How To Become A Contract Writer/Editor: What It Is and Career Path

What is a contract writer/editor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted expert

Carlos Bertoglio

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a contract writer/editor. For example, did you know that they make an average of $54.17 an hour? That's $112,679 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 6% and produce 3,100 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a contract writer/editor?

Carlos Bertoglio

Assistant Professor, Spanish, Southern Utah University

I have several pieces of advice for someone beginning their career in this field: 1) Pick your graduate program and the professors you want to work with very carefully. It is essential to have a supportive, like-minded person to make the experience as fruitful and enjoyable as possible. 2) If you don't have a solid background in teaching, take advantage of every opportunity to gain expertise in this area. 3) Have realistic expectations. The job market is saturated, and you will be competing with hundreds of other applicants for one position. This is especially relevant for international students, who will have even fewer alternatives and chances to land a job due to some universities' reticence to sponsor visas. 4) Be humble and collegial and get along with the members of your cohort. This will make your life easier, and most probably, they will be your colleagues in the future, so this will allow you to form a network that might prove very useful for the advancement of your career.

ScoreContract Writer/EditorUS Average

Salary

7.9

Avg. Salary $112,679

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

4.8

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.35%

Asian 8.57%

Black or African American 6.44%

Hispanic or Latino 7.63%

Unknown 4.95%

White 72.06%

Gender

female 67.52%

male 32.48%

Age - 45

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 - 45

Stress level

4.8

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.2

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.6

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a contract writer/editor

Explore contract writer/editor education requirements

Most common contract writer/editor degrees

Bachelor's

79.3 %

Master's

12.9 %

Associate

3.9 %

Start to develop specific contract writer/editor skills

Skills	Percentages
Web Content	32.64%
Press Releases	10.15%
Proofread	9.31%
SEO	4.41%
Subject Matter Experts	4.41%

Complete relevant contract writer/editor training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New contract writer/editors 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 contract writer/editor based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real contract writer/editor resumes.

Research contract writer/editor duties and responsibilities

Manage the proposal lifecycle, including RFP analysis, regular communications, proposal development and production consistent with branding strategies.
Edit other writers and produce bi-weekly email newsletter, working with HTML designer.
Specialize in SEO content, social media writing, blogging, large-scale projects and editing.
Project entail researching and writing online courses, formatting courses in PowerPoint, and writing test materials.

Prepare your contract writer/editor resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your contract writer/editor 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 contract writer/editor resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

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