Corrector: the profession and its features

Every day people flip through newspapers, read various magazines and websites on the Internet, look at signs and showcases, wondering when any error is found in the text. This, though it happens, is rare. After all, before publishing any text, the material needs to be carefully checked by a proofreader.

Description

Corrector - a profession whose essence is very simple: reading texts before publication, finding and correcting all typos, stylistic and grammatical errors. At the same time, compliance with the editorial policy should be monitored. In the publishing industry, such specialists are very much in demand. In every newspaper or magazine there is at least one proofreader, who ensures that the texts are in order. It is clear that a true specialist should have a thorough knowledge of the Russian language.

History

Corrector - the profession is very ancient, since people who specialize in correcting mistakes, existed 2000 years ago in Rome. They worked in shops selling books, reading and correcting mistakes. As soon as the printing business appeared and the books began to be printed in large editions, the editing of the texts became very much in demand.

Today there are already a large number of virtual services that allow you to check the spelling and highlight any errors. Because of them, the work of a proofreader has become less necessary. But it should be said that all such services are still far from perfect. Authors who trust them lose their vigilance and, unfortunately, literacy.

Requirements for candidates

Often one can hear the question: is the corrector a profession or a specialty? Rather, the profession, as in universities they do not learn exactly on proofreaders. But education is still needed. Here is a list of standard requirements for a good corrector:

• Higher linguistic or philological education.
• Perfect command of the Russian language.
• Knowing the signs that are used in proof-reading.
• Knowledge of the printing house and its principles.
• Consistency and attentiveness.

For publications that specialize in a specific area, often experience the adjustment of industry texts. This can be legal, economic texts. In such cases, employers often prefer correctors who are educated in the relevant industry, and not just linguists or philologists.

By the way, education is often not enough, because you need an innate talent.

Sometimes you need at least an initial knowledge of some foreign language, as well as the possession of computer programs, since the texts are not always corrected in all the known Word.

Working with a large number of directories and dictionaries is also one of the requirements. After all, the proofreader is a specific profession. You need to be not just a competent person, but an expert.

Among the desirable knowledge and skills it is worth noting the following:

• Possession of software to search for errors.
• Possession of publishing programs.
• Knowledge of the scheme of the publishing process and the work of the media.

Taking a job, pay attention not only to the diploma, but also to the execution of a test task, in which they suggest editing texts. For this reason, random people can not enter the profession.

Prospects

Editing texts is not an activity that can provide candidates with high earnings and career growth. Working in the publishing house, you can reach the senior proofreader. On this growth will end. Wages are not very high, but you can get a good payment if you read and edit at least a hundred pages of text a day. This is a very big load. In some cases it happens that the proofreader becomes the editor of the department, but this will require tremendous efforts. Executives from proofreaders, as a rule, get good, as they are attentive, diligent. All the efforts of proofreaders remain in the shadows, as the author gets fame and money. Well, if there is a very blatant mistake in the text, the corrector will wait for the punishment.

Wage

Remuneration of the corrector is not high. It ranges from 18 to 45 thousand rubles. The average salary is the amount of 21 thousand rubles. That is why many representatives of this profession work simultaneously in several publishing houses. This is quite possible, as production cycles for all publishers are different. Corrector at home - this is another direction of this profession, in which you can get a good extra income in your spare time.

Advantages and disadvantages

The work of a proofreader has both positive and negative sides. The advantages include:

• Work suits those who do not like to lead an active lifestyle and choose sedentary work.
• It is possible to work remotely.

The disadvantages are:

• Monotonous and routine work.
• Prospects for climbing the career ladder are vague.
• High degree of responsibility for low wages.

The main places of work are printed and online publications. But you can also get a job in a printing company or in a company where there is a service responsible for public relations.

Some publishers, trying to save money, give correction to journalists or copywriters. But practice shows that it is still necessary to check by a professional proofreader, as the authors do not do without mistakes, and the publication loses credibility.