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How do you become an Editor in Chief for a magazine?
Editor in Chief advice
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10 answers
Hi Anthony, I love the Devil Wears Prada reference! Can you share more on how someone might keep moving up? Its a long road between internship and Editor in Chief
Gurpreet Lally, Admin
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Cady’s Answer
Journalism is an organization that requires working from the ground up and paying your dues. In many ways, this could involve starting as an intern, demonstrating your value, and moving up the ranks. In the age of modern media, I'd encourage you to cultivate your own brand for a blog, Medium, Substack, your local or school newspaper. This will get you used to what it takes to be a good writer, how an editor might think and help to build your resume.
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Michelle’s Answer
Adding to Anthony's answer, take the opportunities that come your way, put your hand up for things, and start paving your own way. This could be offering to take notes in a meeting, or shadow someone doing their job. It's important to find good mentors inside the company too. They can help you find opportunities, put you forward for opportunities, and they are the people making decisions at the end of the day to help you get promoted.
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Tom’s Answer
Hi Kelis, I hope you are well. The short answer to achieving top-ranked positions is experience in the business or craft. To judge if this is truly the role you aspire to, I'd suggest the following:
1. Set up informational interviews with Editors-in-Chief and ask them what they do, how they reached their position, and what skills are most important to help with career advancement in this field.
2. See if you can shadow an Editor-in-Chief for a short period. This allows you to observe how the individual goes about their job in a non-intrusive manner.
3. Look for internships in editing roles. These are particularly useful while you are still in school.
4. Research the role's requirements and skills needed. Today, you can use AI to accomplish this with a prompt like this:
"I am considering a career in editing with the objective of becoming an editor-in-chief. Please help me research that role, including its typical career track, duties, responsibilities, and required skills, education, and certifications. Please also identify skills and education that are not useful to an aspiring editor-in-chief. Please cite your sources, and if you cannot find verified data, do not guess; simply state that the data was unavailable. Please use the following sources:
Academic institutions, industry professional associations, government data sources, and any others you feel are beneficial."
1. Set up informational interviews with Editors-in-Chief and ask them what they do, how they reached their position, and what skills are most important to help with career advancement in this field.
2. See if you can shadow an Editor-in-Chief for a short period. This allows you to observe how the individual goes about their job in a non-intrusive manner.
3. Look for internships in editing roles. These are particularly useful while you are still in school.
4. Research the role's requirements and skills needed. Today, you can use AI to accomplish this with a prompt like this:
"I am considering a career in editing with the objective of becoming an editor-in-chief. Please help me research that role, including its typical career track, duties, responsibilities, and required skills, education, and certifications. Please also identify skills and education that are not useful to an aspiring editor-in-chief. Please cite your sources, and if you cannot find verified data, do not guess; simply state that the data was unavailable. Please use the following sources:
Academic institutions, industry professional associations, government data sources, and any others you feel are beneficial."
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Nik’s Answer
Kelis, in my experience having worked both as an editor for a newsletter and as a writer serving under an editor at a PR firm, it starts with becoming a good writer. In a lot of cases, editors will move up the chain from writer to assistant editor to editor-in-chief. It is also important to work on your people skills. Editing means guiding writers as much as it means changing words. If you can't work with writers, you won't have much success as an editor. May the Force be with you!
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Christian’s Answer
I’ve never been an Editor-in-Chief myself, but I’ve had my writing published in several publications and have worked with editors who report to Editors-in-Chief. One thing I’ve learned is that Editors-in-Chief really set the tone for the entire publication. They help shape its voice, decide what stories are worth telling, and lead the people responsible for bringing those stories to life.
My advice would be to start writing and editing as much as possible. Join your school newspaper, contribute to a magazine, or even start your own publication! Journalism, English, and communications are all great subjects to explore in college.
I’d also encourage you to develop your leadership skills. Being a great writer is one thing, but being able to bring out the best in other writers is another. An Editor-in-Chief needs to know how to do both.
And don’t be afraid to reach out to people already working in publishing. You’d be surprised how much you can learn just by asking someone about their career!
My advice would be to start writing and editing as much as possible. Join your school newspaper, contribute to a magazine, or even start your own publication! Journalism, English, and communications are all great subjects to explore in college.
I’d also encourage you to develop your leadership skills. Being a great writer is one thing, but being able to bring out the best in other writers is another. An Editor-in-Chief needs to know how to do both.
And don’t be afraid to reach out to people already working in publishing. You’d be surprised how much you can learn just by asking someone about their career!
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Jamie’s Answer
You could first work or volunteer with the school paper or a newsletter published by one of your school organizations. Get as much experience as possible - even if you do the writing for free or on a volunteer basis. You could also consider working at a PR firm or advertising firm where there are many roles that require good writing skills. Lots of companies are looking for great storytellers and writers. So, again - get as much experience as you can while you are still in school. And build up your network!
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Lindsay’s Answer
Begin with small steps and gradually expand! Share your writing by blogging or contributing articles, even to a local newspaper. Look for internships in journalism to gain experience. Once you have a strong foundation, seek out entry-level editorial positions. Stay proactive, passionate about your work, and informed about industry changes to advance your career!
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Wei Wei’s Answer
I studied Journalism in school - so that's a degree for consideration. Also, I think it's helpful to sign up to participate in your school or community newsletter or paper. You can also look at online news outlets, who might be keen on citizen journalism. They are always looking for junior cub reporters. Unless you start your own paper, you mostly would have to work your way up the journalism ladder. Especially with AI now, it's more important than ever to be able to write without the use of AI. I think honing your creative writing skills would be especially important for a career in journalism. Also stay curious - think of features that you can do up for your portfolio, maybe a feature on the seniors in your community and the interesting hobbies they have for instance. Editors are always looking for good ideas.
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Sara’s Answer
My English degree was a great pathway to this. I've worked as an assistant magazine editor and a contributing writer to several publications. Skills to build for an Editor in Chief role include: project management (organizing multiple writers and strict deadlines), copyediting (a great eye for detail as well as tactfully providing edits and guidance to writers), and content strategy (seeing the big-picture message and objectives for publications and issues).