How to Hire Good Content Writers

Building and executing a content marketing strategy and getting it right requires a team. And whether you decide to outsource your content marketing efforts to an expert agency or hire them in-house, your content writing agency should be made up of highly trained people in specific roles.

Years ago when companies were testing waters with content, you may have been able to get by for a while with a one-man team. Today, you won't have much success hiring a specialized marketer to handle everything related to your content. You need a team of talented people working in a variety of specific roles to generate great content.

While you don't want to judge a candidate's complete writing ability based on a single sample, many organizations waste valuable time interviewing candidates who simply cannot write. Sure, not every person you hire will be your primary content creator, responsible for writing every piece for your blog and any guest posts you contribute, but that doesn't mean your ability to write well is less important.

Initially, we solicit writing samples from prospective freelance writers, editors, and content strategists to assess whether their writing skills are on par with what we are looking for in each of those roles. If so, those candidates will move on.

Once you've understood the general capacity of candidates, it's time to see how they handle the actual responsibilities of the position they are applying for. Depending on the role, they are asked to do a test edit, complete a test writing assignment, or develop article topics for previous clients based on a content strategy we provide to them.

What you absolutely must never do in this part of the hiring process is ask for free work. Your company should not use any of the sample exercises that candidates complete in the interview process, especially for a paying client.

Similarly, don't expect a candidate to put hours and hours into an exercise for their interview process. Remember, the best candidates will probably already be employed by or interviewing other large companies, and asking them to create a documented and comprehensive content marketing strategy for your company is not fair.

You probably already have standard interview questions to help you determine if a candidate is right for your organization. Keep those and add a couple of the ones that are designed to quickly get to the bottom of how a candidate will work as a content marketer for your team. . For strategists and editors specifically, we ask the following questions:

With this question, we want to know if someone can handle a lot of moving parts and do it effectively. Everyone has their own way of organizing and completing projects, and we seek the organizer with extreme attention to detail and efficiency. Someone who uses color-coded folders for every project and a full to-do list will thrive on Influence & Co. When someone says, "I have a big memory, so I just have a to-do list in my head," I know probably you won't do well here.

This question is subjective and there is no right or wrong answer that we are trying to get to. We are much more interested in how candidates approach content assessment. Is excellent grammar and spelling the only thing they care about? How important is the story itself? Do you think personal examples make a piece really stand out? Based on your company's answer to this question, you can use this to see if you and your candidate are on the same page when it comes to identifying good content.

If you're hiring motivated people (and you probably should), you'll want to give them a chance to get started on the training. Once someone signs an offer letter with Influence & Co., we immediately send you information on what to expect on the first day. We also provide access to our company intranet, which includes links to various articles on content marketing, the history of our company, an overview of the types of clients we work with, and more.

New hires are never expected to have read all of the content we send them before day one, but it's there just in case. Most people are excited about their new job and curious to learn the ins and outs of their role, and reading this content before day one makes the first week of training more productive for everyone. But with the right approach, you can find the best candidates for every position in a high-powered team.