How To Become A Script Editor: What It Is and Career Path

What is a script editor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted expert

Allison Harl Ph.D.

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a script editor. For example, did you know that they make an average of $26.05 an hour? That's $54,191 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 a script editor?

Allison Harl Ph.D.

Associate Professor of English English Program Coordinator, Ferrum College

Develop as many multimedia skills as possible. Writing in the 21st century is about visual rhetoric as well as just words on a page.

ScoreScript EditorUS Average

Salary

4.2

Avg. Salary $54,191

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 7.10%

Black or African American 3.52%

Hispanic or Latino 7.94%

Unknown 4.56%

White 76.61%

Gender

female 53.15%

male 46.85%

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 a script editor

Explore script editor education requirements

Most common script editor degrees

Bachelor's

71.4 %

Master's

10.5 %

Diploma

7.6 %

Start to develop specific script editor skills

Skills	Percentages
Keyboard	35.56%
Proofread	30.84%
Custom Actions	18.34%
MLA	15.26%

Complete relevant script editor training and internships

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

Research script editor duties and responsibilities

Manage international man-made fiber market research/publishing company and supervise editorial content and sales of industry statistical journal.
Review submitted manuscripts, brainstorm & implement promotional strategies, track community involvement, and plan literary events with the editor-in-chief.
Read and copyedit manuscripts for publication

Prepare your script editor resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your script 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 script 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 script editor resume templates

Build a professional script 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 script editor resume.