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You are here: Home › Christina Vasilevski › How Joining an Editorial Association Kickstarted My Career
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How Joining an Editorial Association Kickstarted My Career

June 5, 2018 | Filed under: Christina Vasilevski and tagged with: Christina Vasilevski, content management, Editors Canada student membership, education, freelance editing, freelancing, in-house editing, networking, Student Story

Photo by Sergey Zolkin on Unsplash

It’s 2008. After graduating from university the year before, I have a soul-sucking job with a company of dubious morals. However, it’s the Great Recession and beggars can’t be choosers. I feel stuck, sad and like I’m drowning. Maybe I should get back into writing, I think.

Online, I find out about Ryerson University’s publishing program. I tour the campus, and educational nostalgia hammers in my chest. I register for a course and start to feel like maybe I’ve found a life-preserver.

___

It’s 2009. I’m still in the soul-sucking job. But I’m also in a copy-editing course with Camilla Blakely. I come to work excited one day and rhapsodize to my coworker about the that/which distinction, which I have just learned about the night before.

A few months later, I join Editors Canada as a student member.

___

It’s 2010. I decide to get a website to show I’m serious about editing. I already know WordPress and HTML, so I register a domain, find a web host, and create my own WordPress installation. Tinkering with all the code and finding a nice layout is actually pretty fun.

These self-taught skills lead to me finding a better-paying job through a posting on the Editors Canada mailing list. My progress in the Ryerson program and my HTML skills are just the credentials I need to get my foot in the door. It’s a contract job, but that’s okay. I bid the soul-suckers goodbye.

___

It’s 2011. I finish the final credit for the publishing program. It took me nearly three years, one course at a time in the evenings over several semesters while also balancing full-time work.

___

It’s 2014. I’m no longer with the company I joined in 2010. I’ve tried freelancing and taking on contract gigs with my content management skills. I network. I blog. I use social media. I go to business events.

It’s tough going because I undercharge and I’m too scared to pitch to larger companies. But I plug along because I need to make this work. And because of Editors Canada, I know it’s possible to be a successful freelancer; I just need more seasoning and confidence.

___

It’s 2015. I get an amazing gig through sheer happenstance on Twitter. Full-time hours with agency-level hourly rates with one of the largest companies in Canada. Manna from heaven! All the grammar and plain-language nerdery I’ve gleaned through being a long-term Editors Canada member serves me well.

My contract gets renewed repeatedly and I work on a dizzying variety of web projects like product launches, mobile app rollouts and updates to landing pages.

___

It’s 2016. The company I contract with puts up a posting for a permanent in-house editorial role in my department, reporting to the same manager I already have. It’s as if it was tailor-made for me. I apply for the job — and I get it! A job that’s permanent, uses the skills that I’m good at and isn’t morally sketchy is the holy grail I dreamed of nearly a decade ago.

___

After all this time, it’s still hard to believe where I am. I’ve been lucky; full-time in-house editorial roles are hard to come by, and I got mine without working with a traditional publisher or doing any unpaid internships. I found a side path through technical and corporate work, and Editors Canada was instrumental in helping me see that path was even possible in the first place.

___

Being a student member of Editors Canada kickstarted my career, giving me confidence, connections and industry know-how. What’s something you’d advise beginning editors to do?

___

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Written by Christina Vasilevski

Christina Vasilevski is a Certified Copy Editor. She works with Rogers Communications on digital content like mobile apps and website updates.

Visit my Website Follow me on Twitter
← Review: Elements of Indigenous Style: A Guide for Writing By and About Indigenous Peoples by Gregory Younging
A Promising New Editor →

4 Responses to "How Joining an Editorial Association Kickstarted My Career"

  1. Anita Jenkins says:
    June 5, 2018 at 8:35 am

    Nice story. Editors Canada might get some of the credit, but you are the one who made it work. Congratulations.

  2. Wilf Popoff says:
    June 5, 2018 at 8:50 am

    Resourceful is the word I would use to describe you, Christina.

  3. Rosemary Shipton says:
    June 5, 2018 at 3:06 pm

    Yes, a great success story. Positions in traditional publishing houses might be hard to get right now, but editors with good training, enterprise, and enthusiasm are finding lots of opportunities in other areas of print and digital publishing.

  4. Frances Peck says:
    June 5, 2018 at 3:07 pm

    I agree with Anita and Wilf. You say you’re lucky, but your pathway makes it clear that you’re a hard worker and a planner.

    To others starting out, I’d say stick with it, like Christina. It takes a good two to five years to get established in editing, especially if you start out freelancing.

Comments are closed.

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