deadlines can heighten stress levels, and some editors are required to work long hours to ensure publications get out on time. Minor errors, whether grammatical, typographical, or factual, stand out in printed publications and are usually not tolerated.

Writers are temperamental and often possessive about their work, and so you may engage in some debate when advising writers of changes. Some sections of the industry are highly paid, whist in others the pay is average.