How To Become A Columnist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a columnist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted expert

Mark Lounibos

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a columnist. For example, did you know that they make an average of $24.37 an hour? That's $50,696 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -10% and produce -5,100 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a columnist?

Mark Lounibos

Associate Professor, English, Finlandia University

Don't panic. This is a disorienting, disruptive time for everyone. Graduates with English degrees are actually in a strong position to leverage their skills and training across a range of careers. Their facility with language, communication, and critical thinking is ideally suited to the online, remote workplace. The key is to be as prepared and open to working in that kind of setting.

ScoreColumnistUS Average

Salary

4.0

Avg. Salary $50,696

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.3

Growth rate -10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.29%

Asian 9.71%

Black or African American 6.40%

Hispanic or Latino 12.69%

Unknown 4.39%

White 66.52%

Gender

female 46.77%

male 53.23%

Age - 38

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 38

Stress level

7.3

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.1

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

2.1

Work life balance is very poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a columnist

Explore columnist education requirements

Most common columnist degrees

Bachelor's

76.9 %

Master's

11.1 %

Associate

6.4 %

Start to develop specific columnist skills

Skills	Percentages
Student Newspaper	15.84%
Opinion Pieces	7.48%
Twitter	5.72%
Mental Health	5.55%
Feature Stories	5.29%

Complete relevant columnist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New columnists learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a columnist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real columnist resumes.

Research columnist duties and responsibilities

Share articles via twitter and facebook.
Frequent contributor to several British on- and off-line men's magazines.
Provide weekly articles on the NBA featuring analysis, news and opinions.
Content promotion via social networks (Facebook, twitter, etc .).

Prepare your columnist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your columnist resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a columnist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable columnist resume templates

Build a professional columnist resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your columnist resume.

Apply for columnist jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a columnist job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do columnists rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Columnist reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Jul 2019

Pros

I learned to read and write at an early age and have avidly pursued it since. Beside school publications and assignments, I've sought out numerous outlets for my love of writing, from features and sports writer for my local weekly news paper, to AP stringer for election coverage, to a Pohlad family internship at one of southeastern Minnesota's most respected dailies.

Cons

Unexpected deadlines, I guess, although it sometimes seems I do my sharpest writing in those pressured situations.

A zippia user wrote a review on Apr 2019