Making the Full Editing Assessment a Non-Negotiable Standard at an Academic Publisher

“We use the FEA for every editorial hire. It''s become a non-negotiable part of our process.”

— Operations Director, Academic Publisher

The Challenge

An academic publisher with 45 editorial staff and a consistent pipeline of junior and mid-level editorial hires was frustrated by the inconsistency of its assessment process. Different hiring managers used different approaches — some sent editing tasks, some relied on interviews alone, some used a combination. The result was variable hire quality and a lengthy induction process that frequently revealed skills gaps not identified at the hiring stage.

The Solution

The Operations Director standardised the entire editorial hiring process around a single assessment: the Full Editing Assessment. Every candidate for any editorial role — regardless of seniority level — completes the FEA before any interview. The FEA''s combination of editing, proofreading, grammar, and writing components gives a comprehensive view of a candidate''s full editorial range in a single 45-minute session. Score thresholds were set differently for junior and senior roles but the assessment itself is identical, enabling direct comparison across the hiring pipeline.

The Results

In the two years since standardising on the FEA, the publisher has made 28 editorial hires. The Operations Director reports that the induction process has shortened by an average of three weeks, because new hires arrive with verified skills rather than assumed ones. Manager satisfaction with new hire quality — measured at 90-day and 180-day reviews — increased from 68% to 84%. The Operations Director notes: "The FEA has become part of our employer brand. Candidates who take it seriously and do well arrive knowing they''ve earned the role. That changes the dynamic from day one."