It isn’t just proofreaders who are expected to proofread.

As much as for my own amusement as anything else, I often browse through employment websites looking for employers who are advertising for a proofreader, specifying that some kind of proofreading qualification is essential. Or even required. Or even desirable. I think I’m more likely to stumble across a proofreading vacancy demanding that all candidates must commit to riding to work on their own unicorn.

Anyway, that isn’t the point of this little blog post. What I noticed while scouring for the fantastical beast that is the ‘official proofreading qualification’, was that there are an increasing number of vacancies requiring proofreading skills without in fact being proofreading roles. Here are a few I came across just today:

Document Design Specialist (I admit, I had no idea what this was)

“As Document Design Specialist, working within our courseware team you will be responsible for document proofreading, formatting, layout, spelling and grammar checks. You will have the necessary skills, experience and flair to provide the operations and delivery team with creative courseware - designing our material within the current style guidelines.”

Artwork Assistant

“Our client who are based in Littlehampton are looking for a General Artwork Assistant to join them on a temporary basis, initially for 4 weeks however there is a possibility this may be extended further.

"Working within the Technical Artwork Team you will be responsible for proof reading documents so a good eye for detail is essential. You will need to be confident and outgoing enough to question any possible errors with the art workers.”

Publications Coordinator

“Working for an employer of choice, in this role, you will support the business through document preparation, formatting and proofreading technical reports to a high standard, and through the provision of administrative input into both external and intranet sites.”

Marketing Coordinator

“As the successful Marketing Coordinator, you’ll use your experience to play your part within the team to support the continued success of the department. This is a full mix marketing role which will help to capitalise on my client`s strong growth plans.

"Predominant duties will include writing and proofreading copy for a variety of internal and external communications…”

Bid Developer

“Responsible for Tendering and Business Development support, working within the BD and Estimating team, supporting and co-ordinating bid submissions, assisting BD to target and develop new clients and markets in the Power generation, transmission and distribution sectors.”

Quality Assurance Administrator

“To proof read all customer facing documentation, including training material, professional documents and end of course paperwork, to ensure they are grammatically correct, branded correctly, consistently formatted and to a professional standard…”

Tenders Coordinator

“To be successful in this role you need to be able to demonstrate good written English and proof-reading skills with strong attention to detail…”

Office Administrator

“We need to recruit someone with excellent customer care skills which include adhering to agreed timescales, and a clear, approachable telephone and face to face manner. IT competence is essential including use of Mac (desirable) and a wide range of software, as is a very strong attention to detail and the ability to thoroughly proof read text, and manage information and data.”

And so on and so forth. On this employment website alone, there were 318 open vacancies in which the word ‘proofread’ featured. 

So, learning to proofread isn’t just about becoming a proofreader, it’s also about expanding your skills base in order to increase your employment opportunities.

Now, back to the unicorn hunt…


Want to earn £22 per hour or more as a proofreader? Take a look at my proofreading course.

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