Whether it’s freelance writing or an in-house job, you’ve got to showcase your core skills to someone to get that project or land a new job.

But what does it mean to be an excellent writer? What are the traits, qualities, and skills people are looking for when they're hiring writers, and how can you demonstrate those to when applying for a gig?

In a downward-trending economy with heavy tech layoffs (over 120,000 so far in 2023 per a TechCrunch estimate), it helps to know what content managers, editors, agency owners, and fellow freelancers look for when hiring writers. In this episode, we dive into five key areas.

1. Showcase your excellent writing skills

Let’s get the basics out of the way: you must have a strong command of the English language.

Coherent sentences and headings that follow the narrative are starting points. Moving further, do you have a sense of what works on the page? Does your writing engage the user? This should be clear within your curated selection of writing samples included in your portfolio.

Aside from your portfolio, most hiring managers, marketers, and experienced writers in hiring roles gauge writing skills with samples or an initial assignment. Portfolios are tricky, though. They don’t always reflect a writer's ability to do justice to a project, but they are a good starting point to evaluate the depth of the writer's experience.

2. Follow directions and pay attention to detail

While being a great writer is the first skill a hiring manager would look for when hiring a writer, it's not where the evaluation ends.

Many writers with above-average writing skills fall out of the running because of silly mistakes and rushing, both of which show a lack of precision when it comes to following directions. Writers who don't bother to read documentation for a project often means unavoidable reworks and project delays for the person in the hiring seat.

Some writers also feel like their responsibility ends after delivering the first draft, and that it's the editor's job to carry the piece to the finish line. These are not the kind of writers anyone wants to hire.

“I want to hire someone who’s flexible and doesn’t make it impossible to work with them.”

3. Create a smooth editing process

Content managers understand first drafts need work, but they don’t want to hire a writer if the editing process entails them spending hours in Google Docs. There are two signs of a difficult editing process:

1) Writers reacting to feedback with significant pushback and hurt egos.

2) Writers not being resourceful—leaving holes that could’ve been patched with a quick Google search before submitting the draft.

Both of these are potential red flags for managers when hiring a writer. Again, be communicative during this process and try to make things run smoothly.

4. Provide relevant writing samples and voice

If you've written on technical subjects, it's an indicator that you can research alongside putting words on a document. You should call out those specialized skills in the writing samples you provide.

Why? It's easier to hire someone whose existing body of work is similar to the writing voice that you want. Especially with copywriting work that often needs to be personality-driven, engaging, or funny - you either have it or don't.

“You wouldn’t ask a business writer to write something funny - it's not impossible, but it's a harder ask.”

The work on your portfolio may answer some of these questions and help them understand whether you are the right fit for their project, assignment, or full-time writing role.

5. Ask relevant questions

There are two types of questions coming from writers:

Questions to ensure they don't just finish the task but over-deliver on the client's expectations.
Questions that indicate the writer has no idea what they're doing and needs help completing the piece.

The first kind of questions are what hiring managers are happy to answer.

Asking for external expert quotes to tie in a human element to a piece is great. Asking “How do you want me to go about each section?”, however, make it seem like you lack the experience required for the job.

How you ask questions is as important. Be clear about how you intend to ask questions and what the client prefers (Google Docs, Slack, or Email?) and make sure the process also works for them. Whenever possible, opt for a bulleted list of questions or a call to clear any lingering doubts.

What does it take to get hired as a writer?

There isn't a perfect process to get hired, but especially in the early stage of the hiring process, managers want to ascertain that you have the writing chops, can match the intended writing voice, and deliver the kind of writing they need. It always helps to overdeliver to some extent.

There are plenty of ways to stand out (because so many people do not tick all these boxes.) What are hiring managers looking for? It comes down to resourcefulness. That's a surefire way to make yourself invaluable to clients, hiring managers, and anyone else. Solve problems on your own when you can, and ask questions when you can’t.

What Do People Look For When Hiring Freelance Writers?