There’s no single path to becoming an editor. Gather a roomful of editors and you’ll find that each came to their career differently. Some started with traditional internships at a publishing house, working their way from level-entry jobs to editorial positions. Some earned graduate degrees or other certificates in editing and publishing. Some are self-trained experts, honing their skills through lots of reading and practice on the job. Others enter the role laterally, discovering years into looking over their colleagues’ writings that they’ve been an editor-in-disguise all along. Some stumble into the field; some chart a clear and deliberate path.

And then some editors have PhDs. People with PhDs make great editors, but few PhDs enter their program believing they’ll become an editor after graduation. The PhD program, after all, trains students to become academics. Any deviance from that path might as well constitute a career change. And, like any major career change, after years of climbing the academic ladder, stepping off that trajectory inevitably comes with fears of having to start a new career again from scratch.

Recommended Resources: 

“How to Figure Out What You Want Next in Your Career” by Ann Hiatt (Dec 2021). Hiatt discusses the importance of purpose, people, and pace when determining your career trajectory. 

“Navigating the Emotional Side of a Career Transition” by Ron Ashkenas (Apr 2016). Ashkenas describes three emotional obstacles that those making a career transition must navigate: a sense of guilt, an adjustment to your personal identity and sense of self, and a need to let go of old patterns and habits.

Still, many PhD graduates do become editors and build on the skills they developed in their programs to pursue highly successful and fulfilling careers. 

For me personally, my PhD in poetry provided me with skills and knowledge that I regularly put to use as a freelance editor of academic writing: the ability to focus for long periods of time, to take initiative and work independently, to read carefully and critically, and to think critically about the relationship between what a text says and how it says it. I can also empathize with my busy, stressed-out academic clients, because I used to be a busy, stressed-out academic too! I may not have needed a PhD to be an editor, but I edit differently than I would if I didn't have one.

This microcourse is designed to help you—a PhD student, candidate, or graduate—imagine and chart your own pathway into editing, be it as a freelancer or in an in-house role. It’ll answer some questions that you likely have, such as:

• What kind of skills does an editor need?
• Should I pursue extra training?
• How do I start getting experience now?
• How much do freelancers need to be “business people”? 

It also addresses some deeper anxieties–ones pervasive among academics–such as:

• Is leaving academia a sign of failure?
• Can editing be an intellectually fulfilling career?
• Can I be a successful freelancer without the hustle?

To answer these questions, this microcourse draws on advice from actual editors with PhDs, as well as on research literature about career transitions. Included in this microcourse are also seven exercises for you to experiment with and design your own action plan. 

This microcourse will also introduce you to six types of editing, which include:

• Substantive and developmental editing
• Stylistic editing
• Copyediting
• Proofreading
• Sensitivity reading
• Acquisitions

We'll then offer practical resources and exercises for assessing your current situation, reflecting on your career goals, and charting out the next steps for transitioning into an editing career. At the end of this microcourse, you will leave with a personalized “Odyssey Plan”–a career-planning framework developed by Stanford’s Design Life Lab–and a list of books, programs, webinars, and other resources to help you materialize your plan.

The Exercises You’ll Complete:

1. Head, Heart & Guts
2. Past Thinking
3. Skills Assessment
4. Dashboard Exercise
5. An Editor's Skills Inventory
6. Assessing Your Inventory
7. Future Thinking