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I’m a mom. How flexible are proofreading jobs?


Here are some candid responses from some of our students and program grads about the flexibility of proofreading jobs:

moms1 proofreading jobs
moms2 proofreading jobs

Hundreds, even thousands of people — like these moms above — are turning to various types of freelance work every day.

Of course, the folks on the ProofreadAnywhere team believe freelance proofreading is a dream job for people with a pair of eagle eyes!

It’s the new way to work! It offers the flexibility to manage your own schedule. It also offers you the unique opportunity to make money doing something you enjoy, from anywhere in the world. You can choose how much work you do, and how much money you make. The sky’s the limit!

Freelancing also allows you more freedom in life! With so many “can’ts” when you work for someone else, the freelance life offers so much. You must work for it, but it’s so worth it.

FB profil TWAL proofreading jobs

Here are some of our favorite “cans”!

You CAN escape the 9-to-5, chained-to-a-desk mentality. How many times have you thought to yourself, “It sure would be nice to not have to sit at a desk, doing work I hate, for a company I don’t enjoy working for, for people I don’t even like?” Or maybe you ask yourself, “Why do I waste so much time commuting to work every day?” Life is way too short to be miserable every day. Why are you working, anyway? To pay bills? To save for retirement? Wouldn’t it be great to be able to work as much or as little as you like and set yourself free from the corporate world? You can still save for retirement AND have a drastically improved quality of life. Maybe it’ll take you a while to match the income you made at a “normal” job, but if you’re happier, isn’t it worth it?

You CAN move abroad and still maintain a solid income. Once you’ve established your freelance business, you have the option to relocate to anywhere you’d like, without feeling restricted by corporate locations, politics, or promotions. Maybe you’ve always had a dream of living in Paris. Perhaps you’ve fantasized about working on your laptop in a quaint cafe around the corner during the day, and drinking wine, and seeing the city at night. You can make that dream come true! The cost of living in many beautiful cities around the world is also much lower than it is in the United States. Wouldn’t it be cool if your rent was only $350 a month instead of $1400? When you freelance, you can make that a reality.

You CAN stop working to help pay for your boss’s Escalade. Let’s be honest. How annoying, even frustrating, is it to see your boss (or maybe your boss’s boss’s boss) roll up to work every day in the newest, shiniest car? Working for someone else is pretty much investing in someone else’s life. You’re spending your time doing their work, and they are reaping most of the benefits. Sure, you get a paycheck, and it’s “easy” to just show up every day, punch in, punch out, go home and repeat. But oh, how much more rewarding it is when every little thing you do is an investment in yourself. Every bit of training you invest in is for your own personal betterment. Every minute you spend networking is directly benefiting you – not the boss’s new Escalade.

Hundreds, even thousands of people -- like work-at-home moms -- are turning to various types of freelance work every day. Of course, the folks on the ProofreadAnywhere team believe freelance proofreading is a dream job for people with a pair of eagle eyes!

You CAN create your own schedule. Sweet freedom. The best hours of your day — you know, the time when you have the most energy, the time when you feel the most alive? You can spend that time however you want. You want to go shopping at Target at two o’clock on a Wednesday? Spend all afternoon in the library with your little ones? You’ve got more than an hour over lunch to do it when you’re the boss. Maybe you’ve always been a night owl, and getting up early every day is a struggle for you. Maybe you homeschool, or your kids have a busy extracurricular life, and you aren’t able to make it to their events because you can’t get the time off from work. Maybe you want to take more vacations, or just work less. Proofreading is very flexible. YOU have the power to write your own schedule. YOU can say no to work when you are too busy. YOU can take a vacation when you feel like it, without worrying about whether or not someone else in your department already requested the same time off.

You CAN work anywhere you want to, including your own home. Wouldn’t it be great to be able to show up at the office in your pajamas? When you work from home, you can do that! You can drink your morning coffee while you’re checking e-mails, instead of grabbing it to go on the morning commute and spilling it all over your pants when the doofus in front of you slams on his brakes.

You CAN spend more time doing the things you love – with the people you love. The biggest benefit to becoming a freelance proofreader is the drastic improvement in your quality of life. Once you’re up and running, you no longer have to structure your entire life around your job.

You CAN finally structure your job around your life, which we believe is really how it should be! That yoga class that you could never get to because your only options were 5:00am or 8:00pm? You can go! Maybe you’ve always wanted to learn a foreign language, but couldn’t commit to a class for 8 weeks. Now you can! The possibilities are endless!


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  1. I thought I was going to learn something more in this seven day free course but most of it seems to be just an advertisement selling the course. Its kind of a turn off. I suggest providing something more useful and backing off on the hard sell.

    1. Hi Tim — I’m sorry to hear you were disappointed. The 7-day intro course is designed to introduce you to the world of proofreading and to help you figure out if it’s a good fit for you. It’s not meant to be training of any kind — training for this type of work cannot be done in a mere seven days. There’s a HUGE yellow box on the Day 1 email that discloses that right from the beginning.

      ** seven day –> 7-day
      ** course but –> course, but
      ** Its –> It’s
      ** turn off –> turn-off

      How’s that for useful? 😉 Also, please check out the rest of the blog: https://proofreadanywhere.com//category/proofreading/

      We’ve recently posted several articles delving into the general proofreading world, including some case studies from people who’ve been working on online freelancing platforms for years.

      1. I didn’t find your free course overly “salesy” at all and thought it was very informative about what the process of proofreading entails.

      2. So this just made me LOL (sorry Tim)

        I’m actually enjoying the 7-day course! I look forward to the informational tidbits each morning! Of course you will hear why it’s beneficial to enroll in the course. I wouldn’t call it a HARD sell at all! Caitlin is very upfront and honest about what to expect every step of the way. Plus, she offers more detail in the 7-day FREE course than most other (credible) programs out there. I’m sad my seventh-day is nearing but I’m looking forward to signing up for the full course in the very near future!

        1. 😀 I am glad you feel that way! Fair warning — I have a habit of overdelivering … some students get annoyed with me because I keep adding MORE resources to the course, HA! They’re almost done and BOOM, Caitlin adds a brand new unit or a brand new worksheet. Of course they know it’s for their own good … 😉

          1. Since you mentioned the things that keep getting added to the course, I am curious if there’s a way to be “alerted” when something has been added to a module that a student has already completed. Or is it just a matter of keeping an eye on the green checks in each module to see if one turns gray? Thanks. 🙂

          2. Make sure you are in the FB group 🙂 I always make announcements when something new has been added. There is a signup form on the Course Progress page on the righthand side of the screen; if you’re on an iPad, turn it horizontal.

      3. Caitlin, I understand this type of training can’t be done in 7 days. If that’s the case, why the Level One Module 7-day access for $77.00. I reviewed the Module One course list and found it pretty extensive. I don’t think it’s possible to get through it in just seven days. If I purchase level 1 and don’t immediately pay for level 2 after 7 days, I won’t have access to level 1 but will I be able to download module 1 material to review until I can purchase level 2? Thanks, Geneva

        1. You can definitely get through the Module 1 content in 7 days. Have faith in yourself! It is a lot of reading, but it’s not undoable. What I mean by not being able to do the training in 7 days is that you cannot become a competent transcript proofreader in 7 days 🙂 Module 1 is just a small piece of the pie. The content isn’t downloadable (except for the PDF eBooks included), but Level 2 also includes access to Module 1, so you will regain access in Level 2. Again, though, 7 days *IS* enough time to go through Module 1.

          1. 7 days in how much time per day? I am working full time still and am exhausted when I get home. Considering whether I want to wait til my job ends in May.

  2. Thanks for all the comments from the SAHMs! Do you ladies have a set schedule each week, or how do you make sure you have enough time to complete your work? Any suggestions on minimizing distractions while you are working?

  3. Hi Meredith!
    I am a PA graduate with two kids, ages five and two. I mainly do my work during naptime and after bedtime. Sometimes when they are really occupied I can get some work done, too. Every person’s family schedules are different, so when you choose to read is completely up to you. I only take on jobs if I know I will have the time to complete them. For example, if the court reporter needs a job completed within the next few hours and I know I have to take my kid to the doctor, I won’t take it. However, if a court reporter has a 150 page job due on Tuesday and I know that I will have a ton of time on Monday to do it, then I take it. You are totally in control. My five year old has a learning disability and my other child is two. My husband works 14 hours a day. If I can do it, anyone can. 🙂

  4. Meredith, I don’t really know if it is possible to have a truly set schedule for each week, and that seems to work in proofreading’s favor as an occupation. Court Reporters have their busy seasons, and their not-so-busy seasons, just like any business. We have our weeks where everyone seems to be sick, and weeks where we have time to read for pleasure if we want to. I try to be flexible for and about my children. We homeschool as well, with a kindergartner, a two-year-old, a third grader and a seventh grader. My husband works two jobs, and I now stay home. I completed the course over the summer while I was still working a part-time job. It isn’t easy, and you have to stay organized to keep up with everything life throws at you, but it can be done.

    Distractions are harder than time management, in my opinion. I can’t control when my five-year-old falls down the stairs and needs me to pick him up and check for blood. But if I’ve been diligent about all my other obligations, that five minute interruption doesn’t derail my day. None of my children nap consistently, so I tag-team with my husband or work during their (admittedly limited) TV time. I’ve found I can give them an activity that takes a while and work while they are in a different part of the house or outside. You just have to search for those times.

    I also do what Katie does, and turn down jobs if I don’t believe I will do a good job. I put off marketing myself after I graduated because my part-time job needed me almost full time for a couple of weeks. I’m not going to help myself in the long term by taking a job and not doing it well, so I keep that at the front of my mind.

  5. Hello, Meredith!

    I have two boys, an 11-year-old and a 4-year-old (both are special-needs kids). They are at school in the morning, so I try to get as much done as I can in the morning, right after my coffee, of course. Kids need a lot of sleep at night, something like 10-12 hours a night. Creating your own schedule will force you (if you have this problem) to make sure your kids get into bed earlier (7 or 8:00 pm) and get their proper sleep! You’ll have at least a couple of hours each night, besides the time they are at school.

    I have had to create more structure in my schedule of busy-mom stuff, but it has been good for me to realize that I CAN carve out time for the most important things. In the end, it is still a tough job being a working mom, but I love having the flexibility in my schedule with the capability to add to our family income. You can do it if you are determined. Best of all, you’ll have the PA group’s support that can do wonders;).

  6. Thanks for sharing your experiences moms! I, myself, am a mother of 2 so the information you all provided is very encouraging.

  7. While I’m still working on the course, so I haven’t had any real jobs yet, I love being able to work on it while waiting in the carpool line (I get there very early) or after my 8 and 12 year old are in bed. Proofing while eating breakfast in the restaurant or donut shop is great too. Yesterday, my younger daughter stayed home sick from school with a cold, so I couldn’t volunteer in the school library as scheduled, but I could proof transcripts!

  8. Thanks for all the feedback! You ladies are so helpful! I’m looking forward to getting started in October!

  9. Great feedback all around! I’m mulling over PA in order to stop working out of the home so that I can relieve my kids’ daycare woes and eventually home-school the grandchildren. The responses that I read today are very helpful. Thank you!

  10. I have so much work that I put my daughter into daycare three days a week. That also means I make enough money to afford that. So I get my work done at home during those three days. The other two days of the week, I don’t get as much done, but I find time during quiet time and bedtime. And then on the weekends, my husband is home. Using daycare just a few days a week helps my daughter socialize and learn and allows me to get my work done in order for me to have family time. I find proofreading very flexible. It really does allow me to have a life with my family. And when we moved to a new state, I didn’t have to find a new job.

  11. Hi,
    I’m appreciating all the feedback as well, as I’m only on my 2nd day. I swear this niche has been calling me for quite awhile, but I never knew where to turn. Proofreading, editing, creative writing, even, has been my world, but I just needed something else and with more flexible, than teaching public schools. I’m kinda burnt out! So I’m looking forward to getting to and through the real course asap; I’m just trying to save so, I can afford it, and finish raising my kids, as an “instant single mom”. Btw, I may have missed it, but exactly how much is the full course, please. I some how had $197.00 in my head, but saw yesterday, that’s a coupon to be used toward the full course.
    If you can clear that up for me, I would appreciate it. And thanks for your hard work!

  12. Hi Caitlin, I am a SAHM of 5 kids who range in age from 6 to 18. I have been looking for a way to help supplement my husbands income. I homeschool my three youngest daughters, my son is a freshman in public school, and my oldest daughter is homeschooled and will be graduating in June 20 program 16. I am excited about this 7 day introduction to proofreading to see if it is something that would be a good fit. I spoke with my Mother-in-law who works at the county courthouse in my city and she said the court reporters she knows proofread their own work, or have a computer program that does it for them. Have you heard of that before? Would that fact make it harder to get clients? Have you noticed any difference in your students success due to where they live? I appreciate all the hard work you have put into this. Looking forward to what Day 6 has for me. – Gail Speis

    1. Hi, Gail!! Some reporters indeed proofread their own stuff. I’ve proofread after some of them — some are right to do so, whereas others could really, REALLY use a second set of eyes. If you polled attorneys and paralegals who work in litigation about whether or not they’ve found errors in transcripts, I’ll bet a truckload of money you’ll hear many yeses 🙂 The computer program can spell check, but it can’t catch completely incorrect names or inaccuracies, wrong words, transposed words, wrong ZIP Codes, etc. Human eyes can.

      It does not matter where you live; you can truly proofread anywhere. I have students in Kenya, Thailand, the Philippines, the UK, Costa Rica, Ecuador, ALL making it work 🙂

      1. I am curious how this works for court reporting. The reporters job is to take down everything, exactly as it is said. If the person they are recording says something wrong and they type it exactly as it is said, they are doing their job correctly. If a proofreader comes along and changes it then its no longer an accurate picture of what was said in court.
        You mention incorrect names. My daughter-in-law’s name is Janee. People always assume its a typo. How do you KNOW something is incorrect?

        1. Sometimes you don’t always KNOW, but that’s why proofreaders are such great researchers!

  13. Hi, Caitlin: Speaking of Kenya, I did go to Sheeroh Kiarie’s website and check her out and even downloaded some info she gives out for free. No, I’m not about to go to Kenya, cause the farthest I can swim is from Honolulu to California and swimming the rest of the way to Kenya is quite impossible! LOL!

    I actually just wanted to “immerse” myself into these “proofreading stuff” to get a “feel’ and an “inkling” as to what all this “hype” (not hype, really) is all about. The more info I can immerse and absorb about proofreading transcripts the better and more inclined I am into committing myself into actually taking your course. I’m getting there, slowly but surely. The “urge” gets stronger the more I “delve” into this interesting proofreading subject.

    I love the fact that I don’t have to deal with transcribing “mumbly speakers’ dictations, and that all that is left for the CR to do. I prefer to take “the easy way out” by only proofreading what the CR already has transcribed, which makes ife that much easier.

    As you can see, I’m practically “all over the proofreading place,” so to speak, which is more like a “self-hyping” or “pep talk” to get myself more interested in this subject–especially when I know for a fact that it is completely “do-able!” I’m getting there. So, don’t be surprised one day when you see my name pop up as one of your interested students. I’m getting closer to this dream that I aim to make a reality. Life is too short to waste any more time and I have to “git ‘a-movin on down the road,” as the song goes!

    Aloha for now, Caitlin.

    Roger Poaha

    1. Proofreading is quite relaxing, too 🙂 I’ve done a bit of transcription — it induced anxiety for me, but I’ve heard it can be relaxing for many people 😀

  14. I am loving the daily information in the 7-day intro course. I loved the quiz and spelling exercise. I want to take it again in a day or two and see how much I retained from my errors.

    I called my sister/best friend last night and asked if she thought I was crazy to be considering this on top of school and my retired husband. She said go for it! All of our combined 7 children are adults now and we have 9 granddaughters. We are still very much a part of their lives. I drove from Memphis to Little Rock yesterday to be at a medical appointment with our youngest daughter. I pulled out my phone and worked through the spelling challenge while I was in the waiting room. We like to travel and are gone almost a month every summer. I was concerned about that, however, this has put my mind at ease. I can not take jobs during that time. I would imagine that if I have a loyal client who has a desperate need, it would be good to stop for a few hours or a day and help them.

    My husband is a disabled vet and has health problems. I tell people, he’s retired but I’m not. In reality, though, I don’t want to waste a minute of the time we have to be together. if I lose him later, I will need a solid skill to sell. I believe can learn that skill now and be slowly growing it.

    Does this sound realistic?

    Thank you,
    Nadina

    1. It sounds VERY realistic!! I think you have a positive, realistic attitude. Being gone over the summer for a month is no biggie… many reporters are on vacation at various times in the summer, too. Many of them also have family to tend to.

  15. Hi Caitlin,
    My name is Darlene, and I am going thru your 7 day course at this time. I am also a substitute teacher for 3 ISD’s and it is not steady work. So said the full price is $897. Is there any way if can make payments, not just the $197 and the $700 payments, but smaller payments????

    I really want to get away from being a substitute teacher, I have always dreamed of working from home. But without being a sub, I am on a fixed income, can you clarify how the payments would work.

    Thank you
    Darlene Harwell

  16. Has anyone from New Jersey completed the course/working in the field?

    1. I know of one New Jersey graduate for sure, and she is currently proofreading. There are other students still taking the course that are from New Jersey as well.

  17. Hi Caitlin
    I am only on day three of your introductory program, but I am getting more excited each day. To be honest, most online offers, in my experience anyway, have not delivered what they promised. It’s refreshing and encouraging to read your daily posts, and I appreciate you taking me through your program step by step. I believe that if the information had been presented all at once, it would be overwhelming and leave doubt in my mind. It has also been helpful to read the comments of others in the process of learning the art of proofreading. When I studied for my Masters of Education, we learned in a community setting. This online program has that same ‘community’ feeling!

  18. I’m definitely enjoying this free introductory course! I am currently on Day 3 and cannot wait for the next lesson. I am already positive that I will be enrolling in one of your paid courses, once this free course is finished, as this line of work is a dream-come-true for me! Thank you, Caitlin!

  19. It is encouraging to read these testimonials from fore-runners in this course .

    It sure would be nice for me to also quit the nine-to-five rat race , and work at a flexible schedule, thus having quality time with my loved ones.

    I truly appreciate this wonderful opportunity!

  20. Actually, I'm an older gentleman taking the Proofread Anywhere course and really enjoying it. I do not believe in complete retirement but to stay active, I am actually continuing to work full time while taking the course (and really enjoying it). I am working full time to stay active and be out in the public, but realize as I get older, I will have to reduce the physical work I am currently doing but this course and this field will surely help to keep me sharp. I also want to do more traveling in the near future and this flexibility will surely allow that. I am really grateful that I discovered Caitlin and this course and when finished with this and working in the field, fully intend to take Transcript Course.

  21. Woo Hoo! Free at last! Love the "hard sell" as Tim calls it. Understood right away that it does not replace course work. I had no idea what kind of world I was entering. Been mulling over this and that. I glad for this course. Keep it coming.

  22. Hi. I'm not a SAHM but I'm very interested in proofreading to supplement my full-time warehouse job without resorting to OT. I work four 10 hour days. So that allows me about 2½ days each weekend to proofreading. (I simply MUST go to worship service on Sunday morning). I glanced through the list of people offering their services on one of the sites and was overwhelmed by the variety of people "peddling their wares." My fear about getting into this gig work is my restrictions on working only those two days each week. Still, I will press forward and see what happens.

  23. Although I'm retiring for the third time, I still want/need to work and this sounds perfect for me. Ever since Covid hit, my dog has become so attached to me that he gets anxiety when I leave the house. Soon we will be able to take walks during the day and hang out together while I work doing something I love to do.

  24. I really appreciate you offering the 7-day course. I found it to be very informative, straightforward and too the point. It will help you to determine whether proofreading is for you or not. Shanel hit the nail right on the head in terms of what you are offering. I have no idea what Tim is talking about, he obviously was not paying attention in class. Great content.

    J Waterman

  25. I don't have much experience with e-mailing, and none with Facebook or Linked-in. I'm a recovering technophobe and looking forward to honing my proofreading skills. I once had a 3-month proofreader-trainee (?) job with a technographic company. I was learning to kern for textbooks and other projects from a publishing company in the area.

    I started out as a typist, stenographer, transcriptionist, clerk, etc. and have had a lot of experience writing and editing my own work.

  26. My son is special needs, so, it's hard to find proper babysitters/daycares to take him. Is it easier & more flexible to be a freelance proofreader where I can focus more on my son's needs than babysitters/transportation?

    1. As a freelance proofreader, you are the boss! Meaning that you set your own schedule and you can work from home or from anywhere with a reliable computer or tablet and a strong internet connection. You will need to work in a quiet part of your home and schedule an hour or so (depending on the job) where you have no distractions. If that is only doable for you in the evenings, then that’s when I recommend you proofread.

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