What you need to be able to do
Software is the smallest part. DaVinci Resolve is free and enough for everything up to Level 3. Premiere Pro and CapCut are just as common. What matters more is what you do with it: keep the pace, cut dead air, put a hook in the first seconds, time captions cleanly and bring the audio to one level.
- Confident in an editing tool: DaVinci Resolve, Premiere Pro or CapCut
- Pacing and rhythm: you hear where a cut needs to land
- Captions, sound design, simple graphics
- Genre knowledge: gaming is cut differently from talking head
- Reliability: keep deadlines, ask questions before the cut
Building a portfolio without clients
Nobody books you without examples, and without jobs you have no examples. The way out: edit on your own. Take a video from a creator whose style you like and cut a Short from it with your own hook, captions and sound. Or use your own footage: a gameplay, a conversation, a vlog. Two to five short examples are enough if they show your genre.
Show before and after. A 20-second excerpt of the raw footage next to your cut explains more than any text. Upload the examples to YouTube as unlisted or to Google Drive and send links only.
Where editors find paid work
Creators' Discord servers are the classic entry point: many are looking for editors but pay little and irregularly. Classifieds and freelancer marketplaces bring jobs once your profile is set up, but cost time for proposals and fees.
Platforms like EditFlow take on editors at three levels: Basic for Shorts and simple cuts, Advanced for YouTube videos and gaming, Premium for elaborate productions. You get orders assigned, propose a price, and payment and communication run through the system. The customer pays before the work, you receive your commission after approval.
What editors earn
Beginners edit Shorts for €10 to €25 each. Editors delivering good YouTube videos reach €25 to €60 per hour. Permanent editors of large channels earn more but are rare. Realistic for the start: a side income that grows with every level.
At EditFlow you earn a commission per completed order. It rises with the level: Advanced editors get a higher share than Basic, Premium editors the highest. You decide how many orders you take.
Legal basics in short
As an editor you usually work self-employed. In Germany you register a small business or work as a freelancer and write invoices, without VAT up to the small-business threshold. If you are under 18 you need your parents' consent, and employment is often the simpler route. This is not legal advice. When in doubt, ask the tax office or an advisory service.
Applying at EditFlow
On the jobs page you will find the open positions for editors and designers by level. The application takes five minutes: name, Discord, experience, motivation and links to your portfolio. We look at every application and get back to you via Discord or email.
