How will I Find Work Once I am Qualified as a Proofreader?

Once you are qualified your priority is to find work for yourself. You have two options depending on what kind of security you want and what kind of say you want in who you work for, when you work and how much you work.

If you want security you should try to get a salaried position within a company as a proofreader. This way you’ll have the stability of knowing you have a regular stream of income. But, there are not many full-time proofreading positions and most proofreaders tend to work freelance.

Freelancing gives you much more control over:

• who you work for
• when you work
• how many hours you work
• where you work from
• what work you choose to accept

If you wish to work freelance you’ll have to build up a fairly large client list to support yourself but, finding work is not as difficult as it may seem. There are a number of ways you can let people know that your proofreading services are on offer:

• Students – you could approach students to see if they require proofreading services for their essays and university work. They may not be able to pay much but it is great experience and a chance to practise and improve your skills.
  
  
• Online Freelancing websites – there are some that are free and some that you may have to pay for.
  
  
• Publishers - magazines, newspapers, book and journal publishers are the next target. These may require you to have a little experience before they consider using your services. But, if you are targeting areas of specific interest to you, you get to read the work before it’s even published.
  
  
• Advertisers – this is another good source of work.
  
  
• Societies – you can benefit greatly from joining a professional body and they are often the first place organisations wanting to employ a proofreader might look.
  
  
• Local businesses – restaurants, gyms, letting agents all have copy that will require proofreading.
  
  
• Local writers circles – they may want you to proof their work before they show it to the other members or send it out for publication.

If you want to learn more about proofreading and how you can become a full or part-time proofreader why not request a free brochure about our course.