40+ interview questions to ask candidates for a technical writer role

Finding the right technical writer for your business can be a struggle. With so many applicants to sift through from various career backgrounds, deciding whom to hire can be a lot of work. 

The technical hiring process can be as tough on hiring managers as it is on candidates, especially at the interview stage: The risk of running out of good questions to ask is a real possibility. It’s not enough to have enough questions to fill an hour-long interview – they must be the right ones to help you decide who is the best match.

Technical writing roles exist in almost any industry, because writing still matters in many areas of business. This means one writer’s experience can differ from the next, making it even more difficult to compare candidates. 

To help you with this, we’ve compiled 40+ questions you can use to interview technical writers. We’ve also included sample answers to streamline the evaluation process.

4 opening technical-writer interview questions and sample answers

The first few questions you ask during an interview set the tone and help steer things in the desired direction. Here are some opening questions to ask each technical writer you’re interviewing.

1.What sparked your interest in technical writing?

This question is an excellent conversation opener as it enables the interviewee to focus on their background and discuss other areas of their life.

Answers can vary quite a bit, from always having loved writing to stumbling into this role from another one. 

Talking about what made them first interested in this career path can lead them to discuss all manner of things, from their job experience to their degree. Understanding what brought them into this field can also give you a sense of where they are planning to go.

2. How did you find out about this position?

Though this question may lead to a one-word answer like “LinkedIn” or something similar, it can also give you some insight into why they are leaving their current role before you even ask about that.

How they found the position often explains why they were looking in the first place and gives you an opening to ask the next question.

3. Why are you leaving your current role?

This question may feel like you’re jumping into the deep end of the interview too soon but asking this early on can set the tone for the interview and help you extract a lot of insightful information that’s beneficial to you.

People quit their jobs for all kinds of reasons and the candidate may give a straightforward answer, such as wanting to relocate or the fact that they’ve been made redundant. 

4. What are your career goals for the next few years?

Each candidate you interview has applied to your open position, so you can safely conclude that joining a company like yours is one of their career goals. However, this can be an excellent topic to explore in more detail, as it helps you see how long they may last in your company.

If an interviewee states that they see themselves gaining experience and moving on to higher-responsibility positions within the same company over the next few years, this could be a good indication that they’re planning to stay – and it’s no secret that hiring such candidates can help you reduce employee turnover.

Having said that, if their goals are specific and it’s clear that they want to be somewhere else eventually, this could indicate that they aren’t planning to stick around for long.

8 technical-writer interview questions and sample answers to get to know your candidate quickly

Below, you’ll find eight questions you could ask any interviewee to get to know them better.

1. What do you consider to be your strengths and weaknesses as a writer?

The work of a writer is creative, no matter what company or industry they work for. From fiction novels to B2B social media content, writers must know how to write engaging content that is easy to understand.

Technical writers are no different, and asking them about their strengths and weaknesses enables you to know more about them and also see the degree of self-awareness they have. 

For example, if a candidate says one of their strengths is a keen eye for detail, this means that they value precision and have a meticulous approach to their work. This could also mean they could be a good editor. 

However, if one of their weaknesses is perfectionism, you’d be right to consider that they may struggle to meet deadlines.

2. How do you tackle those weaknesses?

On this topic, it’s great to ask how they deal with those flaws. Interviewees will probably want to talk about their strengths quite a bit, but this question helps you to circle back to where they feel their work needs improvement.

Discussing how they tackle weaknesses can show you the type of individual they are and how they’ll approach other challenges in their role.

This is the time for you to consider whether their weaknesses will be a problem for your role. 

For example, your candidate might struggle to reach the required word count when writing long-form content pieces. However, if your business only works with shorter writing assignments or highly structured content (such as user manuals, for example), this might not be an issue.

3. What are your aspirations for your career as a technical writer? 

Some job roles have a clear career progression and people in these roles usually know how they want to progress. For other roles this might be different and the employee could be in the same position for several years. 

A technical writer is the sort of career that sits in the middle, so getting a good idea of your candidates’ aspirations during the interview is essential.

Many interviewees think that hiring managers expect them to have very high aspirations. This isn’t always the case, however, and it might not be relevant for your company: Someone who is content in their role and happy to stay in it might be perfect for your business. 

Depending on your expectations, you might want to look for candidates who give balanced answers and show ambition but aren’t likely to leave their current role too soon. 

This question also enables you to discuss future career opportunities at your company and be upfront about possible career paths; in fact, career transparency will help you attract and retain the best talent. 

4. Where do you see yourself in the future?

Though this may seem very similar to the previous question, it gives candidates the possibility to discuss anything about the future they want, including their personal goals. Their plans could include moving house or starting a family.

It may feel as though their personal objectives could impact their working life, but this isn’t always the case.

Listen to their answer carefully: It’ll give you a good idea of whether they will stay with your company. If your candidate says they want to travel the world next year, this might be enough to tell you they won’t stick around for long.

5. What do you enjoy most about your job?

From the team to the work itself, there are many potential answers to this question. Asking them this question enables you to check if what you offer as a company matches what the candidate enjoys doing day-to-day. If it’s a match, then everyone is happy.

6. What do you enjoy least about your job?

On the other hand, though, if your future technical writer will have to meet tight deadlines often and the candidate answers this question with “short deadlines”, you know the role might not be right for them.

7.  If your previous employer was here, how would they describe you?

Even hiring managers with years of experience will still sometimes make the wrong assumptions as to why someone is leaving their previous employer. It’s human nature to think that something must have gone wrong.

However, most people leave roles for a wide array of reasons and leaving on bad terms is a lot rarer than you think. You can confirm this with a question like this. 

Asking applicants what their previous employer would say about them if they were in the room can tell you all you need to know. Though they are unlikely to admit to anything negative, the way they approach answering this question can give you a clue.

8. What interests you most about working for our company?

There might be different reasons why candidates want to leave their previous company, but it’s equally important to figure out why they want to join yours. 

Though the open technical-writer position may seem like a great opportunity in your eyes, it’s still a good idea to ask the candidate why they applied to your role to better understand their perspective and expectations.

Even if the answer a specific candidate gives doesn’t improve their chances of getting the role, collecting answers to this question can give you a glimpse into why prospective employees are interested in the role. Plus, it helps you see whether your applicants have researched your company.

5 technical writer interview questions and sample answers related to remote work and team collaboration

Few career paths don’t involve working with a team, especially nowadays. Asking these questions about teamwork and the working environment can help determine whether the candidate is the right fit.

There are many essential qualities and characteristics of a good team member, and asking any of these can help you spot them.

1. What value can you bring to our team?

Everyone brings value to a team in some way, so finding out what an individual thinks they can bring to the table can be very useful.

In their answer, a candidate will usually talk about their expertise in a particular field but they might also discuss their teamwork skills. Hiring someone who knows how to work well with others is essential for every team and company out there, so you might decide to ask follow-up questions to steer the discussion in this direction. 

2. How do you handle negative feedback from editors?

Positive feedback is, naturally, easy to take on, but while negative feedback can be much harder to digest, it also provides the best learning opportunities. Even if you hire the perfect match, they’re still likely to receive some negative feedback, so the capacity to handle it well is essential.

The answers you’re looking for here should revolve around how candidates accept feedback and use it to improve their work, while also raising any concerns they have.

3. What is your personal definition of success in a role like this?

Success looks different for each person, so you will receive a lot of different responses from candidates. 

Some will see job longevity and client satisfaction as success, while others will focus on financial benefits. There isn’t a correct answer to this question, so there aren’t any particular keywords to look for – but this question will help you see whether your candidates’ values align with your company’s. 

So, what you need here is an answer that would enable you to analyze whether your open role (and the opportunities it offers) aligns closely with their idea of success or could put them on the path to it. 

If the answer is “yes”, that’s good news: It’s best to hire someone who will be happy in their role.

Another way to evaluate alignment between applicants’ expectations and what your company has to offer is with our Motivation test.

4. Have you had any experience working from home?

Remote work has always been around, but its prevalence has exploded in the last few years. Many candidates will apply for a role that offers some sort of remote working, whether that be a fully remote position or a hybrid one. What’s important to consider is whether your applicants’ expectations and experience match what you offer. 

Working from home and working in an office are vastly different, so if you’re a remote-first company, finding out whether candidates know how to work from home efficiently is key. 

Look for answers that mention specific approaches applicants use to manage their time, limit distractions, and collaborate with team members remotely.  

5. What challenges does remote work pose for you and how do you handle them?

If remote or hybrid work is something you are willing to offer, finding out what challenges applicants might face (or have faced) when working in this way can be beneficial for both sides. 

Not only can this help you see whether there would be any potential major issues should you hire them, but you can accurately assess whether or not the company can support them effectively; this makes any obstacles much easier to tackle. 

19 technical-writer interview questions about skills, projects, and knowledge

Once you’ve got a good idea of the candidate as a person, here are 19 great questions that are specific to the role of a technical writer. In the next section, you’ll find sample answers to the five most important questions from this list.

1. What are the most important qualities of a good technical writer?

2. If you could describe your professional skills in three words, what would they be?

3. Have you ever worked in a different industry? 

4. How would you apply skills and knowledge from a different position to your technical-writing role?

5. How many words do you write in an average workday?

6. Do you prefer longer pieces or shorter assignments?

7. What skills and experience make you qualified for this particular technical writing position?

8. What experience do you have with content management software (CMS)?

9. Which CMS do you use most often and why?

10. What citation style do you use most often?

11. Have you ever worked on a project where you didn’t know enough about the topic?

12. Do you have any methods to handle complex projects that require in-depth research?

13. Do you interview or talk with subject-matter experts before you begin writing?

14. What is topic-based authoring?

15. What topics are you most comfortable writing about?

16. What do you think are the specific responsibilities of a technical writer?

17. What tools do you frequently use at work?

18. If you were writing a B2B technical document, how would you ensure you included the correct information?

19. How would you rate your technical skills?

5 technical writer interview questions and sample answers related to projects, skills, and knowledge

Here are the answers to five of the above technical-writer interview questions related to projects and project completion to help you understand your applicants’ expertise and skills.

1. Can you talk about your research process from the time you receive a brief until the end of the project?

This question helps you see your interviewee’s working process and lets them share more information about how they ensure their work meets the requirements of the project. 

You can compare the company’s project expectations and this interviewee’s usual process from start to finish. You can also check whether they know how to research a given topic in depth, while also making sure to meet deadlines.

2. Have you ever worked on a project where you didn’t know enough about the topic?

In many writing careers, especially as a technical writer, there are lots of different projects on a variety of subject matters to tackle.

Though hiring a technical writer with experience with every subject they might need to tackle is almost impossible, asking this question can help you learn more about what they have done in the past.

The answer to this question will likely be “yes”, so encouraging candidates to elaborate will help you get a more detailed answer.

3. Do you have any methods to handle complex projects that require in-depth research?

One way to get applicants to open up more is to ask them how they handled working on complex topics they didn’t know much about. 

A skilled technical writer should be able to explain in detail about how they research new topics and educate themselves. For example, they might explain that they:

• Read articles or books 

• Watch YouTube videos 

• Sign up for an online course

• Talk to subject-matter experts

It’s unreasonable to expect a technical writer to understand every topic, but they should be able to look into and learn more about any subject they need to write about.

4. Do you interview or talk with subject-matter experts before you begin writing?

The correct answer to this depends on what you’re looking for in a technical writer. If you need them to write on subjects requiring industry experts’ opinion and insights, expect them to have interview experience.

However, if this isn’t necessarily something that will be an essential part of the technical-writer role you’re looking to fill, then it shouldn’t matter too much.

5. What is topic-based authoring?

Topic-based authoring is a style of writing content by breaking it down into smaller units called topics. Topics are independent of each other, so your candidate can rearrange or combine them to create different documents. This approach makes topic-based authoring a flexible way to create content.

This writing method can be useful for the right projects, and hiring a writer with experience and working knowledge for this can be a great asset to your business. If they aren’t aware of this writing style, check if they’re willing to learn it by asking follow-up questions.

When should you use these technical-writer interview questions in your hiring process?

The best time to use these technical-writer interview questions is after skills assessments. Evaluating skills enables you to strengthen your workforce and doing it early on in the hiring process helps you save resources and sift through applications more quickly – and invite only the best candidates to an interview.

That’s where the questions come in handy: Having the right questions for your interviews helps you get a better idea of the potential employee in front of you and make an informed choice. 

Use skills assessments first to create a candidate shortlist, then assess your applicant’s experience with technical-writer interview questions. Many technical writers might apply for your open position, so using skills tests plus the right interview questions will help you pick the right person.

Hire the right technical writer with our interview questions and skills tests

Take a look at our test library to start building your first assessment. You can combine up to five tests in a single assessment; after that, you simply need to send it to your candidates via the platform. 

Once candidates complete the tests, you can compare their answers and results to select the ones you’d like to interview. 

Find out how TestGorilla can help you streamline your hiring process with our 30-minute live demo and see for yourself why nearly 10,000 companies have replaced CV screening with skills tests. 

Create the ideal screening process and hire the most skilled technical writers – the easy way.