Proofreader

[Smowball]

Anyone ever done this as a job? I was emailed details about it and I could do it from home. I'd need to do some training and then once assessed and passed I'd gain a certificate which I would need to get work. But I think it would be interesting.

[jno]

depends whether you're called upon to proofread the next Stephen King or tomorrow's Racing Post, I suspect.

[Smowball]

Oh I know the work is so varied.

[DTCwordfan]

I do it - if you are interested, Snow, niche yourself to your past work experience.....in my case, I cover a lot of scientific, engineering, medical and military work - and I am not a PhD scientist or doctor...just a light science degree(s) with a good English background. If you have language skills, that adds value too - I do cover a little. What I often find it is taking me into marketing and selling advice about product positioning to the targeted customer (if known) and then benefits/features structure and about how to handle/minimise product risk.

[fiction-factory]

It's good to know that some people do get paid for doing this. I've seen some adverts where you have to spot a certain number of errors and most of them are so basic that I assumed it was a way to get gullible people to part with the money needed to enrol on a course and/or get a certificate. I am sure there have been scams in this area but if you find an organisation with a good reputation then it may suit you and be rewarding

[DTCwordfan]

I have no certificates, just by reputation and three or four central contracts that deliver work on a reasonably regular basis.

[Helewel]

I've often thought it would be something that I could do but if it was an unsolicited email i would be very wary especially if they ask for lots of money without any realistic prospects of paid work.

[atalanta]

I'm afraid this might be an overcrowded profession. I imagine that people who train by correspondence courses will find that everyone else who has done the same course will be going after the same ( few ) jobs. Unfortunately, these days, too many publishers think that spell-check and grammar-check will be enough, so mistakes are getting into print. Mistakes which a decent proof-reader would have spotted, so that proves that proof-readers aren't being employed as often as they used to be. I got into proof-reading because I had a very rare set of qualifications which nobody else in the country could match. I had no idea how to proof-read, but just learned as I went along.

[DTCwordfan]

hence the need to niche your skills to your past experience, the most credibility and contacts etc....

[Smowball]

Interesting! I know a lot of people seem to do this but am still interested. Sooo do I go for the certificate or not?

[jno]

can't do any harm (depending on how much it all costs). And it could well be helpful if you have no experience at all in the field.

But if you do know anybody in publishing, ask them if they know of any work going.

[Guilbert53]

This could well be a scam. You pay so much money up front for the training but you never get any documents to proof read so never earn any money.

I notice you say you were "emailed details about it". Was this email unsolicited because of so I would say it is almost certainly a scam.

Search on "proofreading scams" and you get things like this:

http://top-recommendations.com/proofreading-employment-scams/

[Smowball]

When I said I was emailed about it I mean I'd registered on website first. I've checked the company and rang them - it's all legit.