Competitive Edge: How to Make Your Writing Career Thrive
There are millions of jobs for writers out there of many types. You can also ‘be your own boss’ as an author of novels, essays, or nonfiction books. There are also millions of other writers out there who can also provide excellent writing, however. How can you stand out in a sea of talent? The first step is ensuring you’re well-versed in advertising yourself as a great writing candidate.
Research the Market
Depending on the type of writing you’d like to do; you can research industry trends to stay ahead of the competition. For example, if you want to be a travel writer, you can stay on top of popular travel destinations, trends, and technology. To be a prolific children’s book author, you can learn what other children’s books are popular and why. If your writing career takes you through multiple mediums and genres, researching what is relevant in the writing world and the recruiters who need writers is great for portfolio curation and interview preparation.
Create a Diverse Portfolio
You can land more writing jobs when you showcase the diverse genres, mediums, and voices you can write. A diverse portfolio is essential when you are looking to land a writing job with multiple clients or writing mediums. Your portfolio should also reflect the type of writing you’re looking to get hired for. Applying to a technical writing job when your portfolio only has samples of your children’s books won’t get you very far. If you lack the work experience for a diverse portfolio, you can create a writing sample from scratch to give recruiters a good idea of your voice and tone for different genres and mediums.
Get an Agent
Getting your work published by a traditional publishing company is prestigious and adds a lot of experience and expertise to your resume. You can increase the frequency and variety of job opportunities as a writer once you get published. On the downside, getting published or accepted by publishing companies takes work. You need to know how to market and submit your book to publishing companies for the best chance of success. An agent can help you do this. By hiring experienced book agents, you can relax while an agent uses their experience to pitch a book for you to publishing companies. They’ll be on your team and represent you and your work. Good agents will have much experience submitting books or writing of your genre to the right publishers. If you want a competitive edge, an agent is an excellent step. Read more: The Future of Software Engineering in the Next 5 Years.
Network With Other Writers
Establishing professional relationships or friendships with other prolific authors, copywriters, or journalists can benefit you in many ways. You can learn more about the writing industry and what recruiters seek. Writer friends can direct you to exclusive or additional jobs you may have yet to find. They can provide valuable insight and advice on writing and finding the best job. In return, you can also offer valuable writing counsel and recommendations.
Browse Multiple Job Platforms
You should never put all your eggs in one basket, and you should never put all your applications into one platform. Some companies or recruiters only use one recruitment or job board, causing you to miss out if you don’t frequent it. While applying for every job on every platform is impossible, create profiles on multiple widespread recruitment platforms such as LinkedIn, Indeed, and ZipRecruiter for additional reach. Learn how to identify scam job listings to save time and keep yourself safe.
Establish an Online Presence
The Internet and social media are great (free) marketing tools for professionals, particularly writers. You can reach more audiences and establish credibility by broadcasting yourself on social media and promoting your writing work. Create professional social media profiles and tailor your content for recruiters and writing audiences. You can provide professional writing advice, ideas, or experiences on TikTok. On Twitter (X), you can create threads on the writing industry and your expertise. Create a professional author or writer website to showcase your work, reviews, and biography to make you more accessible, verifiable, and prestigious. You can link to your social media and website to allow recruiters to quickly get to know you (your portfolio should be included in this).
Obtain Trending Market Skills
As a writer, you’re rarely only writing. You usually have to do research, market your skills, and harness advertising techniques in writing. Content writers must create engaging pieces for specific audiences. They often need to utilize search engine optimization (SEO) techniques to develop quality writing that will be boosted to the top of search engines. When skilled in these writing subsets, you have a better chance of standing out as a writing candidate. Learn how to use SEO tools like keyword research and obtain knowledge on SEO best practices. Find out how to do extensive, quick research from credible sources. Practice your keyword implementation skills. Adding these skills to your resume can quickly get you an interview.
Acquire Formal Education
Many recruiters look for formal degrees. While a formal degree alone won’t guarantee a writing job, it can set you above writing competition that does not have a formal degree. Universities and colleges offer creative writing, technical writing, journalism, marketing, editing, and other programs and classes that can help boost your writing career. You can also enhance your writing skills and technical expertise to allow you to qualify for more career paths.
Start a Relevant Work History
You may not land the most extravagant, lucrative writing career at first. However, it’s essential to establish a history of writing employment for your resume. Consider taking up some paid writing gigs, even if they are temporary or don’t pay well. Once you get your foot in the door for writing work, it can open up more opportunities that are better choices for you. Recruiters love writers with work experience.
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