How to Become a Great Proofreader

Proofreading services are growing in demand in today’s society, and they play an important role in business, academia, and student life. For this reason, finding a route into a career as a proofreader can allow you to provide services to these clients, and could prove fruitful as a professional avenue.

Providing a proofreading service to a client is not a straightforward task, and both training and experience are needed to be able to carry out the duties of a proofreader effectively. This article discusses the qualifications and experience that can help you become a great proofreader.

 

Qualifications for proofreading

Holding a qualification is not a requirement to become a proofreader with most employers. However, employers usually prefer candidates if they hold university degrees.

It is also common for proofreaders to need at least some familiarity with specialist practices and software, which can be gained through proofreading courses or relevant work experience.

Examples of specialist practices and software used in proofreading include:

·         Microsoft Office

·         Google Workspace

·         Use of style guides

 

Work experience for proofreading

The best professional proofreading services are provided when an experienced proofreader checks over a document. The types of experience that are most valuable in order to become a good proofreader include the following:

·         Paid or unpaid internships in publishing houses

·         Positions as editorial assistants

·         Positions in digital marketing companies

 

Tips for preparing for a proofreading job application

If you apply for a position at a company to work as a proofreader, then you’ll normally have to complete a recruitment test. This typically involves providing a short sample of proofreading service, which a member of their team will evaluate.

These tips will help you through the main steps of the proofreading job application:

·         Remove errors from your cover letter and CV

·         Highlight relevant skills in your application

·         If they’ll take your call, enquire with the company and mention your skills

 

Tips for proofreading tests

It’s first important to know what skills a proofreader should have. These include:

·         Good written skills

·         Native level in English language

·         Computer literacy

·         Organisation skills

·         Attention to detail

If you have most or all of the above skills, your performance on your potential employer’s proofreading tests should be fine.

However, there are a few practical processes in proofreading that it’s also worth knowing about. If you apply these when you complete your recruitment test, you’ll do much better:

·         Read your sentences from the end to the beginning

·         Keep a checklist of things to proofread

·         Don’t read words – read syllables

 

Macro-level tips

Becoming a great proofreader is worthwhile and can be very rewarding. Many people think proofreaders are likely to live bookish lives, but working as a proofreader often allows you to learn many new things and interact with people all over the world.

To perform well in proofreading tasks, there are a few macro-level elements to pay attention to that help you bring your client’s documents up to shape before addressing the micro-level details. These include the following:

·         Check consistency and flow of the author’s work

·         Research into the author’s subject area

·         Communicate closely with the author