Editorial Research Assistants

Employers

Editorial research assistants work for newspapers, magazines, and book publishers. Many publishers are located in New York City, as well as in large cities across the country. Other employers of editorial research assistants include advertising agencies; colleges and universities; corporations; museums; nonprofit organizations; local, state, and federal governments; and radio and television news stations.

Starting Out

Editorial research assistant is an entry-level position that is highly sought after. Applicants should be as prepared as possible to gain an edge in the job market. Some of the ways that assistants get a foot in the door are through college internships and/or summer and part-time jobs at publishing companies. Applicants for editorial research positions are usually expected to take and pass tests that are designed to determine their language skills.

School career services offices, classified ads in newspapers and trade journals, specialized publications such as Publishers Weekly (https://www.publishersweekly.com), and media-related career Web sites (such as mediabistro.com (https://www.mediabistro.com) provide useful sources of information about job openings. Many publishers have Web sites that list job openings and allow interested parties to apply for open positions.