Determining My Dream Job
08/19/2020
Hello! So in my last post (which is my first post ever but that’s irrelevant), I talked about how I felt tons of pressure from not having a plan for my future. I didn’t have a course, an ambition. Nada.
Out of desperation, I took a bunch of career tests online. But after taking this one career test, I was rendered speechless. The job it matched with me was not only incredibly fitting for my skills, but I also find it quite enjoyable. I’d probably call it the perfect job for me.
Anyway, I’ve babbled enough about my dramatic response to the result of the test, but I just realized that I have YET to actually tell you what the result is.
So the job I got is...
*drumroll*
Proofreader.
And it makes sense! Since elementary school, my classmates have been asking me to check if the grammar in their essays are acceptable. I’ve technically been considered as the grammar consultant in every class I’ve been in.
So I did some research. What is proofreading? What do I do in the job? How much was the salary? What courses do I need for it? While I was doing that, I stumbled upon a different term related to proofreading, which is copyediting. So I began to ask myself, what’s the difference?
My researching became even more broad. Even now I still can’t exactly differentiate the two properly. But from what I gathered, it’s basically this:
PROOFREADING is the surface-checking of a document. You check the grammar, consistency and layout of information. COPYEDITING is a more in-depth process. You do what a proofreader does, but you also have the authority to revise the sentences in a document to improve its flow and structure. For me both are ideal, and I felt stuck again. Which one am I gonna pursue? So I proceeded to do even more research cos research can be fun sometimes. After that, I compared the data: They have the same course requirements. You can be employed in a company or do freelance work. But what caught my attention is the pay. Now in my country, the minimum wage for both proofreaders and copyeditors isn’t sufficient for a month. At least that’s what this website said. And this one. And a bunch of other sites supported this claim. Other proofreaders/copyeditors said in their blogs that it’s better to have a day job if you’re going freelance because money doesn’t come as easy with these jobs. And I’m gonna be needing money to live in this modern world.
Even then, I don’t plan on giving up on this so easily.
Most sites say that copyeditors are paid more than proofreaders.
With that in mind, I formulated a more detailed plan. Since copyediting is more complex, I decided to just start as a proofreader. When I’m finally good enough, I’ll add copyediting to my list of services. Turns out, many copyeditors did the same thing when they were just starting out. I guess that means I’m on the right path.
It’s exciting, though. Just a month ago, I thought my life was going nowhere. Now, I got a job that I’m looking forward to having in the future. You never really know when your life is gonna change until it comes barging into your front door. But change is nice. Change is an opportunity if you look hard enough.
This post was a bit more formal that what I planned it to be but hey, at least I doused it with some informative stuff. I do hope this post has given you a bit of insight about proofreading or copyediting, even though I’m not really an expert yet. And do your research! It helps you!
Have a good day to you all! :)