How To Become An Opinion Editor: What It Is and Career Path

What is an opinion editor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted expert

Bradley Shreve

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being an opinion editor. For example, did you know that they make an average of $23.58 an hour? That's $49,044 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -5% and produce -5,500 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to an opinion editor?

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.

ScoreOpinion EditorUS Average

Salary

3.8

Avg. Salary $49,044

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 7.08%

Black or African American 3.51%

Hispanic or Latino 7.92%

Unknown 4.56%

White 76.66%

Gender

female 49.73%

male 50.27%

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 opinion editor

Explore opinion editor education requirements

Most common opinion editor degrees

Bachelor's

84.0 %

Associate

7.3 %

Master's

3.1 %

Start to develop specific opinion editor skills

Skills	Percentages
Editorials	21.83%
Opinion Pieces	15.10%
Adobe Indesign	12.46%
Layout Design	11.33%
Staff Writers	4.16%

Complete relevant opinion editor training and internships

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

Research opinion editor duties and responsibilities

Manage overall coverage and establish and lead publication according to editorial position.
Proofread, edit and rewrite articles.
Stay in close contact with other editors and editor-in-chief.
Assign topics, proofread, edit, and write articles about local, community and world issues

Prepare your opinion editor resume

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

Choose from 10+ customizable opinion editor resume templates

Build a professional opinion editor 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 opinion editor resume.