Steven (The Retired Teacher)

If you’re approaching retirement but aren’t ready to give up work entirely, freelance proofreading and editing could be the answer! You can earn extra income and keep your mind sharp – without sacrificing the freedom and flexibility that come with retirement.

Steven, a Becoming A Proofreader graduate, did exactly that. He was ready to retire from teaching but still wanted the option to work flexibly and earn some money from home. As a teacher and a lover of the English language, Steven found that freelance proofreading and editing were a perfect fit! He now works for our partner company, Proofed, setting his own hours and doing something he genuinely enjoys.

Read on to find out more about Steven and his freelance journey.

Hi, Steven! What were you doing before you started training as a proofreader?

I worked for many years in IT, and more recently, I was a teacher of English as a second language.

What made you consider taking our Becoming A Proofreader course?

I decided that I wanted to retire from teaching, but I didn’t want to give up work completely. I was looking for something that would offer flexibility and enable me to work from home. Because I was interested in English, proofreading seemed like a good option, and that’s when I discovered the Becoming A Proofreader course.

What did you like most about learning with Knowadays?

I really enjoyed the course. I love studying English, so it was wonderful to do that. 

The course is very well designed and gives you experience in proofreading lots of different types of material. And what was particularly good about it was that you get lots of feedback. At the end of each lesson, there’s a quiz, and you get the results of that straight away. So it’s instant feedback. And at the end of each module, there’s a larger assignment. Again, once you’ve completed that, you get your feedback straight away so you can see if there’s anything that you need to concentrate on, anything that you haven’t understood straight away, and correct that, put that right, which is wonderful.

“The course is very well designed and gives you experience in proofreading lots of different types of material. And what was particularly good about it was that you get lots of feedback.“

What was your experience with our guaranteed work offer with Proofed? Has the course helped you reach your goals?

After graduating, I was offered work with Proofed, and that’s been a great experience. At times, [it was] challenging because I was having to deal with sometimes quite large documents. But that challenge has actually been really good because by meeting that challenge, I’ve been able to increase my confidence.

And the other good thing about Proofed is that there are so many resources available to you. If there’s anything that you’re not clear about, there’ll be something there to help you or somebody to help you because you can ask questions of other people, and it’s a very supportive environment.

And there’s plenty of work available for me. There’s been no shortage of work. So I’ve been able to do exactly what I wanted, which was work as much or as little as I choose. So yeah, all around, [it’s been] a great experience.

“There’s been no shortage of work. So I’ve been able to do exactly what I wanted, which was work as much or as little as I choose.“

Is there any advice you’d give to someone who is currently thinking about taking Becoming A Proofreader?

For somebody who’s thinking about taking the course, I would say go for it – do it. It’s a really, really well-designed course, and it’s very enjoyable. And it can lead to lots of work in the future as it has done for me.

Becoming A Proofreader

Would you like to find flexible work you can do during retirement? Our courses can help!

Our Becoming A Proofreader course will teach you all the skills you need to work as a professional freelance proofreader. Plus, if you pass with a distinction grade (80% or above), you are guaranteed work with our partner company, Proofed. You can work as little or as much as you choose from anywhere you like.

And if you buy the course as part of our proofreader and editor course bundle, you’ll save 15% and get Becoming An Editor too!

Sign up for a free trial today and see how Knowadays can help you reach your retirement goals.