Editor Resume Examples & Template [w/ Must-Know Resume Dos & Don'ts]

As critical readers with a love for stories, editors are responsible for the planning, coordination, and revision of material for publication in books, newspapers, periodicals, or on websites. They are also employed by a variety of industries to review story ideas and decide what material readers will find most compelling, as well as making sure that an article corresponds with in-house style guides.

Depending on the size of the organization, an individual editor may handle all the editorial duties or collaborate with several other people. 

Nowadays, employers expect high-quality and consistent content to attract new customers and retain existing customers. As a result, there's a huge demand for writing and editing jobs. A powerful editor resume can land you the interview where you start to embark on this exciting career.

Put it simply, a resume headline is like a resume title that introduces yourself to employers briefly and impressively. You can highlight your professional expertise and outstanding achievements in the field, or anything that helps you stand out from other applicants and be the right fit. 

A resume summary commonly consists of 3-5 sentences and synthesizes the key points of your editor resume, such as:

• Level of the profession or years of experience
• Expertise and core competencies 
• Outstanding achievements in former jobs
  💡 highly recommended for a senior editor resume!
• Skills and educational qualifications
  💡 suggested especially for an entry-level editor resume!

There is a wide range of editing jobs. Hence, make sure you write your editor skills on the resume right and effectively.

Check below for essential skills for writer and editor resumes: 

As mentioned earlier, there are a variety of editing jobs that you can specialize in. Hence, it’s important to have your editor resume aligned with the job you’re targeting. 

By picking relevant responsibilities and skills from the job description and incorporating them into the resume, you can effectively guide employers to the conclusion that you are the right fit. 

Proofreading is a critical part of editing jobs, which involves examining the text to find any grammar, style, spelling, and typographical errors. 

Likewise, running a final check is also an important step in writing a professional editor resume. Keep in mind to go over your document carefully to make sure it’s error-free and flawless.

The editor resume format you adopt will depend on your professional level and determine how the content reaches the hiring manager.

Let’s check out the 3 common resume formats below:

1. Chronological resume format

The chronological resume is the most widely-used resume format, preferred by both recruiters and candidates. With this type, you present the employment history in a timely-reverse order, beginning with the most recent job and proceeding backward. 

A chronological editor resume allows you to highlight your upward career progression and continuous work history in the field. So, pick this resume format if you have gained plenty of relevant work experience and increased job levels over time.

2. Functional resume format

Also known as a skill-based resume, a functional resume focuses on demonstrating your skillsets and abilities instead of employment history. 

This type of resume format is suitable for job applicants who lack work experience (e.g., fresh graduates, entry-level individuals, or career changers). If you’re writing an entry-level editor resume or an editor resume with no experience, this will be a good choice.  

3. Combination resume format 

A combination resume is the hybrid version of the previous two resume formats. You start with listing out relevant skills and elaborate on specific job responsibilities and achievements. 

You may consider adopting this type of resume format if you have gained both professional experience and essential skills in the past. 

Now that we agree on how tough writing a great resume can be for everyone, editor resume templates make it much easier. You can either use Microsoft Word or online resume builders like Cake to create your resume. 

📝 Microsoft Word

As the most popular word processing and document creation software, Microsoft Word allows you to make a professional editor resume for free from a hundred resume templates in the Resume Wizard. 

Once a template is selected, you just need to fill in all your information by replacing the placeholder text with your own content and make sure the layout is well-organized and easy to read.

📝 Online Resume Builder

Unlike Microsoft Word, online resume builders, like Cake, provide you with thousands of built-in resume templates in various styles and layouts. 

On their websites, you can also find plenty of useful writing tips and great editor resume examples. This way, you no longer need to worry about the resume design or content.

✅ Dos:

• Highlight your educational background as editor jobs often prefer a graduate major in communications, journalism, or linguistics. With a proper education section, your resume won’t get shortlisted, especially for an editor resume with no experience.

• Quantify your accomplishments so that hiring managers can see something practical, compelling, and convincing.
  

• Create an ATS-friendly editor resume that beats the bot (ATS, Applicant Tracking System, is a software that collects and scans eligible job applications). The trick is adopting keywords from the job description that you’re applying for.
  

• Keep the formatting of your editor resume consistent. As writing & editing jobs sometimes value creativity and personality, you may prefer unique and more stylish resume templates. However, be sure to keep the formatting consistent, well-laid-out, and professional.
  

• Provide extras to beef up your resume for writers and editors, if applicable.

❌ Don’ts:

1. Mix up a resume with an editor CV which is commonly longer and more detailed. It provides your details on both professional and academic accomplishments.
2. Write an old-style objective statement, like this: “Pursuing a career in *** as an editor.”
   Instead of that, draft a concise and strong statement that states your goals along with the potential value you can bring to employers, for example: “Looking to utilize my great strategic planning and story-telling skills to attract more readers to the National Geographic magazine.”
3. Reveal confidential information mentioned in the Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA), which can turn you into an unprofessional applicant. That can also get you into trouble regarding legal issues.
4. Mention unnecessary personal details that might lead to discrimination (e.g., age, sexual orientation, marital status, political affiliation, religion, etc.). Recruitment discrimination is a growing problem encountered by job applicants worldwide. 
5. Submit an editor resume in Word doc - that may cause hiring managers inconvenience regarding formatting errors. Thus, whether you use Microsoft Word or online resume builders, go for a PDF.