Magazine Editor Career Profile
- Career Name - Magazine Editor
- Category - Art & Design / Media / Education / Zoos, Aquariums, Museums and Theme Parks
- Skills Required - Life skills 40% - Career skills 60%
- Basic Subjects - Language, Business Studies, Biology
- Required Education - Bachelor's Degree
- Species Worked With - Pets, Critters, Farm Animals, Wildlife
- Short Courses - 340 Rewards = Points +Badges
Do you want to work as a magazine editor?
READ: This page helps you read about the career and the information you need to decide whether this is indeed the career you want to follow.
RESEARCH: Learn about the skills required and minimum subjects to enter this career, as well as the places where you can study further after school.
PREPARE: If you want to plan and prepare for your career, then join the OZT community! Members have access to tools while chatting with other students and experts from around the world. Prepare to be amazed!
CAREER MENTOR
UPDATED:
20 April 2024
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What is a magazine editor?
An animal magazine editor is a professional responsible for overseeing the content, production, and overall quality of a magazine publication focused on animals, wildlife, pets, and related topics. They may be the manager within a company where they can delegate tasks, or create the magazines entirely by themselves.
Alternative Names
Alternative names for an animal magazine editor may vary depending on the specific focus or context of the magazine. Some alternative titles or roles that encompass aspects of editing a magazine dedicated to animals, wildlife, pets, and related topics include:
- Animal Publication Editor
- Wildlife Magazine Editor
- Pet Magazine Editor
- Zoological Magazine Editor
- Animal Lifestyle Editor
- Nature Magazine Editor
- Conservation Magazine Editor
- Pet Care Magazine Editor
- Wildlife Conservation Editor
- Animal-themed Publication Editor
These alternative names reflect the diverse roles, specialties, and applications within the field of editing magazines focused on animals and related subjects, encompassing various aspects of editorial direction, content curation, and audience engagement within the animal community.
Differences between a Magazine Editor and Online Publication Editor
This career profile looks at editors working with actual hard-copy magazines sold in places such as bookshops.
Hard-copy magazine editors and online magazine editors share similar editorial responsibilities, they operate within different contexts and mediums, each with its own unique challenges and opportunities. Both play essential roles in delivering quality content to their respective audiences and adapting to the evolving landscape of media consumption.
Here is the link to the Online Publication Editor career profile
What does an Animal Magazine Editor do?
Category:
Art & Design / Media / Education / Zoos, Aquariums, Museums and Theme Parks
Focus:
The primary focus of a magazine editor is to manage the skills of others, as well as the vision of the business, in the creation of a printable magazine.
Daily Tasks:
- Discuss brief with staff
- Develop a storyboard to help the idea
- Manage the writing of articles
- Manage the photos, graphics and typography used in the magazine
- Oversee the final print and distribution
- Administration and filing
Where they work:
Environment –
Magazine editors work mostly indoors, within an office or studio. They may also do field work and research the animals featured in the magazine.
Places of Employment –
A magazine editor will be employed by places who want to create their own magazine for sale, such as zoos, aquariums, museums, theme parks, publishing houses, educational institutions and government. They may also decide to start their own magazine.
Average Salary:
On average the income per year is around $65,000. This will differ from country to country.
Difficulties:
The most difficult part working under tight deadlines and budgets.
Future growth and Possibilities:
Although digital (online) magazine are growing fast, there is still a need for old school printed glossy magazines. Finding and exploiting a niche market will help to penetrate and flourish in this market.
3. Which Skills are required?
The skills required for a career as a magazine editorcan be divided into two very important groups. The first is the group containing life skills, which are the core skills that are necessary or desirable for full participation in everyday life. The second group is career skills, or the specific skills required to allow a person to enter and operate effectively within a specific career. Some or maybe even all of the life skills can assist in strengthening the career skills, and they might even be the same for specific careers.
Life Skills:
- Self-awareness
- Empathy
- Critical thinking
- Creative thinking
- Decision making
- Problem Solving
- Effective communication
- Interpersonal relationship
Career Skills:
- Good business knowledge
- Good writing skills
- Basic customer service skills
- Good health and physical fitness
- Excellent computer literacy
4. Which Subjects must I have at School?
Language will be your major or most important subject in school, whether you want to study further, or not. It will strengthen your writing and editing skills and techniques, and prepare you for a career as a magazine editor.
Business Studies is not a compulsory subject for further tertiary studies, but it will definitely help you to understand and run your own business one day.
Biology is recommended, not for university acceptance, but because it will teach you a lot about the anatomy of animals, and how they move. This knowledge will be helpful as a magazine editor.
The subjects you choose at school are important as they lay the foundation for further studies at college or university. While still at school, it’s also important to learn more about the animals you will work with, as well as gain some experience.
OZT has a list of various tertiary institutions where you can study further, after school. Each of these institutions also have their own Group page on OZT where you will find the exact subjects they require of you to have passed in school. Keep these requirements in mind, and discuss it with your school, guidance counselor and parents to ensure that you are prepared!
5. What will I need to Study?
Minimum Requirements:
The minimum educational requirement is usually a Bachelor’s Degree, while some do enter this career with a College Diploma.
Focus:
Major –
Study towards language, writing, communication, editing, journalism or publishing.
Short Courses –
Courses in writing and publishing techniques are extremely important to hone your skills.
Duration:
The duration of College and Bachelor’s Degrees can be up to 3 or 4 years. Short Courses are usually between a few weeks and a year.
Possible Career Preparation Paths:
If this is your dream career that you want to pursue, then it’s important to plan the way forward.
Why is planning important?
To ensure that you understand the requirements for your career, and that you are always prepared for the next step on the road towards your dream. A Preparation Path is like your road map to where you want to be.
Possible Paths:
Possible Combined Career Paths:
It is possible to sometimes combine two or more related careers. This normally happens when you study and practice a specific main career, but the knowledge and experience gained also help you to have a paying hobby or secondary income career.
Possible Alternatives (there are a lot more):
Stepping Stone Career:
Being a Magazine Editor can also be used as a stepping stone career. A stepping stone career is one which is used to help you get to another career, normally because the other career is too difficult to reach (sometimes due to things like high fees etc).
You can begin as an intern after basic short courses and expert guidance (maybe working under a mentor). The money made can then be used to pay for studies towards a promotion or another career, and the experience helps in gaining knowledge. One paying to help get to the other.
Some of the possible paths:
Training and apprenticeship:
Even though it is important to study to get into some of the animal careers, most of the skills you will need as a editor will be acquired through practice. This means that you will learn how to perform some of the daily tasks by actually doing it a few times and learning the steps.
In some cases entry level positions require training sessions even before you are allowed to actually perform your job duties. These sessions are offered by the place of employment, after you have successfully applied.
Apprenticeship is also possible where you need to learn skills from a more senior editor or expert.
Join the Magazine Editors Group in STEP 8 to learn more and even interact with the educational institutions that will help you secure your dream career!
The average level of education of those entering the career:
6. Licenses, Certificate, Registration and Professional Associations
Certain animal careers require some form of legal certification to prove that you can indeed do the work, and work with the necessary equipment.
Although not required by law, certifications may help workers establish their credentials and enhance their skills.
Learn more about requirements by joining OZT in STEP 8.
Professional Associations:
7. Where can I study further?
All of the above information will help you understand more about the Career, including the fact that there are different paths to take to reach it. But if you are almost done with High School (Grades 11 or 12), you also need to start thinking about further studies, and WHERE you will study.
See the List of Universities, Colleges and Online Training Academies who offer courses towards publishing.
8. Join the OZT community
Join us as a special member and learn more about becoming a magazine editor.
Members of the Platform have special access to:
- Info on the best places where you can study (colleges, universities and online)
- Expertly designed advice to prepare you for the career, and links to places where you can gain valuable experience. For some career experience is necessary, otherwise you wont get the job!
- Top notch info on each of the different species you will work with
- Make friends around the world and share knowledge
- Compete and win points, badges, games, prizes and certificates. Be the best of the best, while you learn and prepare!
If you have decided on being a Magazine Editor, please click on the JOIN GROUP button. If this career is NOT the career for you, then you may return to the MAIN CAREER menu, and search for something different.
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