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How long does it take to find proofreading work after finishing the course?


How long does it take to find proofreading work after finishing the course

One of our MOST frequently asked questions deals with how long it takes students to find proofreading work after finishing one of our proofreading courses.

I’ll let my students handle this one. Where better to get the answer to this question than straight from the horse’s mouth! 🙂

(Oh, make sure you read our student success stories here on the site too. One of the questions we ask ALL the students we interview is “How long did it take you to get your first client?”)

First, a student who preferred to remain anonymous wrote in and said:

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Next, Lona, a 66-year-old grandmother who makes money proofreading transcripts while traveling the world, says it took her about a month from when she started to advertise to when she got her first job. A fellow PA graduate passed her name on to a court reporter in LA who was looking for a proofreader. Lona completed ten jobs for that court reporter within a month, with the promise of more to come.

That’s just one example of how great our PA community is. Everyone works together to help one another and we all love to see each other succeed.

It also took about a month for Allison to get her first client. She does both transcript proofreading and general proofreading. Eight months after graduating from the transcript proofreading course, she had four regular clients and four who send work sporadically. Now that she’s quit her job to proofread full time, she’s got lots of proofreading job offers coming her way!

For all you busy stay-at-home/homeschooling mamas out there, the next story will inspire you. Kim took on the General Proofreading course, even though she was SUPER busy homeschooling three boys and settling into a new city and state! Her first client hired her to proofread three one-page websites about five weeks after completing the course. At the time we interviewed Kim, she had had fifteen clients and was maintaining ongoing contracts with five of them.

It’s not just mamas who are killing it in the proofreading world. We’ve got some dads too! Derek graduated from the General Proofreading course and was able to land his first client within days of marketing his business.

Linsey is another of our graduates who completed both the Transcript Proofreading and General Proofreading courses. She got her first transcript proofreading client three weeks after she started marketing and currently has six full-time court reporters who send her work. She found her first general proofreading client through a random Facebook post! But brace yourself for the best part… Linsey makes almost double proofreading than what she makes at her day job, and she’s ready to leave the 9-to-5 behind after only SEVEN MONTHS of freelancing.

One more story that will blow your mind: Allie got her first client on her very first day of marketing!

Wow! I love hearing how well my students are getting on. It’s so inspiring how they’re changing their lives through proofreading. And the best thing is, it didn’t even take them that long!


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  1. If I don’t have an iPad would I be able to use the app recomended?

    1. Unfortunately not. We do recommend iPad, but you have other options: proofreadanywhere.com/why-do-you-recommend-an-ipad-which-one-should-i-get-why-what-if-i-dont-like-apple-what-if-i-already-have-an-android-can-i-work-on-my-laptop/

  2. Two ques:
    1) how does having this course on our résumé influence clients? In other words, do court reporters ask for a specific training in proofreading?

    2) must clients be local or can you work with clients around the us and the world? Does each state have different regulations that would affect your jobs? Is all correspondence via email or would you ever Skype or meet a client?
    I’m not in a big city so I’m wondering how that works for gaining clients.
    Thank you.

  3. It depends on the reporter, Jennifer. In my 5+ years doing this, no one has ever asked me for a resume. I did work with an agency that I sent my resume to, though. It can’t hurt. This course is brand new in the court reporting world; that is, there has never been specific, structured training in proofreading before now. If you’ve never proofread transcripts before, structured training is the best way to learn it … otherwise you’d just be winging it, and reporters definitely don’t like that 🙂 Lack of competence is easy to spot in this industry.

    Clients do not have to be local. You could Skype, sure. Formats do vary from state to state, and as far as I know, there are no regulations for proofreaders. In most states, there are no regulations for court reporters, either.

  4. Never did any transcribing before, but love to read, do you think this would be for me?

    1. It depends. Loving to read is great, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you can spot errors or have that knack for punctuation and detail. Generally if you have that knack, you know it 🙂 It’s very, very hard to cultivate if you don’t have it.

  5. I can’t wait to take your course. I am a grammar nazi online.
    I am always being yelled at for correcting people. Plus I love reading the written word. I have read thousands of books. You would be surprised how many books are published with errors in them! I will get there one day. Persistence is the key. I love reading your blog and comments. Thanks!

    1. Hi, Heather!

      While the course does focus on proofreading for court reporters, a lot of our graduates have gone on to proofread other media as well! The skills learned in the course can be used in many different industries. 🙂

  6. I have looked over your website, and everything looks great! I just have a few questions: how do you find clients to email for work? is there anyone you can “work for” that would give you work on a regular basis? and is there always work, or are there periods where you cant find any?

    1. Hi, Andrea!

      Great questions! While I cannot share with prospective students how and where to find clients, I can assure you that our course covers this topic at length. In fact, the entirety of Module 8 is dedicated to just that. For more information on why we don’t share this information publicly, visit proofreadanywhere.com/can-you-tell-me-exactly-how-to-get-clients-for-free/.

      To answer your other questions, yes. It is absolutely possible to find reporters that send you regular work; it’s quite normal to have reporters use one main proofreader for all of their work. That said, the industry does have its ebbs and flows. Sometimes a reporter might be having a slow month, which, in turn, means they aren’t sending you as much work. Once a proofreader builds their clientele, however, things usually balance out with workflow.

      Hope this helps! 🙂

  7. Do I need the iPad for the course? I don’t have one yet but intend to get one this year. I wanted to get started on the course now before I get the iPad.
    Thanks!

    1. Hi, Ellie! You don’t need an iPad until the Next Steps level. (And there are alternatives, but we really think that the iPad is the best choice. You can read more about that here: Why iPad?)

  8. Does having a record from younger ages affect the ability to acquire and retain clients?

    1. Not unless they ask to do a background check, but for a work-at-home freelancer and not an employee, that will probably never happen. It’s never happened to me or any of my students so far 🙂

      1. Excellent! There are only traffic offenses but considering the application for the course, I wanted to be sure. Thank you for the quick response!

  9. Good morning!
    I am a few weeks away from starting the course (trying to budget my finances!) and I have to say that I am super excited!! Just like a lot of students, I’ve been doing my homework on the course, contacting my local/city court reporters and agencies to see if there is a demand. I have already made several contacts who are willing to help me out once I’m finished with the course. I feel like this course is going to be a “life-changer” and I am ready!!

    1. I truly love your enthusiasm, Denise. You’re off to a great start… before even starting! We look forward to officially welcoming you aboard! 😀

  10. I am very interested in this field. As a freelance graphic designer, proof reading as a means of earning additional income is a complimentary step. Is there a going hourly rate or do you get paid per page? Please tell me about pricing.

  11. It seems like I’m missing a huge chunk of this article. It is only showing one student response (‘I began sending emails on June 2nd’) and then a broken link or attachment. I’m really interested in their answers and want to know more.

    Thank you.

  12. Hello,
    I was looking into your class….I was wondering if you could tell me the price of the full course? Do you take payments or is it all 1 lump sum?

    TIA

    1. Hi, Jenny! For more information on the full course and payments, please click on the Courses & Books tab at the top. 🙂

  13. How long does it approximately take to finish the course? I am just wondering since I might need to take out a small loan in order to afford this. Money is a bit tight and we just don’t have an extra $500 lying around even if it will be put to good use. Thank you.

    1. It all depends on how much you can get done in your time frame. Some people have more time than others to devote to the coursework each day. And please remember, building a business takes time. However, if you are willing to invest in using your brain and learning the necessary skills to build a business that will reward you for years to come, it will definitely be worth it in the long run. 🙂

      1. Thank you for the reply. I understand earning money won’t happen right away. I guess I just want to understand the time it would take – a few months to a year – so I can make necessary adjustments.

  14. Thank you so much for the Free 7-Day Proofreading Intro Course.

    I live and stay in Kenya and yes I saw a comment from way back from someone living here, my question is how big is Proofreading in Kenya? Can I actually monetize it and is it possible for clients from other parts of the world hire me?

    1. I don’t have any information on proofreading in Kenya. Please note that while we do have international students, please note that the course is focused on American grammar, spelling, and punctuation and working with American English-speaking clients. Some of our international students do exceptionally well, while some have really struggled. Only you can know for sure whether this course is a good fit for you.

  15. Thanks for pointing out that proofreading services often involve freelancers. I'd like to find a good proofreading service soon because I'm currently working on a blog project. Being able to have a lot of quality control for that would be ideal.

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