Yes, there are many editors who went the typical intern-editorial assistant-assistant editor-associate editor route. But there are plenty of others who made it a different way. Whether you’re a late bloomer or a career changer, get inspired by these editors’ atypical career paths.
L. Nicole Williams, a 2007 graduate of Florida State University, felt behind the curve when she finished her English degree. A one-time Olympic hopeful, the softball player bounced between sports PR and marketing gigs before sprinting after her lifestyle editorial dreams.
After checking out Ed2010, Williams made a list of her favorite magazines, cold-emailed 10 editors and heard back from about half. Instead of sending clips, she introduced herself to those staffers, built relationships with them and landed freelance gigs. Now, she’s an EA at Atlantan Brides.
Recent graduates should show how their non-editorial experience apply to the positions they want, says Tiffany Black, editorial producer for InStyle.com. Design houses teach the lingo to fashion-editor wannabes. Positions at law firms or libraries prep editors for research positions. Small nonprofits offer web and writing opportunities.
“A lot of jobs, whether in media or not, require similar skill sets that are just used differently,” says Black. “As long as you can make parallels and clearly point that out in a cover letter and resume, you’ll be fine.”
Even before the recession, some editors took the road less traveled into the industry. Amanda Pressner, formerly the Senior Nutrition Editor at Shape and now a full-time freelancer, started out in ad sales at NBC Universal before scoring a Four Times Square gig as an EA at Self.
“I took a long route to get there, but you can always find a way,” says Pressner. “Take the information on your resume, and make it work for what you want to do.”
For Pressner, that meant accepting a gig as the newsletter editor for the Advertising Women of New York, an organization she belonged to at the time. Pressner came up with the idea to do a feature on the top women in magazine publishing, interviewing big-wigs at Cosmpolitan and Glamour for her story. She kept in touch with them before making her leap to editorial at 25.
Pressner warns that some editors hesitate to take on an EA a few years out of college. They’re worried an assistant who’s used to a high salary will balk at a pay cut and Xerox duties. “Anticipate their concerns, saying you’ve saved money and you’re already set up in the city. Convince them that you’re totally prepared to make 25K a year.”
In some ways, recession grads might have it easier than Pressner. When publishing jobs open up again, says Black, applicants will likely find editors sympathetic to unorthodox backgrounds. In fact, traveling, blogging, and picking up new skills will make them stand out from the ones who did nothing but job-search after graduating.
