Meet Our Tutors: Becca
Becca didn’t always know she wanted a career in proofreading. After years of working in bars, cafes, and shops, she started wondering what it would look like to build a career she’d actively chosen. She’d always been a reader, and friends had long turned to her for help with their writing – so when she came across Knowadays, it felt like a natural fit.
She trained as a professional proofreader and editor, went on to build work experience with Proofed, and eventually became one of the tutors helping the next wave of learners make that same leap.
Read on to find out what Becca loves most about working with learners and what she’d say to anyone still on the fence about becoming a proofreader.
Tell us a bit about yourself. Where are you based, and what does your background look like?
I’m from Belfast, Northern Ireland, but I’ve lived in Cumbria in the North West of England for over 20 years.
I studied acting at university, but I soon realized that wasn’t going to be my career path. After graduating, I spent nearly 10 years working in bars, cafes, and shops, plus a brief stint in an office. It was when I was managing a local coffee shop that I started wondering what it would be like to actively choose a career rather than to simply have a job.
How did you end up working in proofreading and editing? What drew you to it in the first place?
I’ve always been a big reader. I remember when I was a kid, I would sneakily keep my bedside lamp on, with a towel covering the crack under the door, so I could keep reading late into the night! That continued, without the parent-tricking door towel, into adulthood.
For a long time, I was the go-to person if a friend wanted help with their CV, and I proofread my husband’s poetry, since he scribbles too fast to worry about silly little things like spelling and punctuation. I finally asked myself, “Is this an actual job?” And it turns out it is!
When I left the coffee shop due to changes in the business, I decided to invest in a proofreading course and took that first step toward a chosen career. I picked Knowadays (then Proofreading Academy) because there was the promise of work at the end of it – since I was very nervous of being self-employed and finding work, this was the clincher!
When did tutoring come into the picture, and what made you want to do it?
After I had completed the course and worked for a few months at Proofed, the lead tutor at Knowadays emailed me to ask if I was interested in becoming a tutor, since they’d heard I’d been doing well at Proofed. I’d always been good at training new staff in various workplaces (even if I say so myself), and it sounded like interesting work. It was also very gratifying to be recognized and asked!
I like admin and organization, and when I heard more about the role, it seemed like something I’d enjoy doing. It also offered me a segment of stability, adding set shift times into my fluctuating work week.
What do you enjoy most about working with learners?
Practically hearing the penny drop as something a learner has been struggling with falls into place. Even after years of doing this job, I still get a real buzz out of finding the right explanation for the individual and helping them lock in that rule or technique so they can move on with their learning.
What does the support you offer learners look like day-to-day?
It is really varied! The tutors offer support to prospective, current, and graduated learners, so we answer a huge range of questions.
One email might be from someone who’s interested in a course and looking for more information, while the next might be from a current learner having trouble with the technical steps in Microsoft Word. A long-returning learner might email us to ask for support in getting back into proofreading after a multi-year break, and the next might send us a list of specific questions about a practical exercise in Becoming An Editor. And then everything in between as well! Learners on all our courses can email us their questions whenever they need to, and we love going into research mode to give each what they need.
Beyond emails, we also grade final assignments and take calls with learners. Each involves giving detailed feedback and directing the learner toward the right resources so they can continue learning.
The key is being there. Letting our learners know (and regularly reminding them!) that it’s ok to ask questions and that this is what we are here for.
How do you typically approach giving feedback, and what do you think learners value most about it?
This is a really interesting question! I think there are perhaps two main styles of feedback: straightforward and nuanced. By this I mean that some mistakes are black and white, and the error is made through a misremembered or misapplied rule. So the feedback is equally straightforward: Here is the problem, here is the solution, and here is the reference point so you can read up on it.
Other mistakes are more related to style, tone, or approach, so both the problem and the solution are more nuanced. In these cases, which come up most often when a learner asks us to check their work on a practice exercise, the feedback is more descriptive. I might incorporate an analogy or reference my own learning experience or feedback I’ve received – to try to paint a picture for them that describes what they are currently doing and how they can shift their approach.
It’s also really important to pick out the positives. As evidenced by my previous paragraphs, “feedback” tends to bring to mind “negative feedback”! It is really important, both for learning and for morale, to show the learner what they did well – so they can keep doing it and so they see their progress. The feedback document for the final assignment has a whole section of highlights – errors that were successfully corrected – and I will always lead with the positive when I’m reviewing someone’s work.
I think learners appreciate the personal connection. Sure, on a practical level, feedback helps you improve, and that’s great. But taking an online training course is a far cry from in-person learning, and it could feel distant and intimidating. Each tutor has their own tone and their own way of describing things, so learners can benefit from a range of feedback and communication styles while enjoying some honest-to-goodness human interaction!
Is there anything you wish you’d known when you were starting out in editorial work?
I would probably say I wish I’d known just how different various projects can be, which means you need to approach something new with a blank slate. Well, not entirely blank – you still need to know how commas work! But the breadth of preferences across clients is far greater than I could’ve expected.
It’s a real benefit of working with Proofed that editors get to experience this – and consequently build up an incredible bank of knowledge. But it can also be a surprise (somewhere between “surprise” and “shock” perhaps!) when you start on a new project and realize you need to mentally throw out a bunch of “rules” you learned on the previous project. Because they were not rules – they were client requests or preferences on that project alone. In the long run, it’s really useful because you become adept at pivoting to new techniques, plus it’s satisfying when you come across something familiar in a later project and already know how to approach it! But in the short term, it can be a bit disarming.
What would you say to someone who’s thinking about taking a course but isn’t quite sure yet?
Talk to us! We have a wealth of information at our fingertips, and we’re happy to share our own experiences if it helps. We have each been through the decision-making process ourselves, so we understand what it’s like – wanting to make a change but tripping over what ifs. It’s best to make an informed decision, and we can provide that information.
What do you like to do when you’re not working? (Any recent reads or other recommendations welcome!)
As I mentioned, I’m a big reader. I span the genres and will happily pick up a cheap secondhand novel based purely on an intriguing title or odd author name. But I especially love sci-fi, and I’m a sucker for an apocalypse (plague, invasion, climate-based disaster, whatever), a post-apocalyptic world, or a dystopian future. John Wyndham, Marge Piercy, and Brian Aldiss are my most recent reads in this camp. It’s an odd contrast to my generally sunny disposition, but there’s no accounting for taste!
A lot of my time, especially in summer, is spent at my allotment, where I grow vegetables – on a good year, pretty much all the veg we eat from July to October. I also make jam and chutney, both for the pantry and to give as gifts throughout the year. I love my bit of earth.
I also enjoy rock climbing, specifically bouldering (low routes with no ropes), although I tend to go through phases of training a lot and then pausing for a few months when other things get busy. The puzzle-solving aspect gives me a kick, and it’s great when you try a problem a dozen times before moving in a different way – and finally nailing it!
Build a New Career with Knowadays
Becca now works from her home in Cumbria, splitting her time between editing projects with Proofed and supporting learners through their Knowadays courses. It’s a career she built deliberately – and one that keeps surprising her.
Are you considering starting a new career? Our Becoming A Proofreader and Becoming An Editor courses can help you get there. They’re completely self-led, with lifetime access and one-on-one support from tutors such as Becca at every stage. You can also buy both courses as a bundle to save 15%. Try two free lessons to see if it’s right for you!
Your email address will not be published.