After being on the job hunt again while having a part-time job at Farmers Insurance, I decided to essentially create my own business as an editor for college students. I have a bachelor’s degree from Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and was eager to get back into editing.
The introductory assignment I received, at 11 a.m. my first day on the job from an advanced-course psychology student, was a complete disaster. Worst of all, I had only until midnight to turn it into an A paper. Not only were there grammatical errors in each sentence; the paragraphs were not formatted correctly and everything was wrong in terms of the American Psychological Association’s stylebook.
There were no headlines or subhead lines. The running head was incorrect. The sources weren’t cited correctly, and the content sounded like it was quickly running out of my client’s mouth. He was a college student trying to obtain his master’s degree in psychology.
After four hours of editing and quick phone calls with my client, the paper was turned in at approximately 11:30 p.m.
That was when I realized the amount of help college students need with their writing.
Writing is imperative for every subject, and in my opinion, high school seniors are entering universities lacking in the ability to write papers.
Thus, my job is to help those college-challenged young folks by editing and properly formatting their papers so the chance of them losing points due to grammatical errors and imprecise writing is very low.
This may not be the best option, compared to being tutored, however students still like to have a second pair of trained eyes review their final assignments, and will pay for this service.
Generally, I charge about $15 to $20 per hour of editing. I collect the money, usually in the form of an online payment, after the paper is turned in, relying on my trust in students to follow through with their word.
I haven’t had any complications so far.
Getting the papers I’m contracted to edit into usable format is no walk in the linguistic park. I’m rigid when it comes to creating content for students. I will never write for a student, only edit what words they provide and rearrange paragraphs into an easier-to-read format. This includes ensuring APA style is followed (I have a reference book for this and use online resources). Students will sometimes ask me to “ghost write” for them, but I’ve decided I do not feel morally comfortable taking assignments like these. This is made clear to any client who contacts me.
Advertising for my editing services was directly through Facebook and Craigslist. I’m fortunate to be involved in an online group that consists of residents living near the ASU Tempe campus.
After posting my service in the group, I received three calls the first day. Now, I have a few regular clients for whom I edit each week, with other students contacting me throughout the week.
Business is good, and you can always tell when it’s finals time at the universities as business spikes.
I enjoy the flexibility of the job, other than the desperate messages I receive begging for my editing services the day the paper is due.
Contact: markjcrudup@gmail.com
