How to ace a UX writer interview
At the end of 2021, I was interviewing A LOT. First stage, tick! Second stage, tick! Third stage, tick! Only to hear one of three reasons: ‘Sorry we’ve chosen someone internally’, ‘We’ve chosen someone with a bit more experience’ or ‘We’ve re-assessed the need for this role as a business and we need to put it on pause’ — that was the worst one to hear. After meeting multiple people in the team, doing presentations and decks and updating my portfolio constantly, it became disheartening.
So if you’re currently in the same position, I wanted to share a few tips and tricks so you can nail your next UX Writer interview, whether it’s for a junior, mid or senior position. Good luck!
Breaking into UX writing? Read on…
If you’re starting out as a junior UX writer, don’t fret, you won’t be expected to have a fully fledged portfolio. If you can be prepared to come with how you’ve approach a piece of work in the past or how you’ve resolved a problem then you‘re halfway there. There’s no right or wrong answer but as long as you can show your process and how you got to the outcome with a well-thought-out approach then you’re onto a winner.
It’s also good to mention how you work with people as collaboration in a design team is everything. How do you get on with other people? What’s your social style? How have you influenced someone before? The reason I ask this is that you need to be able to influence stakeholders (later on) and get them on your side and in their good books.
Talking of books (and other resources), it’s a no-brainer to get up to speed with the latest UX trends for content and design, just to give you a few extra talking points in the interview and show your interest in landing the role.
You can complete the UX Writing Hub’s here free UX Writing course
Also, you can find a load of resources including books, communities, events, courses, tools and inspiration here UX Writing Library.
Now let’s move on to mid/senior/ lead roles…
Portfolios, processes and problem solving are everything when it comes to applying for a mid, senior or lead UX writer. Interviewees are looking for:
- The problem
- Your solution to the problem
- Your role within the project
- The outcome
When I say the outcome, I mean what were the results and impact of the new feature? Did you test it and what was the conversion rate? Was there a business goal you achieved? How has this feature contributed to the company’s success?
Teamwork
Have you done something to help your team and their processes, making their lives a little easier too? Pop that in. This will show that you’ve taken the lead role in a project and been proactive along the way.
Showing value
Have you shown value to your content and how? What data and research have you used to shape your work going forward? Mention your relationship with the UX research team, how you’ve been involved in user research and what the outcomes of testing copy were.
Portfolio example
Below is an example of my portfolio content. Having it written out in a clear and concise way gives you a solid foundation during the interview to refer back to.
And finally, soak up the experience. Ask questions, lots of them.
Processes
- What’s the current process in the team?
- How will I work with designers and other stakeholders?
- How is copy signed off? — this one is particularly important. If you get the job, you’ll want to know what you’re going into. If you don’t know the process you could be in for a big surprise.
Management
- How does the manager like to work?
- How do they support you?
- What’s the promotional process like?
- How do they value content?
- Are there development opportunities available and is there a team budget for learning for books, events, online courses etc?
Design tools and systems
- What design tools do the team use?
- Can I input copy straight onto design? (Find out more about the importance of this in my article here)
