Top 12 Assistant Editor Skills to Put on Your Resume

Publishing is crowded, noisy, fast. To stand out as an assistant editor, you need a resume that shows sharp technical chops paired with sound editorial judgment. Put the skills up front that prove you can support senior editors, keep production humming, and help deliver clean, high-impact content.

Assistant Editor Skills

1. Proofreading
2. Copyediting
3. InDesign
4. Photoshop
5. Final Cut Pro
6. SEO
7. CMS (Content Management Systems)
8. AP Style
9. MLA Format
10. HTML/CSS
11. Fact-Checking
12. WordPress

1. Proofreading

Proofreading is the last pass before publication, where you scrub the text for typos, punctuation slips, formatting quirks, and style consistency so the copy is truly ready to ship.

Why It's Important

It protects credibility. It sharpens clarity. It prevents embarrassing errors that erode reader trust and the publication’s reputation.

How to Improve Proofreading Skills

Build precision through routine and method, not luck:

1. Practice on varied text types: news, long-form, captions, display copy—each reveals different blind spots.

2. Deepen grammar and style fluency: keep a style guide close (AP, Chicago) and review sections you stumble on.

3. Read aloud: awkward rhythm and missing words jump out when spoken.

4. Use tools as a backstop: grammar and readability checkers can surface issues you might miss, then you decide.

5. Create a repeatable checklist: dates, names, units, numerals, captions, links, hyphenation, serial commas—check in the same order every time.

6. Single-focus passes: one pass for mechanics, one for style, one for consistency and references.

7. Take short breaks: a reset helps you see what your brain kept auto-correcting.

8. Ask for targeted feedback: swap pages with peers and compare what each of you catches.

Make it a habit, not a scramble. Quality rises.

How to Display Proofreading Skills on Your Resume

2. Copyediting

Copyediting tightens language and structure. It corrects grammar and usage, aligns tone with audience, trims redundancy, and ensures the piece reads cleanly from start to finish.

Why It's Important

It turns decent drafts into publishable work. Consistency, clarity, and coherence—those live or die at the copyediting stage.

How to Improve Copyediting Skills

1. Master foundations: grammar, punctuation, usage, and common problem areas. Keep references like The Elements of Style or a preferred style manual handy.

2. Edit every day: repetition sharpens instincts. Short assignments help you move faster without cutting corners.

3. Work with editing tools: track changes, comments, compare docs—be fluent so collaboration is smooth.

4. Stay current on style guidance: standards evolve; note updates and share cheat sheets with your team.

5. Build a personal style sheet: decisions on numbers, capitalization, hyphenation, product names—document and reuse.

6. Seek line-by-line feedback: ask senior editors to explain not just what to change, but why.

7. Take focused courses: periodic refreshers on mechanics, sensitivity edits, and tone alignment pay off.

Precision plus judgment—that’s the combo.

How to Display Copyediting Skills on Your Resume

3. InDesign

InDesign is Adobe’s layout workhorse for print and digital publishing—magazines, books, newsletters, marketing collateral, and more.

Why It's Important

Good layout clarifies message. InDesign gives precise control over typography, styles, grids, and assets so pages feel intentional, not improvised.

How to Improve InDesign Skills

1. Learn the core workflow: master pages, paragraph/character styles, object styles, links, preflight, export presets.

2. Elevate typography: kerning, tracking, hierarchy, baseline grids, OpenType features—tiny adjustments, big impact.

3. Speed up with shortcuts and scripts: save time on repetitive layout tasks with custom shortcuts and simple automation.

4. Use and build templates: consistent components, faster assembly, fewer errors.

5. Mind assets and packaging: organized links and packaging prevent missing fonts or images down the line.

6. Keep up with updates: new features often replace clunky workarounds; adopt them early.

Less fiddling, more designing.

How to Display InDesign Skills on Your Resume

4. Photoshop

Photoshop edits and refines imagery—retouching, compositing, color correction, and prepping visuals that align with the editorial look and feel.

Why It's Important

Strong visuals carry a story. Clean, consistent image treatment keeps the publication’s voice coherent across pages and platforms.

How to Improve Photoshop Skills

• Practice with intention: pick one tool or technique per session—masks, adjustment layers, blend modes, smart objects.

• Memorize high‑value shortcuts: rapid switching and non-destructive edits save time on deadline.

• Follow step-by-step tutorials: isolate skills (skin tone correction, product cleanup, text effects) and repeat until second nature.

• Study color and composition: learn why an image works before you try to fix it.

• Build a plugin toolkit: selective plugins can speed grunt work; audit occasionally to keep the set lean.

• Join communities: critique accelerates growth; post, ask, iterate.

• Update regularly: new features often reduce multi-step workflows to one click.

Quality up, turnaround down.

How to Display Photoshop Skills on Your Resume

5. Final Cut Pro

Final Cut Pro is a pro-grade, non-linear video editor for macOS, built for fast organization, cutting, color, and delivery.

Why It's Important

Assistant editors keep post-production orderly. With strong FCP skills, you can wrangle footage, sync audio, rough in assemblies, and hand a clean project to the lead editor.

How to Improve Final Cut Pro Skills

1. Commit shortcuts to muscle memory: trimming, skimming, timeline navigation—speed multiplies over long edits.

2. Organize media ruthlessly: libraries, events, keyword collections, roles, smart collections—find anything in seconds.

3. Template the repetitive: titles, lower thirds, transitions, and export presets—standardize to move faster.

4. Follow official release notes: adopt new features early to simplify workflows.

5. Curate plugins carefully: use third‑party effects and generators (e.g., MotionVFX, FxFactory) that actually remove steps, not add clutter.

Clean projects, smooth handoffs, fewer bottlenecks.

How to Display Final Cut Pro Skills on Your Resume

6. SEO

Search Engine Optimization boosts discoverability by aligning content with how people search and how search engines evaluate quality and relevance.

Why It's Important

More visibility means more readers. SEO helps your stories reach the audience you wrote them for, not just the audience that happens to be on your homepage.

How to Improve SEO Skills

1. Do purposeful keyword research: identify search intent, primary terms, and supporting phrases; place naturally in headlines, subheads, and body copy.

2. Write for humans first: depth, originality, clear structure, and helpful takeaways. Quality signals win.

3. Improve on-page structure: logical H1–H3 hierarchy, scannable paragraphs, descriptive alt text, clean URLs, accurate metadata.

4. Be mobile-first: fast, responsive pages with accessible typography and tap targets.

5. Chase speed: compress images, lazy-load where sensible, minimize render-blocking resources.

6. Link smartly: internal links that guide readers to related content and clarify site structure.

7. Earn backlinks responsibly: original reporting, data, and guides attract citations over time.

8. Promote: share across social channels and newsletters to jump-start traction.

9. Update evergreen pieces: refresh facts, examples, and links; revise dates where appropriate.

10. Measure and iterate: track with analytics (GA4 or similar), watch engagement, refine headlines and structure based on what works.

Sustainable gains beat quick hacks.

How to Display SEO Skills on Your Resume

7. CMS (Content Management Systems)

A CMS lets editors create, edit, review, schedule, and publish digital content without touching code.

Why It's Important

It’s the newsroom nerve center. A solid grasp means faster publishing, cleaner collaboration, and fewer mistakes in production.

How to Improve CMS (Content Management Systems) Skills

1. Master the workflow: drafts, revisions, approvals, and scheduled publishing—know each stage and permission level.

2. Build reusable components: blocks, templates, and snippets reduce rework and enforce consistency.

3. Use built-in SEO helpers: titles, meta descriptions, slugs, and structured data fields—fill them with intent.

4. Automate the rote: image resizing, link checks, redirects, and social posting—set up safe automations.

5. Comment and version well: in-line notes and version history keep collaboration clear and recoverable.

6. Lock down security: roles, two-factor, regular updates, and backups—protect the content and the team.

7. Go mobile: ensure the CMS works smoothly on tablets and phones for quick edits on the go.

8. Create quick-start guides: short SOPs for authors and freelancers shrink onboarding time.

Friction down, throughput up.

How to Display CMS (Content Management Systems) Skills on Your Resume

8. AP Style

AP Style standardizes news and editorial writing so copy is clear, concise, and consistent across a publication.

Why It's Important

Readers shouldn’t stumble over format quirks. Consistency signals professionalism and keeps the focus on the story.

How to Improve AP Style Skills

1. Study the Stylebook: prioritize high-frequency entries—capitalization, numerals, titles, datelines, spelling variants.

2. Practice with intent: edit sample copy specifically for AP decisions; log tricky calls in a team style sheet.

3. Track annual updates: follow official channels and summarize changes for your team.

4. Use guardrails: spellcheck dictionaries, custom word lists, and style checkers reduce drift.

5. Discuss edge cases: align on house preferences where AP offers latitude.

Know the rules, and when your house rules refine them.

How to Display AP Style Skills on Your Resume

9. MLA Format

MLA governs formatting and citation in many humanities disciplines—layout, in‑text citations, and the Works Cited list.

Why It's Important

It enforces uniformity and transparency in scholarly work. For editors, it streamlines review and source verification.

How to Improve MLA Format Skills

1. Document setup: readable serif font, 12 pt; double-spaced; 1‑inch margins; first-line paragraph indents; running header with page numbers.

2. Titles and headings: center the title in standard capitalization; avoid bold/underline/italic for the title unless formatting a work.

3. In‑text citations: author’s last name and page number for quotes or paraphrase, e.g., (Smith 123).

4. Works Cited: alphabetize by author; use hanging indents; include contributors, version, number, publisher, date, and location (pages or DOI/URL as needed).

5. Online sources: prefer DOIs when available; include URLs when helpful; omit protocol prefix where house style permits.

6. Use the latest guidance: follow the MLA Handbook, 9th edition, for up-to-date rules and examples.

Consistency and careful attention to detail carry the day.

How to Display MLA Format Skills on Your Resume

10. HTML/CSS

HTML structures content; CSS shapes its presentation. Together they control layout, hierarchy, color, and type on the web.

Why It's Important

Small tweaks—clean markup, proper headings, accessible components—can elevate readability and accessibility across devices.

How to Improve HTML/CSS Skills

1. Lock in fundamentals: semantic HTML, proper document flow, class naming that makes sense later.

2. Practice in the browser: inspect, modify styles, and experiment live with developer tools.

3. Design responsively: media queries, flexible grids, fluid images; think mobile-first.

4. Study common patterns: cards, navbars, modals—recreate them to understand tradeoffs.

5. Learn a framework or two: Bootstrap or Tailwind can speed up consistent layout work when deadlines bite.

6. Use playgrounds: build and share small components on tools like CodePen or JSFiddle.

7. Keep current: new CSS features (like container queries) can simplify old hacks.

Clean, semantic, maintainable—that’s the goal.

How to Display HTML/CSS Skills on Your Resume

11. Fact-Checking

Fact-checking verifies names, dates, claims, data, quotes, and sources so what’s published stands up to scrutiny.

Why It's Important

Accuracy is non-negotiable. One wrong fact can undermine an entire piece and dent the brand.

How to Improve Fact-Checking Skills

1. Use a structured checklist: proper names, titles, links, stats, time zones, units of measure, attributions.

2. Prioritize primary sources: original documents, official datasets, direct quotes; avoid echoing secondary summaries.

3. Cross-verify: confirm claims across multiple reputable sources; for scientific or academic topics, consult peer‑reviewed databases.

4. Trace to origin: follow a statistic back to its first publication; note methodology and date.

5. Use specialized outlets: reference established fact-checkers and standards bodies as needed.

6. Document your trail: save links, PDFs, and notes; make the verification path repeatable for colleagues.

Trust is built line by line.

How to Display Fact-Checking Skills on Your Resume

12. WordPress

WordPress is a widely used CMS with a block editor, extensive plugins, and themes that support everything from blogs to full editorial sites.

Why It's Important

It’s common in newsrooms and content teams. Knowing your way around it means faster builds, cleaner edits, and fewer calls to dev.

How to Improve WordPress Skills

1. Lean into the block editor: create reusable patterns for recurring layouts and components.

2. Optimize for SEO: use a reputable SEO plugin, set strong slugs and metadata, and add schema where appropriate.

3. Improve performance: configure caching, compress images, and keep your theme lean.

4. Harden security: strong roles and permissions, two-factor, and routine updates for core, themes, and plugins.

5. Maintain regular backups: schedule off-site backups and test restores periodically.

6. Standardize media: define image sizes, alt text practices, and naming conventions.

7. Stay mobile-friendly: preview and tweak layouts on phones and tablets before publishing.

8. Document SOPs: short, visual guides for authors and contributors reduce errors and support tickets.

Confident handling turns WordPress into a calm, dependable workflow.

How to Display WordPress Skills on Your Resume