How To Become An Editing Internship: What It Is and Career Path

What is an editing internship and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Bradley Shreve

Editing internship makes it possible for individuals to obtain a range of practical experience in editing, professional writing, and new media. Students may intern at various venues, including magazines, newspapers, publishing houses, television and radio stations, government offices, marketing, public relations firms, and various other organizations.

Internships provide students with meaningful experience in professional fields. Individuals have opportunities to develop further their knowledge and skills obtained during their education.

Since this is an internship opportunity, no prior work experience will be expected. Individuals completing their bachelor's degree or higher should avail this opportunity, as it will give them insight into the profession they want to pursue.

A few tasks are first necessary to successfully complete the internship, be proactive, take confidentiality agreements seriously, make your editor's priorities your priorities, have a positive attitude and good manners, proofread, and learn to take criticism seriously.

Although most internships are unpaid or pay extremely minimal amounts, this does not. An editing intern makes an average of $15.48 an hour. Furthermore, this internship can lead to a permanent job once you graduate and also helps in networking with professionals.

What general advice would you give to an editing internship?

Bradley Shreve

Editor, Tribal College Journal

Be flexible. An undergraduate degree in history offers a solid liberal arts background, but not a skill set that is finely tuned for most jobs. Think outside the box, and understand that the job you land probably won't be in the history profession.

ScoreEditing InternshipUS Average

Salary

2.7

Avg. Salary $35,035

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.7

Growth rate -5%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.27%

Asian 7.31%

Black or African American 3.61%

Hispanic or Latino 8.19%

Unknown 4.60%

White 76.04%

Gender

female 52.15%

male 47.85%

Age - 43

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 - 43

Stress level

6.7

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.0

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.3

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an editing internship

Explore editing internship education requirements

Most common editing internship degrees

Bachelor's

79.2 %

Associate

9.8 %

Master's

6.0 %

Start to develop specific editing internship skills

Skills	Percentages
Video Footage	27.50%
Adobe Photoshop	6.77%
Photography	4.49%
Press Releases	3.32%
YouTube	2.96%

Complete relevant editing internship training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New editing interns 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 an editing internship based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real editing internship resumes.

Research editing internship duties and responsibilities

Support editor-in-chief in managing a yearbook staff.
Develop SEO strategies to increase profitability and manage social media to spread brand awareness and bolster readership.
Edit social media posts for Instagram and Facebook.
Produce and edit video for the C1RCA Instagram feed.

Prepare your editing internship resume

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

Choose from 10+ customizable editing internship resume templates

Build a professional editing internship 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 editing internship resume.