How to hire editors

Job description template

Copy it, fill in the brackets, and remove anything that does not fit your job. Keep only must-haves you would really turn someone away for.

[Job title] at [Company name]
[City, State] · [Full-time / Part-time] · [Pay range]

About the role
[Two or three sentences about your team, the work and why it matters.]

What you will do
• Allocate print space for story text, photos, and illustrations according to space parameters and copy significance, using knowledge of layout principles.
• Confer with management and editorial staff members regarding placement and emphasis of developing news stories.
• Develop story or content ideas, considering reader or audience appeal.
• Oversee publication production, including artwork, layout, computer typesetting, and printing, ensuring adherence to deadlines and budget requirements.
• Prepare, rewrite and edit copy to improve readability, or supervise others who do this work.
• Read copy or proof to detect and correct errors in spelling, punctuation, and syntax.
• Verify facts, dates, and statistics, using standard reference sources.
• Write text, such as headlines, stories, articles, editorials, or newsletters.

What you bring
• [Required license, certification or years of experience, if any]
• [Education, only if you truly need it. Typical to start in this job: Bachelor's degree]
• Strong reading comprehension, writing, active listening, speaking, critical thinking and active learning skills
• Working knowledge of English Language, communications and media, customer and personal service and design
• [Anything else you would really turn someone away for]

Pay and benefits
[Pay range]. For reference, the U.S. median for this job is $37.46 an hour ($77,920 a year).
[Benefits, schedule and anything else candidates should know.]

How to apply
[Apply on JAI Bot. Every applicant hears back.]

Copy the template Check your finished job post

Interview questions for editors

Ask every candidate the same questions, in the same order, and write down what they say. Questions about past work show what someone has actually done.

1. Tell me about a time you had to allocate print space for story text, photos, and illustrations according to space parameters and copy significance, using knowledge of layout principles. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
2. Tell me about a time you had to confer with management and editorial staff members regarding placement and emphasis of developing news stories. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
3. Tell me about a time you had to develop story or content ideas, considering reader or audience appeal. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
4. Tell me about a time you had to oversee publication production, including artwork, layout, computer typesetting, and printing, ensuring adherence to deadlines and budget requirements. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
5. Tell me about written instructions, a policy or a manual you had to follow closely. How did you make sure you followed it correctly?
6. Describe something important you wrote at work, such as a report, notes or an email. Who read it and what happened next?
7. Tell me about a time you had to understand a request or problem that was explained poorly. How did you make sure you got it right?
8. Why this job, and why now? What would make you stay here for the long term?

Good answers name a real situation, what the person did themselves and what happened. Avoid questions about age, family plans, religion, health, national origin or anything else unrelated to the job.

What editors do

• Allocate print space for story text, photos, and illustrations according to space parameters and copy significance, using knowledge of layout principles.
• Confer with management and editorial staff members regarding placement and emphasis of developing news stories.
• Develop story or content ideas, considering reader or audience appeal.
• Oversee publication production, including artwork, layout, computer typesetting, and printing, ensuring adherence to deadlines and budget requirements.
• Prepare, rewrite and edit copy to improve readability, or supervise others who do this work.
• Read copy or proof to detect and correct errors in spelling, punctuation, and syntax.
• Verify facts, dates, and statistics, using standard reference sources.
• Write text, such as headlines, stories, articles, editorials, or newsletters.

Skills that matter most

Reading ComprehensionWritingActive ListeningSpeakingCritical ThinkingActive LearningEnglish LanguageCommunications and MediaCustomer and Personal ServiceDesign

Education, experience and outlook for editors

• Typical education to start: Bachelor's degree (BLS)
• Related work experience most have: 2 to 4 years (O*NET)
• Experience usually needed to start: Less than 5 years (BLS)
• Job outlook: -1.1% over ten years, little or no change · about 7,900 openings a year (BLS)

What to pay editors

Pay depends a lot on where the job is. Highest and lowest median yearly pay by state:

See editors pay in every state

Related hiring guides

• Broadcast Announcers and Radio Disc Jockeys
• News Analysts, Reporters, and Journalists
• Public Relations Specialists
• Technical Writers
• Writers and Authors
• Interpreters and Translators
• Court Reporters and Simultaneous Captioners
• Media and Communication Workers, All Other

Job duties and skills: O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license; O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. JAI Bot has modified this information; USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. Pay: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS, May 2025. Interview questions and the job description template: JAI Bot, based on the duties and skills above.