The question of whether or not proofreading courses are a scam probably depends upon your definition of the word ‘scam’. There are certainly a great many proofreading courses which are excessively expensive when you consider what it is they are providing.
What does your typical proofreading course offer?Well, they’ll teach you proofreading symbols, some proofreading techniques (read slowly, read backwards, that kind of thing) and they’ll provide you with proofreading exercises to help you practice.
But why is all of this so exorbitantly pricey?Most proofreading courses are offered by training businesses that provide a whole host of other courses. These courses, often by necessity, follow the traditional lesson-exercise-assessment-qualification route. Therefore, the proofreading courses they offer stick closely to the same well-worn paradigm. This time-honoured approach is, by its very nature, expensive. The overheads are considerable. You’ve got administration costs, logistical expenses, outlay for materials and more besides. These costs ratchet-up the price of the proofreading course. None of this is illegitimate or a con. It is, however, unnecessary.
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Proofreading courses don’t require expensive infrastructure
Let’s break down the lesson-exercise-assessment-qualification paradigm. Lessons and exercises are crucial to any learning experience. There’s no getting around those aspects of education. Assessments and qualifications are another matter entirely.
Think about the costs that assessing each individual student must incur. There’s the logistics and administration involved in sending out assignments in the correct order and to the correct people, then collecting and marking those assignments and then returning them with the appropriate grades and comments. It’s not cheap, is it? And it won’t be the course provider footing the bill; it will be you, the eager proofreader-in-waiting.
Think about the costs that assessing each individual student must incur. There’s the logistics and administration involved in sending out assignments in the correct order and to the correct people, then collecting and marking those assignments and then returning them with the appropriate grades and comments. It’s not cheap, is it? And it won’t be the course provider footing the bill; it will be you, the eager proofreader-in-waiting.
But are these assessments really necessary?
I don’t think so. Most of your assignments will consist of proofreading exercises made up of out-of-copyright material with deliberate spelling and grammatical errors inserted into the text. Now, why does someone need to mark this work? Surely, you either spot the deliberate mistakes or you don’t. It’s an analogue assessment: on/off, yes/no, wrong/right. In other words, so long as you’re provided with the answers, you will be more than capable of assessing your own progress. You don’t need all this expensive infrastructure to tell you whether or not you’ve spotted an error, do you?
And what about the qualifications?
Well, not only have I been proofreading for over 20 years, I’ve also been responsible for hiring, supporting, developing and (where necessary) firing proofreaders. Not once have I asked to see a proofreading qualification. Not one of the proofreaders I’ve worked with over the decades has possessed such a thing as a proofreading qualification. They simply are not worth the paper upon which they are printed.
But don’t take my word for it. Browse through any online career-opportunity website searching for ‘proofreading vacancies’. You are very, very unlikely to find a single reference to proofreading qualifications.
But don’t take my word for it. Browse through any online career-opportunity website searching for ‘proofreading vacancies’. You are very, very unlikely to find a single reference to proofreading qualifications.
So, are you saying proofreading courses are a scam or not?
Personally, I wouldn’t use the word ‘scam’. These courses are simply operating within an educational paradigm which incurs a good deal of expense. It isn’t a deliberate attempt to fleece you. However, these costs are simply unnecessary when it comes to proofreading training.
So, how do I learn to proofread without parting with a substantial sum of money?
That’s where The No-Nonsense Proofreading Course comes in. It costs just $48.99 and, simply put, this easy-to-download and accessible eBook is a distillation of all my proofreading experience. It tells you not only how to proofread but how to proofread extremely effectively. What’s more, it offers guidance on how to gain vital experience, build a portfolio, promote yourself to potential employers and make yourself visible in the freelance marketplace.
All you have to do is read the book, complete the exercises (provided free on this website – all other courses will charge you for their exercises) and follow the advice. If after doing this, you don’t feel you’ve taken the first steps on the road to a genuine professional proofreading career, you can ask for a full refund (within 30 days of purchase) and I will give you your money back, no questions, no quibbles.
All you have to do is read the book, complete the exercises (provided free on this website – all other courses will charge you for their exercises) and follow the advice. If after doing this, you don’t feel you’ve taken the first steps on the road to a genuine professional proofreading career, you can ask for a full refund (within 30 days of purchase) and I will give you your money back, no questions, no quibbles.