The Yann Blog

08/19/2020

Hello! So in my last post (which is my first post ever but that’s irrelevant), I talked about how I felt tons of pressure from not having a plan for my future. I didn’t have a course, an ambition. Nada.

Out of desperation, I took a bunch of career tests online. But after taking this one career test, I was rendered speechless. The job it matched with me was not only incredibly fitting for my skills, but I also find it quite enjoyable. I’d probably call it the perfect job for me. 

Anyway, I’ve babbled enough about my dramatic response to the result of the test, but I just realized that I have YET to actually tell you what the result is.

So the job I got is...

*drumroll*

Proofreader.

And it makes sense! Since elementary school, my classmates have been asking me to check if the grammar in their essays are acceptable. I’ve technically been considered as the grammar consultant in every class I’ve been in.

So I did some research. What is proofreading? What do I do in the job? How much was the salary? What courses do I need for it? While I was doing that, I stumbled upon a different term related to proofreading, which is copyediting. So I began to ask myself, what’s the difference?

My researching became even more broad. Even now I still can’t exactly differentiate the two properly. But from what I gathered, it’s basically this:

PROOFREADING is the surface-checking of a document. You check the grammar, consistency and layout of information. COPYEDITING is a more in-depth process. You do what a proofreader does, but you also have the authority to revise the sentences in a document to improve its flow and structure.  For me both are ideal, and I felt stuck again. Which one am I gonna pursue? So I proceeded to do even more research cos research can be fun sometimes. After that, I compared the data: They have the same course requirements. You can be employed in a company or do freelance work. But what caught my attention is the pay.  Now in my country, the minimum wage for both proofreaders and copyeditors isn’t sufficient for a month. At least that’s what this website said. And this one. And a bunch of other sites supported this claim. Other proofreaders/copyeditors said in their blogs that it’s better to have a day job if you’re going freelance because money doesn’t come as easy with these jobs. And I’m gonna be needing money to live in this modern world.

Even then, I don’t plan on giving up on this so easily. 

Most sites say that copyeditors are paid more than proofreaders. 

With that in mind, I formulated a more detailed plan. Since copyediting is more complex, I decided to just start as a proofreader. When I’m finally good enough, I’ll add copyediting to my list of services. Turns out, many copyeditors did the same thing when they were just starting out. I guess that means I’m on the right path.

It’s exciting, though. Just a month ago, I thought my life was going nowhere. Now, I got a job that I’m looking forward to having in the future. You never really know when your life is gonna change until it comes barging into your front door. But change is nice. Change is an opportunity if you look hard enough.

This post was a bit more formal that what I planned it to be but hey, at least I doused it with some informative stuff. I do hope this post has given you a bit of insight about proofreading or copyediting, even though I’m not really an expert yet. And do your research! It helps you!

08/03/2020

As if the ABOUT page wasn’t long enough, I shall give a thorough backstory to make you guys understand why I actually made this blog in the first place. 

Currently, I’m a senior high school student. You know what that means?  College prep...aka studying for entrance exams, selecting colleges, and a whole bunch of other stressful stuff. In the past five years of high school (not including this year), I spent my days clueless about the path I’m gonna take starting college. I didn’t have a dream job, a dream course, a dream college even. Every time a year passes, I told myself that I had time. I didn’t need to panic. Except it’s hard to not panic when you feel the pressure. Plus I’m Asian, of COURSE I’m gonna feel the pressure.

When my fourth year of high school ended, I went to take a business-based academic track for my last two years. Did I want it? Not really. Why did I take it though? I thought of it as a backup plan. I didn’t have anything planned for my future yet, and I needed to look like I had one fast. I realized that one of the most successful and accepted careers in my country involves business. You either start your own business or be employed in a business company. I saw it as a safe option. So if I ever decide to choose a different career path, at least I have basic business knowledge put aside.

One year into the business track, I decided that working in a company definitely isn’t for me. Sure I enjoyed some of the discussions in class and learned a whole lot of useful business knowledge, but it’s not something that I see myself doing in the future. My panic increased in power. I have only one year left to decide, and I still have to prepare for college entrance exams. Then something unexpected happened: a pandemic.

[The pandemic involving COVID-19 is very dangerous and sad. I do not take lightly everything bad that has happened due to the virus.]

Because of the need to put the country under quarantine, the school year 2019-2020 was abruptly ended, and the school year 2020-2021 was delayed for a few months. The school year ended in the middle of the stressful end-of-the-year hell month, so when I heard about the order to stay home, I saw it as a sign to take a break. And for a few months, I did take a break. I did absolutely nothing that’s considered productive, unless you consider baking sweets as productive.

Just last month, I suddenly started to feel the pressure again. I still have nothing planned for the future. Then I thought, “Why not take a career test?”

So I did. I took a LOT of the free ones online. There were inconsistent results from each test, but this test in particular was what enlightened me. This website called Career Explorer examines you thoroughly and gives you helpful results. You have to pay to view the full results report though, which kinda sucks a bit.

Then I got the results, and things got so much clearer. 

I became excited. After doing some research about the job, I realized that it’s totally my match. I started downloading and printing textbook files I find online, and also taking free online workshops and courses related to it. I exhaled out of relief. I finally found a path.