Regardless of the kind or size of the business set-up, it can benefit much from outsourcing. Outsourcing is basically the obtaining the services of an outside agency to perform tasks that is normally done by an individual businessmen or by the regular office work force of a company.
A great advantage of outsourcing is that it frees up lots of time for businessmen or for a company to concentrate on other areas or jobs that also require attention and spend several hours to perform. Outsourcing of workers can do these tasks faster and maybe more effectively.
Many companies and businessmen have realized these that resulted to the proliferation of outsourcing agencies and individual who offer their services these days.
Mr. Outsource University is coming out with a series of tasks that skilled or semi-skilled jobseekers may apply for as a freelance virtual assistant or as a worker in outsource companies.
Here is the first job in the series of tasks Mr. Outsource University is recommending:
PROOFREADING
When reading, are you horrified the way words are written in a book, a newspaper bulletin, or a magazine article which is full of spelling and grammatical errors? Then, an online proofreading job can just be for you.
Many companies outsource their proofreading jobs to online workers to reduce the cost of keeping in-house proofreaders. Other proofreading jobs are needed for websites that regularly publish new Web content. Yet other proofreading jobs allow online proofreaders to correct academic papers. These are just a few reasons for the demand for virtual proofreaders.
Proofreaders perform light editing such as checking for grammatical errors and adding punctuation. Online proofreading jobs usually involve sending the work through email or an online content management system.
However, many think that having a good grasp of language and vocabulary is all there is to a proofreader. There are some factors like knowledge of proofreading symbols and techniques you must be familiar with to be considered an effective proofreader.
Tips On Making Proofreadering Effective
Concentration
Concentration, plenty of time, and alertness are essential in proofreading to be able to catch errors that may have been overlooked. Get rid of distractions and potential interruptions. Switch off the cell phone, turn off the television or radio and stay away from the email.
If the work is done on the computer, it must be printed out. People read differently on screen and on paper, so print out a copy of your writing. Then, the article should be read both silently and aloud to make sure no word is missed or repeated.
Next, proofread the body of the text, then the headings, because these which are prone to errors because they’re not usually focused on. Using a ruler under each line is recommended in order to concentrate on one area at a time as each word is read. If you read aloud, your ear might catch errors that your eye may have missed.
Point each word with a finger or a pencil in doing this. Don’t try to proof for all mistakes at once. Concentrate on spelling separately, then grammar and so on, keeping track of errors that are made frequently.
When editing content, ask the questions “who”, “what”, “when”, “where”, “why” and “how” as a checklist to check the flow of logic of the article. See the overall construction of your paragraphs, supporting sentences, and topic sentence.
When enumerating steps, make sure the procedures are in order, complete, and accurate. If there are images, check that they are properly positions. If proofing using the computer, use the “Find” function to look for any mistakes. If unsure about something, look it up.
When checking for spelling, do not just rely on the computer’s spell-check function. Doing your own spell check is recommended because Spellcheckers do not know the difference, for example, between” there”, “their”, and” they’re” so they might be used incorrectly. Mistakes like these can hurt the credibility of your text. NOTE: the apostrophe is never used to form plurals.
A dictionary is necessary and be careful of words and homonyms. Homonyms are words that share the same spelling or pronunciation, but have different meanings. For example, using “accept” instead of “except”, or “complement” with “compliment” could be disastrous, so pay attention to them.
To further check and help to focus on the sentences and spelling of words rather than the content of the paper, it is advisable to read it backward.
Focusing on the words is good, but do not neglect the punctuation. Pay attention to capitalized words, missing or extra commas, periods used incorrectly and so on.
Always double check the article being proofread. Have another person read the document out loud to help catch any mistakes, wordiness and awkward-sounding phrases that might have been overlooked. Sometimes, you will be amazed at the mistakes you have missed. A second person will also be in a better position to evaluate whether the sentences make sense or not.
Double-check for unusual fonts, proper names, page numbers, header and footer material, and words that are often interchanged. Other things to double check include sentence fragments, run-on sentences, subject-verb agreement, sentence structure, parallelism, apostrophes and other punctuation.
Remember that regardless if you are writing a magazine article, a college essay, or an email to a client, making sure that your text is free of mistakes is vital if you are to become an effective proofreader.
Proofreading Marks & Symbols
It is essential for proofreaders to be familiar with the appropriate internationally accepted marks and symbols used in proofreading. Please go to this site.
If you do not have much proofreading experience, you can start looking for entry level online proofreading jobs. There are plenty of resources on the web that will allow you to learn the skills needed to be a qualified candidate for online proofreading jobs. Please watch this video below: