Six question sets for employers hiring a content writer, each question with the reason to ask it and what a strong answer sounds like, plus a 1-to-5 scorecard and a paid test brief. Built for small businesses without an HR department. Download as DOCX.
The first content writer I hired had the best portfolio in the pile, and the first draft was unusable. Not badly written: it was smooth, confident, and quietly wrong in three places. The samples had been through an editor I was never going to employ. What I had actually tested was whether someone else could make this person look good.
So the questions on this page are built to test the things a portfolio hides: where the research starts, how a source gets judged, what happens when the deadline and the facts collide, and where the candidate stops trusting an AI draft. Every question comes with the reason it is worth asking and what a strong answer sounds like.
At FirstHR, we build for companies that hire without an HR department, where a founder or a marketing lead runs the whole interview alone. If you are still writing the posting, the content writer job description pairs with this page.
TL;DR
Interview a content writer on five things: research and accuracy, writing to a brief, search intent and structure, AI use and originality, and throughput. The two questions that reveal the most are how they research an unfamiliar topic and which statistic they decided not to use. Score on a 1-to-5 rubric, then send finalists one short paid assignment. Download six question sets, the scorecard, and the test brief as DOCX.
What a Content Writer Actually Does
A content writer produces longer informational work aimed at educating a reader: articles, guides, explainers, and research-backed pieces, usually measured on traffic, engagement, and trust rather than on immediate conversion. The federal occupation that covers the job is writers and authors, which spans everything from novelists to staff content writers.
At a small company the role is usually broader than the title suggests. The same person researches the topic, interviews whoever knows the answer, writes the piece, structures it for search, and often loads it into the site. That breadth is exactly why a generic writing interview fails here: you are hiring a research and production process, not a prose style.
Decide which writing dominates before you build the question list. If the work is persuasion and conversion, you are closer to a copywriter, and the copywriter interview questions fit better. If it is planning, distribution, and measurement across a channel, the content specialist questions go further on that side.
The Six Things Worth Testing
Six competencies decide whether a content writer works out at a small company, and only one of them is prose quality. The sets below map to these six, so you can weight the interview toward whichever parts your role actually depends on.
Research and accuracy
Can you trust the facts?
Where they start research, how they judge a source, and whether they run a separate accuracy pass. The most expensive thing to fix after publication.
Writing to a brief
Can they write as us?
Holding a brand voice that is not their own, hitting the assigned angle, and asking the right questions before drafting.
Search intent and structure
Will anyone find it?
Reading a results page, matching format to intent, and structuring long content so a skimming reader gets the answer fast.
AI use and originality
Do they know the limits?
Where AI tools fit, where they stop, and how the writer verifies anything a tool produced before it reaches your site.
Throughput and reliability
How much, how often?
Realistic weekly output, what moves it, and what they do when the deadline and the research collide.
Scorecard and red flags
Score, do not guess
A 1-to-5 rubric per competency plus a paid test brief, so the decision rests on evidence instead of on which writing sample you read last.
Weight Research Higher Than You Think You Should
Prose problems get fixed in one editing pass. Accuracy problems get fixed after a reader, a customer, or a competitor finds them, and by then the piece is indexed and cited. Ask at least three research questions of every candidate, and treat a fluent writer who cannot describe a fact-checking step as a higher risk than a plainer writer who can. The same logic applies to every hiring template we publish: test the expensive failure, not the visible one.
6 Question Sets to Download
Download all six as a single Word document or copy individual sets. Each question lists why it is worth asking and what a strong answer sounds like, so a founder with no editing background can score the responses. The last file adds the rubric, a red-flag checklist, and a ready-to-send paid test brief.
Download All 6 Content Writer Question Sets
Core, research and accuracy, brief and editing, SEO and intent, AI and throughput, plus a scorecard with a paid test brief. All in one DOCX.
Set 1: Core Content Writer Questions
Portfolio ownership, process from brief to draft, real timing on a researched piece, and how fast they learn an unfamiliar subject. Start here with every candidate.
Core Content Writer Questions
CONTENT WRITER INTERVIEW: CORE QUESTIONS
Candidate: __
Interviewer: __
Date: __
QUESTIONS TO ASK
1. Which piece in your portfolio are you proudest of, and what was the brief?
Why ask it: it separates work the candidate owned from work an editor
rescued, and it shows whether they think about a goal or only a topic.
Strong answer: names the audience, the goal, the constraint, and one thing
they would change now. Weak answer: describes the subject and stops.
2. Walk me through your process from brief to finished draft.
Why ask it: a repeatable process is what lets a writer hit deadlines at
volume, which is the whole job at a small company.
Strong answer: outline, research, draft, self-edit, fact pass, with rough
time for each stage. Weak answer: "I start writing and see where it goes."
3. How long does a 1,500 word researched article take you, start to finish?
Why ask it: throughput is the number your content plan depends on, and a
vague answer usually means the candidate has never owned a calendar.
Strong answer: a real range plus the variables that move it (subject
familiarity, interviews, source availability). Weak answer: one flat number.
4. Tell me about a subject you had to learn fast. How did you get up to speed?
Why ask it: a small business writer covers unfamiliar ground constantly and
cannot wait for a training period.
Strong answer: names primary documents, practitioner interviews, and how
they checked what they learned. Weak answer: reading the top search results.
5. What do you need from us to do your best work?
Why ask it: it reveals whether the candidate can work with the support you
can actually provide, which at a small company is not much.
Strong answer: asks for a brief, access to someone who knows the subject,
and a feedback loop. Weak answer: asks for nothing, which usually means they
will not ask later either.
6. Why this company and this subject?
Why ask it: writers who care about the subject go deeper and stay longer.
Strong answer: shows they read your existing content and has an opinion
about it. Weak answer: generic enthusiasm for writing.
WHAT TO LISTEN FOR
The strongest signal in this set is specificity about process and time. A
writer who can tell you what each stage costs them in hours is a writer who has
shipped on a schedule. Watch for candidates who talk only about craft and never
about the reader or the goal.
NOTES
[Capture examples, timing estimates, and red flags here.]
Set 2: Research, Sourcing, and Accuracy
Where research starts, how a source gets judged, the statistic they rejected, and what their fact-checking pass actually looks like. The set that saves you the most money.
Research, Sourcing, and Accuracy Questions
CONTENT WRITER INTERVIEW: RESEARCH, SOURCING, AND ACCURACY
Candidate: __
Interviewer: __
Date: __
QUESTIONS TO ASK
1. Walk me through how you research a topic you know nothing about.
Why ask it: research quality is the difference between content that earns
trust and content that quietly damages it.
Strong answer: starts with primary sources, government or academic data, and
people who do the work, then reads competitors last. Weak answer: starts and
ends with what already ranks.
2. How do you decide a source is good enough to cite?
Why ask it: most thin content comes from a writer who cites whatever was
easiest to find.
Strong answer: prefers the original study, agency, or filing over a blog
summarizing it, and checks the date. Weak answer: treats any published page
as a source.
3. Give me an example of a statistic you decided not to use. Why?
Why ask it: the willingness to cut an appealing number is the clearest sign
of a careful writer.
Strong answer: describes chasing a stat to its origin and finding it stale,
misattributed, or vendor marketing. Weak answer: cannot think of one.
4. How do you fact-check your own draft before it goes to an editor?
Why ask it: at a small company nobody is checking behind the writer.
Strong answer: a separate accuracy pass with every claim traced to a link,
done after the writing pass rather than during it. Weak answer: "I check as
I go," with no distinct step.
5. Something you published turned out to be wrong. What happened next?
Why ask it: how a writer handles a public error tells you more than how they
avoid one.
Strong answer: flagged it themselves, corrected it, and changed the process
so it could not repeat. Weak answer: blames an editor or has never had one.
6. How do you interview a subject matter expert?
Why ask it: original material is what separates your content from everyone
else covering the same keyword.
Strong answer: prepares questions, records, asks follow-ups, and sends
quotes back for confirmation. Weak answer: has never done it.
WHAT TO LISTEN FOR
Accuracy is the single most expensive thing to fix after publication, and it is
the area candidates prepare for least. Push for a real example on question 3. A
writer who has never rejected a convenient number has probably never checked
one.
NOTES
[Capture examples, sources named, and red flags here.]
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Holding a voice that is not their own, the questions they ask about a brief, how they take an edit, and when they push back. Use it with a real brief in hand.
Brief, Style Guide, and Editing Questions
CONTENT WRITER INTERVIEW: BRIEF, STYLE GUIDE, AND EDITING
Candidate: __
Interviewer: __
Date: __
QUESTIONS TO ASK
1. Here is a one-paragraph brief. What would you ask me before you started?
Why ask it: the questions a writer asks about a brief predict the quality of
the draft better than any writing sample.
Strong answer: asks about the reader, the goal, the format, the deadline, and
what success looks like. Weak answer: says the brief is clear and starts.
2. How do you learn and hold a brand voice that is not your own?
Why ask it: a content writer at a small company writes as the company, not
as themselves.
Strong answer: builds a reference file from existing published work, names
specific patterns (sentence length, formality, what the brand never says).
Weak answer: says they are versatile and leaves it there.
3. Tell me about the hardest edit you have received. How did you respond?
Why ask it: writers who cannot take an edit are expensive at any skill level.
Strong answer: describes separating the note from the ego, asking what the
editor was solving for, and revising. Weak answer: describes being right.
4. When would you push back on an edit, and how?
Why ask it: you want judgment, not compliance, and a writer who defends the
reader is worth more than one who defends nothing.
Strong answer: pushes back on accuracy or reader harm, with evidence, and
yields on taste. Weak answer: never pushes back, or always does.
5. How do you self-edit? What do you cut first?
Why ask it: the self-edit is where a draft becomes publishable, and it is the
step weak writers skip.
Strong answer: cuts the throat-clearing opening, redundant transitions, and
any sentence that does not move the reader forward. Weak answer: reads it
again for typos.
6. How do you handle a piece where you disagree with the angle you were given?
Why ask it: it tests professionalism and honesty at the same time.
Strong answer: raises the disagreement before drafting, writes the assigned
angle well if overruled. Weak answer: quietly writes something else.
WHAT TO LISTEN FOR
Bring a real brief to this part of the interview and hand it over. The candidate
who interrogates it in front of you is showing you exactly what your first two
weeks together will feel like. Silence here is the warning sign.
NOTES
[Capture the questions they asked about the brief, verbatim if possible.]
Set 4: SEO and Search Intent
Search intent, keyword use that survives a read-aloud, structure for skimming readers, and internal linking. Calibrated for a writer, not a search specialist.
SEO and Search Intent Questions
CONTENT WRITER INTERVIEW: SEO AND SEARCH INTENT
Candidate: __
Interviewer: __
Date: __
QUESTIONS TO ASK
1. What is search intent, and how does it change what you write?
Why ask it: it is the one search concept that changes the draft itself, and
the fastest way to tell a writer who understands search from one who has
only heard the vocabulary.
Strong answer: reads the current results to infer what the searcher wants,
then matches format and depth to it. Weak answer: recites the four intent
categories with no application.
2. How do you use a target keyword without wrecking the sentence?
Why ask it: keyword stuffing is still the most common failure in hired
content, and it is obvious to readers.
Strong answer: places the term where it is natural, uses related terms, and
treats readability as the constraint. Weak answer: names a keyword density
target.
3. How do you structure a long article so it is easy to scan?
Why ask it: structure is most of what makes long content usable.
Strong answer: a descriptive heading hierarchy, a direct answer near the top,
short paragraphs, and tables or lists where they earn their place. Weak
answer: talks about headings only as places to put keywords.
4. How do you decide what to link to inside our site?
Why ask it: internal linking is cheap, compounding, and almost always left
undone by freelance writers.
Strong answer: links to the pages that genuinely help the reader next, and
asks for a page inventory. Weak answer: has never thought about it.
5. A piece you wrote is not getting traffic after several months. What now?
Why ask it: it tests whether the writer follows their work past publication.
Strong answer: checks whether the piece matches intent, whether it is
findable, and proposes a specific update. Weak answer: says search takes time.
6. What do you expect from us on the search side, and what should we expect
from you?
Why ask it: it sets the boundary between a writer and a search specialist
before the first review cycle.
Strong answer: expects target topics and priorities from you, owns intent
match, structure, and depth. Weak answer: claims to own the whole channel.
WHAT TO LISTEN FOR
You are hiring a writer, not a search specialist, so calibrate. The bar is
someone who can read a results page, match the format, and structure a long
piece well. A candidate promising rankings on a schedule is overselling.
NOTES
[Capture examples, results pages discussed, and red flags here.]
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Where AI tools fit and where they stop, how a generated claim gets verified, what makes a piece original when ten competitors cover it, and realistic weekly output.
AI Use, Originality, and Throughput Questions
CONTENT WRITER INTERVIEW: AI USE, ORIGINALITY, AND THROUGHPUT
Candidate: __
Interviewer: __
Date: __
QUESTIONS TO ASK
1. Where do AI tools fit in your process, and where do they not?
Why ask it: every writer now has an answer to this, and the answer tells you
how they think about accuracy and originality.
Strong answer: names specific stages (outlining, alternate headlines,
summarizing a source they have read) and firm limits (never a cited fact,
never a quote, never a final draft). Weak answer: either total denial or
total reliance.
2. How do you verify a fact that came out of an AI draft?
Why ask it: fabricated citations are the dominant accuracy risk in hired
content, and the only defense is a writer who checks.
Strong answer: treats every generated claim as unverified until traced to a
primary source. Weak answer: assumes it is right if it sounds right.
3. How do you make sure a piece is original when ten competitors cover it?
Why ask it: sameness, not plagiarism, is the real originality problem.
Strong answer: adds a practitioner interview, first-hand testing, original
data, or a genuinely different angle. Weak answer: says they rewrite in
their own words.
4. What is your realistic weekly output on our kind of content?
Why ask it: you are buying a rate of production, and an unrealistic promise
now becomes a missed deadline later.
Strong answer: a conservative number tied to research depth, and a note on
what would raise or lower it. Weak answer: whatever number they think you
want.
5. How do you handle a week where the deadline and the research collide?
Why ask it: it shows what the writer sacrifices under pressure.
Strong answer: flags early, proposes a smaller scope or a moved date, never
ships an unchecked claim. Weak answer: promises to make it work.
6. Who owns the work you produce, and have you signed that kind of agreement
before?
Why ask it: ownership of commissioned writing needs to be settled in writing
before the first assignment, not after.
Strong answer: expects a written assignment of rights and is comfortable
with it. Weak answer: assumes ownership transfers automatically.
WHAT TO LISTEN FOR
Ask about AI use plainly and without judgment in your tone. You are not testing
whether the candidate uses the tools; you are testing whether they know what
the tools cannot be trusted to do. The answer to question 2 is the one that
matters.
NOTES
[Capture stated limits, output numbers, and red flags here.]
Set 6: Scorecard, Red Flags, and Paid Test Brief
A 1-to-5 rubric across all six competencies, an eight-item red-flag checklist, and a paid test assignment brief with the evaluation criteria written out. The asset most question lists leave out.
Scorecard, Red Flags, and Paid Test Brief
CONTENT WRITER INTERVIEW SCORECARD
Candidate: __
Interviewer: __
Date: __
Score each area from 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent). Add a short note with evidence
Working to a brief and taking edits Score: [ 1 2 3 4 5 ]
Notes: __
Search intent and structure Score: [ 1 2 3 4 5 ]
Notes: __
Throughput and reliability Score: [ 1 2 3 4 5 ]
Notes: __
AI use, originality, and judgment Score: [ 1 2 3 4 5 ]
Notes: __
SUMMARY
Total score: ______ / 30
Overall recommendation: [ ] Strong yes [ ] Yes [ ] No [ ] Strong no
Key strengths: __
Key concerns: __
Interviewer signature: __
Have every interviewer score independently before the group discusses, so one
strong opinion does not anchor everyone else.
RED FLAGS CHECKLIST
[ ] Portfolio pieces cannot be attributed to the candidate specifically
[ ] Cannot describe a process, only a feeling about writing
[ ] No example of a source or statistic they rejected
[ ] Treats keyword placement as the point of the article
[ ] Promises rankings, traffic numbers, or output volume on a schedule
[ ] Cannot say where AI tools stop in their process
[ ] Defensive about edits, or agrees with every note without thought
[ ] Asked no questions about the reader, the goal, or the deadline
PAID TEST BRIEF (send after the interview, to finalists only)
Assignment: one piece, 700 to 900 words, on a topic from our real calendar.
Deadline: 5 business days.
Payment: your standard rate for the piece, paid whether or not we hire.
Provide the candidate with:
•The reader, the goal, and the format
•Two or three source links, plus permission to find their own
•The style guide or three published pieces as voice reference
•One contact for a 20 minute expert interview
Evaluate on:
•Accuracy: is every claim traceable to a source they name
•Brief fit: did they write the piece that was asked for
•Structure: can a skimming reader get the answer in 30 seconds
•Voice: does it sound like us rather than like them
•Originality: is there anything here the competitors do not have
•Process: did they ask questions, flag issues, and deliver on time
Keep the brief short and real. Never ask for free work, and never ask for a
piece you intend to publish without paying for it.
Four Questions and What the Answers Tell You
Four questions do most of the work in a writing interview. Each one is hard to rehearse, and each separates candidates in a way a portfolio cannot. Here is why each is worth asking and how to grade the answer in the room.
Walk me through how you research a topic you know nothing about.
Why it is worth asking: Research quality is what separates content that earns trust from content that quietly costs it. At a small company nobody checks behind the writer, so the process has to be theirs.
Strong answer: Starts with primary sources: the agency page, the original study, the filing, and people who actually do the work. Reads competing articles last, to find the gap rather than the outline. Names how they check a claim before it goes in.
Weak answer: Starts and ends with the pages already ranking, then reassembles them. This produces the article you already have ten of.
Give me an example of a statistic you decided not to use. Why?
Why it is worth asking: The willingness to cut an appealing number is the clearest single sign of a careful writer, and almost nobody rehearses this question.
Strong answer: A specific example: chased the stat to its origin and found it a decade old, misattributed, or a vendor survey dressed as research, so it got cut or replaced.
Weak answer: Cannot think of one. A writer who has never rejected a convenient number has probably never traced one to its source.
Here is a real brief. What would you ask me before you started?
Why it is worth asking: The questions a candidate asks about a brief predict draft quality better than any writing sample, because a sample shows you their best work and this shows you their default behavior.
Strong answer: Asks who the reader is, what the piece has to accomplish, what format fits, what the deadline is, and what would make it a failure. Asks who they can talk to.
Weak answer: Says the brief looks clear and starts writing. You will get a draft that is technically on topic and useless.
Where do AI tools fit in your process, and where do they not?
Why it is worth asking: Fabricated citations are the dominant accuracy risk in commissioned content now. You are not testing whether the candidate uses the tools, you are testing whether they know what the tools cannot be trusted to do.
Strong answer: Names specific stages where tools help and firm limits where they do not: never a cited fact, never a quote, never a finished draft. Treats every generated claim as unverified until traced.
Weak answer: Total denial, or total reliance. Both mean the same thing in practice: nobody is checking.
The follow-up that matters most across all four is some version of how do you know that? Strong writers answer with a source. Weaker ones answer with a feeling, and you will get the same distribution in their drafts.
AI Drafts, Originality, and Ownership
Ask about AI tools directly, because the alternative is finding out through a fabricated citation on a published page. The useful question is not whether the candidate uses them but what they refuse to trust them with, and how a generated claim gets verified before it reaches your site.
Ask
What a strong answer includes
Where do AI tools fit in your process?
Named stages: outlining, alternate headlines, summarizing a source they read
Where do they not?
Firm limits: never a cited fact, never a quote, never a finished draft
How do you verify a fact from an AI draft?
Every generated claim treated as unverified until traced to a primary source
What makes a piece original here?
An interview, first-hand testing, original data, or a genuinely different angle
Who owns the work you produce?
Expects a written assignment of rights and is comfortable signing one
Settle the ownership question in writing before the first assignment. Work produced by an independent contractor does not become yours automatically, and the narrow statutory categories for commissioned work are set out in the Copyright Office guidance on works made for hire. A written assignment of rights is what actually settles it, whether the writer is an employee or a contractor.
The Paid Test Assignment
One short paid assignment on a real topic tells you more than the rest of the process combined. It shows accuracy, brief fit, structure, voice, and whether the writer asks questions and delivers on time, which no interview answer can demonstrate on its own.
Keep it small and honest: 700 to 900 words, five business days, the same brief for every finalist, and payment at the candidate’s standard rate whether or not you hire. Give them the reader, the goal, a couple of source links, a voice reference, and one contact for a short expert interview. Then grade against fixed criteria rather than taste.
Never Ask for Free Work
Unpaid test assignments filter out exactly the writers you want, because experienced candidates with options decline them. They also create a rights problem if you publish the result. Pay the standard rate, keep the piece under a thousand words, put the rights arrangement in writing before the work starts, and send the brief only to finalists. Three paid tests cost less than one bad hire whose work you later have to reread, verify, and rewrite.
What to Probe For (and Red Flags)
The listed questions open the door; the follow-ups are where you learn what kind of writer this is. Push for the specific source, the actual timeline, the real example, and watch for the patterns that separate a producer from a performer.
Signals of a careful writer
Traces claims to a primary source
Runs a separate accuracy pass after drafting
Has rejected a stat and can say which one
Signals they can work with you
Interrogates the brief before drafting
Asks for a subject expert to interview
Separates the edit from the ego
Signals of real search literacy
Reads a results page to infer intent
Structures for a skimming reader
Owns depth and format, not rankings
Red flags
Portfolio work cannot be attributed to them
Promises traffic or volume on a schedule
Cannot say where AI tools stop
The most common miss in writing interviews is confusing fluency with reliability. A candidate who speaks well about writing is not necessarily a candidate who ships accurate work on Thursday. Grade the process, not the pitch.
Scoring the Interview
Score each candidate on a rubric immediately after the interview, while the answers are fresh. Rate the same six areas for everyone, anchored to what the candidate actually said, so you are comparing evidence rather than whichever conversation felt best.
Scoring area
What a 5 looks like
Research, sourcing, and accuracy
Starts at primary sources, runs a separate fact pass, has rejected a stat
Writing quality and brand voice
Builds a voice reference from your published work and can name its patterns
Working to a brief and taking edits
Interrogates the brief, separates the note from the ego, pushes back on evidence
Search intent and structure
Reads a results page to infer intent, structures for a skimming reader
Throughput and reliability
A conservative number with the variables that move it, flags risk early
AI use, originality, and judgment
Names firm limits and verifies every generated claim before it ships
If more than one person interviews, each should score independently before the group talks. That is the heart of a structured interview, and the written scores make the later interview feedback step much shorter.
What Content Writers Are Paid
Content writer pay varies widely by experience, subject difficulty, and whether the role is salaried or per piece. Use federal wage data as a baseline, then adjust for your market and the scope you are asking for.
Median $76,910 a Year for Writers and Authors
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey (May 2025), writers and authors had a national median annual wage of $76,910, with the lowest 10 percent under $44,310 and the highest 10 percent above $139,870 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS national estimates). The 25th percentile sits at $58,230 and the 75th at $101,950.
That occupation is broad, so treat the median as a midpoint rather than a target. A writer producing to a tight brief with an editor behind them sits well below it. A writer who researches, interviews, structures for search, and owns a calendar without supervision sits above it, and closer to what a content marketing manager commands.
Fair, Legal, and Structured Interviewing
A good interview is fair, legal, and structured, and the three reinforce each other. Asking the same job-related questions of everyone keeps you compliant, reduces bias, and produces better hires at the same time. Creative interviews drift off the work easily, which makes this worth stating out loud.
Ask about the work, not the person
Federal anti-discrimination law, enforced by the EEOC, prohibits basing hiring decisions on protected characteristics, and questions that touch them create risk even when they feel like friendly rapport. Do not ask about age, race, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy or family plans, disability, or genetic information. Creative interviews drift into personal territory easily, because portfolios invite chat about where someone went to school, where they grew up, or what they do on weekends. Keep every question tied to producing the content you need. The question sets on this page are written to stay on the work. This is general information, not legal advice.
Use the same core questions for every candidate
Ask each candidate the same core set and score it the same way. A structured interview, where everyone faces the same questions against the same rubric, predicts on-the-job performance better than a conversation that wanders, and it lowers the chance that a decision rests on rapport rather than evidence. For writing roles this matters more than usual, because a charming candidate with a thin portfolio interviews well and a careful writer with a strong portfolio sometimes does not. Write the questions in advance, ask them consistently, and score them. This is general information, not legal advice.
Pay for test assignments and settle ownership in writing
A short test assignment is the most useful thing you can do after the interview, but it has to be paid and it has to be small. Asking a writer for free work on a live topic you intend to publish is both a reputational problem and a rights problem. Pay the candidate their standard rate whether or not you hire them, keep the piece to under a thousand words, and put the rights arrangement in writing before the assignment starts. Commissioned writing does not transfer to you automatically just because you paid for it, so the written agreement is what actually settles ownership.
Interview for the role you actually have
A writer producing two researched articles a week for a niche audience and a writer producing landing pages and email sequences are different hires with different tests. Decide which work dominates before you write the questions, then weight the sets accordingly. If the job is long-form informational content, weight research, accuracy, and structure. If it drifts toward persuasion and conversion, you are closer to a different role and should interview for that instead. Small companies get this wrong by hiring a generic writer and then being disappointed by work that matched no brief in particular.
Same Questions, Scored on a Rubric, Predict Better Hires
A structured interview, where every candidate answers the same questions scored against a consistent rubric, predicts on-the-job performance more reliably than an unstructured conversation, and asking the same job-related questions of everyone also keeps you within the EEOC rules against basing decisions on protected characteristics. Structure is both the fairer and the more effective approach.
Keep every question tied to the work, and skip the portfolio small talk about where someone grew up, went to school, or spends their weekends. Some questions are simply off limits. This is general information, not legal advice.
Interviewing a Content Writer Without HR
At a publisher, a writing candidate is screened by an editor who can tell craft from competence in one paragraph. At a small company the founder or a marketing lead runs the interview alone, between everything else, and the cost of a miss lands on the site permanently.
You are judging writing quality without an editor on staff
At a publisher, a candidate’s draft passes an editor who can tell craft from competence in a paragraph. At a small company the founder or a marketing lead makes that call alone, usually by reading a portfolio that was assembled to impress. The fix is to stop grading prose and start grading process. Ask how the piece was researched, what the brief was, what they cut, and what they would change now. A writer who can narrate those decisions is a writer whose next piece will be good too. A polished sample with no story behind it tells you nothing about what happens on your deadline.
One weak hire fills your site with content you have to clean up later
A bad writing hire is not a quiet failure. Every published piece stays on your site, and thin or inaccurate content costs more to fix than it did to commission, because someone has to reread it, verify it, rewrite it, and decide whether to keep the URL alive. That is why the accuracy questions carry more weight here than they would in most interviews, and why a small paid test on a real topic is worth the money. Score the interview on a rubric, run one paid test with your finalists, and you have replaced a hunch with two pieces of evidence.
The interview ends and the actual hiring work begins
Once you choose a writer, the job shifts from evaluating to hiring well: a written offer, the new hire paperwork, a signed agreement covering ownership of the work, access to the style guide and the content calendar, and a first thirty days with real assignments instead of a welcome tour. FirstHR covers that people side for a small business without an HR department: send the offer for e-signature, run onboarding as a task workflow, keep training modules for your voice and process, and store the signed documents and interview records on the employee profile. To be clear on scope, FirstHR is an onboarding and HR platform, not a CMS or a marketing tool. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR.
What the job is
Content Writer
Copywriter
Technical Writer
Long-form informational articles and guides
Short persuasive copy measured on conversion
Step-by-step documentation of how something works
Research and source verification is central
Search intent and structure is central
The simplest rule: if a wrong instruction costs you a support ticket, you want a technical writer. If the goal is to attract and educate readers over time, the content writer set here fits. Ask a candidate to name which of these three columns they are strongest in; a good one answers without hesitating.
From Interview to Hire
The interview is step one. Once you choose someone, the work shifts to hiring well: a clear written offer, the paperwork, a signed agreement covering ownership of the work, and a first thirty days built from real assignments rather than orientation. Writers ramp through feedback on shipped pieces, not through reading documentation.
Ask the same questions
Pick the sets that match the role and use the same core questions for every candidate, so the comparison is fair.
Score, then test
Rate each competency 1 to 5 with evidence, then send one short paid assignment to your finalists only.
Offer and rights in writing
Confirm scope, pay, and ownership of the work in a signed agreement before the first real assignment.
Onboard into the calendar
Style guide, tool access, and two or three real assignments in the first thirty days, with feedback after each.
FirstHR connects the offer, the e-signatures, the new-hire paperwork, and the onboarding workflow in one place, and keeps the signed documents and interview records on the employee profile, so a small business can run hiring through to a productive first month from a single system. FirstHR is an onboarding and HR platform, not a CMS or a marketing tool, so connect those separately. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR.
If you are still deciding which version of this role you need, the SEO analyst interview questions go deeper on search than the set here does. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR, so for now keep candidate notes wherever you already track them and bring only the hire into the platform.
Key Takeaways
Test six things: research and accuracy, writing to a brief, search intent and structure, AI use and originality, throughput, and the scorecard that ties them together.
Weight research highest, because accuracy problems get fixed after publication and cost more than prose problems ever do.
Grade the decisions behind a portfolio piece, not the prose, since the samples may have passed an editor you will never hire.
Hand the candidate a real brief in the interview; the questions they ask about it predict draft quality better than any writing sample.
Ask where AI tools stop, not whether they are used, and follow up on how a generated claim gets verified.
Score each competency 1 to 5 independently, then send finalists one short paid test on a real topic.
Use BLS data as a baseline: writers and authors reported a national median of $76,910 in the May 2025 survey.
Frequently Asked Questions
What questions should I ask a content writer in an interview?
Ask across five areas: research and accuracy, writing to a brief, search intent and structure, AI use and originality, and throughput. The most revealing single question is how they research a topic they know nothing about, because a writer who starts with primary sources and practitioner interviews produces different work from one who reassembles the pages already ranking. Follow it with an example of a statistic they decided not to use, which almost nobody rehearses and which separates careful writers from fast ones. Then hand over a real brief and ask what they would want to know before starting; the questions they ask predict draft quality better than any writing sample. Finish with where AI tools fit in their process and where they stop. Each set on this page states why the question is worth asking and what a strong answer sounds like.
How do I judge a content writer’s portfolio if I am not an editor?
Stop grading the prose and start grading the decisions behind it. A portfolio is assembled to impress and often passed through an editor you will never hire, so reading it tells you less than it seems. Instead, pick one piece and ask what the brief was, who the reader was, how it was researched, what got cut, and what they would change now. A writer who can narrate those choices is showing you how the next piece will be made. Ask which parts of a collaborative piece were theirs specifically, because bylines on team content are unreliable. If the strongest work came from an environment with editors, researchers, and a style guide, ask what they produce without that support, since a small company provides none of it.
Should I give a content writer a test assignment before hiring?
Yes, for finalists only, and pay for it. A short paid assignment on a real topic from your calendar tells you more than the rest of the interview combined, because it shows accuracy, brief fit, structure, voice, and whether the writer asks questions and delivers on time. Keep it to 700 to 900 words with a five business day deadline, give the same brief to every finalist, and pay the candidate their standard rate whether or not you hire them. Never ask for free work, and never ask for a piece you plan to publish without paying. Settle rights in writing before the assignment starts. The scorecard set on this page includes a ready test brief with the evaluation criteria already written out.
How should I ask a content writer about AI use?
Ask plainly and without judgment in your tone: where do AI tools fit in your process, and where do they not. You are not testing whether the candidate uses the tools, because most now do. You are testing whether they know what the tools cannot be trusted to do. A strong answer names specific stages where a tool helps, such as outlining or generating alternate headlines, and firm limits where it does not, such as any cited fact, any quote, or a finished draft. Follow up by asking how they verify a fact that came out of an AI draft; fabricated citations are the dominant accuracy risk in commissioned content, and the only defense is a writer who traces every claim to a primary source. Total denial and total reliance are both warning signs.
What is the difference between a content writer and a copywriter?
The emphasis differs even though the titles are used loosely. A content writer produces longer informational work aimed at educating a reader: articles, guides, explainers, and research-backed pieces, usually measured on traffic, engagement, and trust. A copywriter writes shorter persuasive material aimed at action: ads, landing pages, emails, and product copy, usually measured on conversion. A technical writer documents how something works so a reader can complete a task, where accuracy is the binding constraint. At a small company one person often covers two or three of these, which is fine as long as you decide which work dominates before you write the interview questions. Weight research, sourcing, and structure for a content writer, and weight persuasion and conversion for a copywriter.
How much does a content writer cost to hire?
Use federal wage data as a baseline, then adjust for your market and scope. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey (May 2025), writers and authors had a national median annual wage of $76,910, with the lowest 10 percent under $44,310 and the highest 10 percent above $139,870. That occupation covers a wide range, so treat the median as a midpoint rather than a target: an entry-level writer producing to a tight brief sits well below it, and a writer who researches, interviews, and owns a content calendar independently sits above it. Freelance and contract writers are usually billed per piece or per hour rather than salaried, which suits small businesses with irregular volume. This is general information, not financial advice.
How do I run a fair, structured interview for a writing role?
Write the questions before you meet anyone, ask the same core set of every candidate, and score each competency on the same rubric right after the conversation while it is fresh. Structure matters more than usual for writing roles, because a charming candidate with a thin portfolio interviews well and a careful writer sometimes does not. Keep every question tied to the work and avoid the personal territory that portfolio conversation invites: age, family plans, national origin, religion, and disability are all off limits under the rules the EEOC enforces. If more than one person interviews, have each score independently before the group talks, so the loudest voice does not anchor the decision. The scorecard on this page is built to run exactly this process. This is general information, not legal advice.
