An interview with a former student on Proofreading Today

At Editorial Training we are very lucky to have a number of very able current and former students. Among them is Megan Jewitt, who recently completed Proofreading Today and was the first to achieve a distinction on the course.

We asked Megan if she would agree to an interview, to share some of her experiences and insights, and were delighted when she agreed.

Where do you work at the moment?

I work as a Senior Resource Dispatcher for the South East Coast Ambulance Service, and although in my particular role I only need basic grammar and punctuation skills, it’s something I’ve always been quite particular about and wanted to further improve my skills in that area.

What prompted you to enrol on the course?

I wanted to do something outside of work that would challenge me and give me a new skill, but it had to be something I was interested in in the first place. My friends often come to me asking if I can check their university coursework or job applications etc for errors in spelling and punctuation, so that gave me the idea to study something in that field.

Proofreading obviously requires (among other things) a good knowledge of grammar and spelling. Is this something you’ve always been good at? If so, where do you think that talent comes from?

My mother read to me regularly from a very young age and I was therefore able to read before I started school. My teachers were always telling me I had a high reading age, and I think when you are praised for something and feel that you are good at it, you become even more interested in the subject, and the more you read the better your knowledge of language and grammar becomes. I now always have a book on the go and have to read every day – it is the best way to relax and wind down.

Do you think that the ability to speak and write good English has become fashionable following the success of books such as Eats, Shoots and Leaves?

I hope so, but since doing the proofreading course I am spotting more and more errors in all sorts of documents! I think the best way to encourage good spoken and written English is to start from a very young age. There are some excellent children’s books out there, and titles like the Harry Potter series are fantastic as they have become so popular that lots of children (and adults too!) who would never have thought of reading before are picking up these books.

Did you have any prior knowledge or experience of proofreading? If not, was it what you expected?

I had no prior experience of this subject, and it was what I expected to a certain extent – I was looking forward to learning all the marks and symbols and how to mark-up online documents, but I was expecting there to be more editing involved. I didn’t realise how many different roles there were in the editing industry, so maybe I will do the editing course next and extend my skills even further!

The bar for a distinction on Proofreading Today is deliberately set quite high in order to reflect the standards expected in real working situations. Is there a secret to your success? What advice would you give to other students on the course?

I have done a study-at-home course before but didn’t do so well as I wasn’t particularly interested in the subject. I think that is the key – make sure you are studying something you enjoy and want to learn more about. And don’t expect to remember everything the first time round – I always had the first module to hand when studying subsequent modules so that I could go back and refresh my memory rather than just guessing and risking making a mistake.

Do you think there are any attributes that make someone a ‘natural’ proofreader?

A love of reading! I didn’t know if I would be any good at proofreading, I just knew that I enjoyed reading and checking my friends work for errors, so I thought I would give it a go. I’m so pleased that I did this course, as it has confirmed to me that maybe this is something I could start looking into further as a career option, and get paid for doing something I love rather than spending the rest of my life just wondering...