From Administration to the Copy Desk?

Break time.  This means I have a few minutes to surf and swim. I found your Web site while searching for 'copy edit entry level'.

Q: How does one make a career change into copy editing from the administrative field?  (This is not a go to college for four years and then jump into an unpaid internship kind of situation).  I am a full-time working adult who is absolutely bored to tears with my current career.

Background: I have over 10 years' experience as an administrative assistant, office manager and administrative facilities coordinator.  Pick a title.  The job title changes with each company but basically mean the same thing.

Fortunately, this title (a catch-all position) often leads to writing projects, such as creating and publishing a Policies and Procedures Manual for a small start-up, creating pages for the company Intranet, writing a training manual for Customer Services workshops, creating and editing the company payroll newsletter and editing contracts, correspondence and media kits.

Cat

A: It is fortunate that you want to be a copy editor.

Reporting candidates need to demonstrate their skills with clippings. Copy editors do not have as many chances to show their work, as few editors care to spend a lot of time with before-and-after work sets.

Instead, copy editors have to demonstrate their abilities with a solid résumé, a clean cover letter and likely an editing test, in addition to the requisite interviews.

I'd go ahead and apply. But first, I'd ask for an opportunity to shadow a local copy editor for a shift so you can get a feel for what the job entails.