Career as an Editor

Does your mind switch to Grammarly mode while talking to someone? While texting, do you tend to differentiate the ‘there’ from ‘their’? You probably might have the Editor trait in you. 

A career as an Editor is not just empowering, but also gives scope for creative representation. A job that calls for strong spoken and written abilities, and attention to detail it has established itself in many different fields.

In this article, we will shed light on a career as an editor, the career path, roles, salary insights, qualifications, and recruiting industries. We will briefly cover the educational qualifications and certificate courses you can apply to. 

What does an Editor do? 

An editor organizes, plans, and revises content created by a person or entity before it is published or distributed. Editors work on various publications, such as journals, newspapers, blogs, and books, and in a variety of industries.

The duties associated with the editor change based on the industry they work in. Based on the nature of the job, these are the duties they follow:

• Text revision for major flaws, such as content, structure, length, tone, and voice.
• Reviewing the material for flow, structure, and grammar problems at the sentence and paragraph levels.
• Providing comments and assisting writers with several draughts.
• Generating ideas, disseminating them to suitable writers, and reviewing writer submissions.
• Cooperating and exchanging information with authors and other stakeholders.
• Ensuring that text follows the rules for content and style.
• Monitoring the impact of previously published works.

Learn more: How to become a Creative Writer (Novelist)

Job Roles in an Editor

Following are the types of editors and what are their duties:

1. Assistant Editor: Assistant editors support the editor in drafting and submitting a manuscript by working closely with writers and editors (the editor-in-chief or editor-at-large).

2. Proofreader: Prior to submission for publication, a proofreader ensures that the article is error-free. They make sure that the content is free of flaws like typos, grammatical mistakes, spelling, punctuation, syntax, and other formatting issues.

3. Content Editor: Delivering interesting textual and visual content to a target audience makes up the majority of their labour.

4. Executive Editors: An executive editor, often known as editor-in-chief, is typically in charge of managing other editors on a team at a publisher or other news or media.

5. Managing Editors: The editor-in-chief receives reports from a managing editor. They recruit, train, and manage staff in addition to planning and managing all daily operations.

6. Copy Editors: Copy editors supervise numerous writing projects, make that the writing style is consistent, and pay close attention to language, spelling, and punctuation.

Career path for an Editor

Depending on their field and position, editors are expected to participate in the editing process at various stages of the writing process. They examine the voice, vocabulary, and style used to communicate the information in a marketable manner.

There are two pathways through which one can become an editor.

Path I:

• Pass Grade 10 with a minimum of 60%
• Grade 11 and 12 from any stream (Preferably Arts)
• Complete Bachelors in Literature, Linguistics, Journalism, or related field. 

Path II:

• Pass Grade 10 with a minimum of 60%
• Diploma in Mass Communication, Journalism, Media, etc. 
• Complete Bachelors in Literature, Linguistics, Journalism, or related field. 

After the completion of any of the above pathways, one can appear for the entrance exam such as CAP TEST, FTII JET, JMI Entrance Exam, DUET, etc. in order to enrol for a postgraduation degree. 

Also read: SAT Prep Time- Details on Preparing for SAT

Salary in different stages of a career as an Editor

Of the above-mentioned roles of editors in different industries, their salaries differ based on role, location, and experience. 

Role	Copy Editor	Assistant Editor	Managing Editor	Executive Editor
Avg. Salary p.a.	₹ 3,20,000	₹5,25,982	₹11,00,000	₹27,80,285

Skills Required to become an Editor 

Technical Skills:

• Proofreading: Examining your writing meticulously will help you spot and fix grammatical, spelling, and style faults.

• Revising & Drafting: Making structural changes is revision. Finding a concept or argument frequently involves drafting.

• Building Outlines & Structure: Building outlines and structures help to express content in a predetermined format or style while also facilitating the flow of ideas.

• Style & Styles guides: Meet company-specific guidelines or styles. Learn different kinds of styles, for example, the Chicago style of writing. 

Interpersonal skills:

• Detail-oriented: An editor should have an eye for detail and present content in a meticulous manner. 
• Creativity: Creativity brings the best of the content and guides the writers to bridge the idea and the content. 
• Management skills: An editor has to communicate with multiple stakeholders, therefore, management skills are important. 
• Time management: The timely release of content necessitates various levels of collaboration and time management.
• Emotional intelligence: As editors, you will have to empathize with writers and be able to understand the audience and their needs w.r.t. Content. 

Is an Editor a good career option?

Editors are incredibly important to businesses because of their ability to mould material in a tangible way for the audience. The job may be difficult yet rewarding for many because it has the authority and duty to uphold the information’s quality.

One of the finest aspects of the profession is the daily opportunity to learn about new subjects. The majority of jobs remain in the major media and entertainment areas, but editors are now able to operate from a wider range of locales thanks to increased communications and Internet capabilities.

Editors frequently work in crowded workplaces under pressure to meet production deadlines and worry about publishing accurate information. As a result, editors frequently put in long days, especially when a publishing deadline is approaching.

Type of industries Hiring an Editor

The need for editors has spread to diverse industries. 

• Publication Houses
• Magazines
• Journals
• Education
• Research
• Marketing Agencies
• Advertising Agencies
• Businesses 

Top Recruiters for an Editor in India

Editors are hired by publishing houses, newspapers, magazines, and journals from different fields. Apart from this, education field, professional websites also require Editors. You can apply to these companies for internships as well. 

1. Hindustan Times
2. Pan Macmillan India
3. The Tribune
4. Penguin Random House
5. Forbes
6. Evelyn Learning Systems
7. Rupa Publications
8. Reader’s Digest
9. India Today
10. Enago English Editing

Courses to upskill as an Editor 

Writing and editing abilities are essential for editors. In order to master the skill, enrolling in certificate programs throughout and after Grade 12 or graduating is a smart idea. 

There are both online and offline certificate programs available. They can choose to concentrate on either communicative writing or creative writing. You can try a few of the Certificate courses listed below:

Name of the course	Duration
Proofreading and Copyediting with The Chicago Manual of Style	Self-paced
Certificate course in Copyediting by University of Emerson	45 hours
English for Journalism by University of Pennsylvania	1- 3 months
Good with words: Writing and Editing by University of Michigan	3- 6 months
Grammar and Punctuation by University of California	1-4 weeks

Qualifications to pursue a career as an Editor 

After Grade 10, there are no restrictions when picking a stream. To become an editor, one must seek an undergraduate degree in English, literature, journalism, communication, or a closely connected subject.

Degrees in India

No matter which language editor you decide to be, linguistic proficiency is crucial. Therefore, having a bachelor’s degree with a focus on that language will increase your credibility and competence.

• UG courses to pursue a career as an editor 

It will be necessary to have a bachelor’s degree in English, mass communication, journalism, media, etc. Additionally, adding internship experiences to the profile would be beneficial.

• BA in Journalism and Communication Studies
• BA in Linguistics
• BA in English Literature
• BA in Media Studies
• BA (Hons) Multimedia and Mass Communication (BMMMC)
• Bachelor of Journalism and Mass Communication (BJMC) 

• Post-Graduation Courses 

There are entrance exams for postgraduation courses. The duration of these courses is two years. During the course, you will study subjects like Communication Development, Media Laws and Ethics, Advertising & public relation, Reporting & editing, etc. 

Here are a few postgraduation courses you can try –

Name of the course	Duration
Master in Journalism and Mass Communication (MJMC)	2 years
MA multimedia	2 years
Master in Mass Communication	2 years
MA in Direction & Editing	2 years
Masters in Literature and Linguistics	2 years

Degrees abroad to pursue a career as an editor

The undergraduate courses are for a duration of 3-4 years. One can pursue a bachelors in Bachelors in Art, Film, and Visual Studies, Creative Writing and English Literature, Linguistics, Journalism and Publishing, Media and Publishing, etc. 

The following papers must be presented by an applicant in order to apply for a postgraduate program abroad:

• 60% or above in A four-year bachelor’s degree with First Class/Division 1 (65%) or a Grade point of 8 on a 10-point scale.  
• IELTS score of at least 5.5.
• TOEFL score of 90 or more.
• Supplementary Application questionnaire (SAQ)

Here are a few postgraduation courses one can try to become an editor:

Name of the course	Duration
Master of Journalism	2 years
Master of Arts (M.A.) Communication Studies	2 years
MA in Communication and Culture	2 years
Master of Digital and Social Media	2 years
Master of Journalism and Communication	2 years

References for an Editor

• What Editors Do by Peter Ginna 
• The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell
• Developmental Editing by Scott Norton
• The Chicago Manual of Style 
• Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and Dave King
• The Copyeditor’s Handbook by Amy Einsohn and Marilyn Schwartz
• The Subversive Copy Editor by Carol Fisher Saller 
• The Emotion Thesaurus by Becca Puglisi and Angela Ackerman
• Max Perkins: Editor of Genius by A. Scott Berg
• The Artful Edit by Susan Bell

This is an overview of the career as an editor. Though the assistant level position doesn’t offer higher pay, it is one of the fields that provides frequent degradation. 

FAQs about the career as an Editor