7 Google UX Writer Interview Questions
Walk with confidence into your interview by preparing for these common Google UX writer interview questions.
The UX writing interview is intimidating, when it comes to tech giants like Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, or Facebook in particular. To achieve success, it is important to prepare for the interview by going over some common questions and their possible answers. So, you should practice various Google UX writing interview questions ahead of time to walk in with greater confidence.
This article includes the most common questions Google might ask in a job interview for UX writers. We will cover some questions to help you prepare for your interview, in addition to discussing the Google interview timeline and process and some tips on planning your answers to make you and your portfolio stand out. So, let’s dive.
Google UX Interview Process and Timeline
At Google, recruiters follow the same timeline and process for all types of jobs, including jobs for product managers, software developers, engineers, etc. It is no different whether you are applying at Google HQ or any other city like New York. Hiring managers follow the same process to hire the right UX writers. In general, the Google interview can take anywhere between one to a couple of months.
The entire process of Google UX writing involves a number of steps. It begins when candidates submit their resume, cover letter, and relevant referrals. The first interview is introductory, which involves phone screening with the recruiter. This phone call involves questions about your passion for writing and interest in writing processes and inquiries about relevant experience and your complete knowledge of the UX writing role. They also follow up with further information about Google if they pass your application on to the hiring manager.
This leads to your second phone screening with the manager when the interviewer submits feedback. It is the point where the hiring manager decides if you would fit in the team. They try to know how familiar you are with Google’s style guide, its products, and the UX team. This process may repeat with a larger conference group or another important member of the team.
If this interview is successful, you may get invited for onsite interviews with the UX manager. The face-to-face interviews may take up to weeks. The manager can ask you to give a portfolio review to the group, in addition to asking general and job-related questions. Following this, the seniors of the department review the candidate and make an offer if they find you right for the position.
With our UX writer course, you can learn the fundamental skills of UX writing. You can also learn the tips to answer technical and non-technical Google UX writer interview questions:
Google UX Writer Interview Questions
Though it is impossible to know all the interview questions, you can get a vague idea with the following interview questions and answers. The exact questions are unknown, but these questions will revolve around similar concepts. Understand the questions’ focus and answer with compact explanations. Following are some common questions Google asks to help you prepare for the interview and learn the techniques to answer those questions.
General UX Writer Interview Questions
In general, the interview process begins with some basic questions. So, it is important to get an idea of how it works and prepare yourself for success. In this section, there are some general questions and how you can answer them.
How Do You Define UX Writing?
This question is related to their need, in addition to your knowledge assessment on UX writing. They may also ask, What is the importance of a UX writing position, or Why do we need a UX writer? When they call you for a UX writing job interview, hiring managers know that you are familiar with UX writing. However, they want to know how much you understand it.
Refrain from telling a typical UX writing definition or what are the roles and responsibilities of a UX writer. Instead, try to define it depending on how you see it from your experience. Explain the importance of UX writing, both in terms of business requirements and user objectives. Discuss user-centricity and empathy. You can also discuss the copy you wrote as a UX copywriter.
Show your understanding of user testing, A/B testing, and card sorting to give the interviewer an idea about your specific skills related to UX writing. You can also tell them how skillful you are with collaborative tools like Adobe XD, Figma, and Github. Tell them why a company should focus on users during product development and how UX writers can play their part in helping the company succeed.
How Did You Get Into UX Writing?
Hiring managers ask such questions to get a certain answer, but this question could also mean What makes you the perfect candidate for a UX writing role? Or When did you first learn about UX writing? So, the actual spectrum is wide. You should relate it to your UX story. In other words, you get the chance to make your conversation positive with the person interviewing you and form a connection with them.
Answer the question with the fact in mind that the person who is interviewing you is just interested in your passion for becoming a UX writer. Tell them about your journey in UX writing and how you came to know about it without creating a long story. Talk about yourself and how you got into the UX field. You can start with your experiences in any writing role, i.e., copywriter, content marketer, or technical writer. Discuss any user experience writing projects you did and try to relate your answer with what’s in your resume. If you have any prior experience at a startup, share your experience as it will indicate how you helped the company grow in real-time.
If your previous role had no writing involved, like a website designer or product designer role, explain your shift towards the UX writing field. For instance, the person taking your interview can ask follow-up questions like Why did you choose UX writing or What was the reason for skipping UX designing for a job? So, prepare yourself for follow-up and counter questions, depending on your journey, and keep your conversation stick around UX.
Also, feel free to discuss any challenging situations you faced along the way. They add weight to your journey and story and allow you to show how you face challenges and problems. Since there are no wrong answers to such questions, you can also talk about why you see UX writing as a career path and why you are excited about this role.
Where Do You Find Inspiration?
In general, interviewers are looking for a couple of things when they ask questions like this. The major purpose of asking this question is to learn about your passion for UX writing and if you are a lifelong learner. They want to know if you have a genuine interest in this industry, you are staying on top of trends, and you are looking for ways to learn and improve all the time. There are no right words or wrong answers to this question.
You can discuss other Google products for writing inspiration or other companies’ products with smart layouts or clever wording. Also, you can tell what your greatest learning and motivation are like user stories. Which researchers you listen to, and what great stories you know about UX writing helping people with everything. Provide them with some examples of digital products you follow. Tell them there is a UX writer you follow on social media who inspires you in different ways.
Job-Related UX Writer Interview Questions
After asking the general questions, the hiring manager gets an idea of whether you are a good fit for the company. Then, they will also want to test your knowledge about the user experience field.
It is possible that you had taken the writing test before the interview. If that’s the case, the recruiter may ask you relevant questions during the interview. However, the possibility is pretty high that those questions will revolve around the following interview questions.
How Do You Work With Other Teams?
UX writing is a collaborative position and needs good communication skills for effective teamwork. When the recruiters take your UX writing interview, they may also want to test your skills in a challenging environment where you work in correspondence with other employees’ tasks. At times, they mold the question as: What is your experience working with UX researchers, UX designers, content strategists, and UX managers? Interviewers may also ask: How do you maintain work efficiency when working with a team?
So, understand the context of a question before you answer it. Your job will need you to work with other people than your UX team. Describe your work experience with UX researchers, UX designers, and developers. While answering this question, describe both your best and worst experiences. This will show your honesty.
You can also discuss your collective experiences, such as with the marketing, product design, and development teams and how you accomplished a project in collaboration with them. Provide them with some examples of tasks you were collaborating on. Focus on your role and explain your process of working in a team. This helps recruiters assess your skills to cope with your potential colleagues in your UX writer role.
How Do You Write Microcopy with Both User’s and Company’s Objectives in Focus?
Recruiters may also ask how do you ensure your content writing is in accordance with both user’s and the company’s goals. In this case, they want to assess your writing techniques. Also, they want to know how you can achieve double goals through your writing and make a successful product. If you are a seasoned UX writer, you can understand that the link of this question is with user research in the UX writing niche and how you work with the user researchers.
Since user research has a strong link with UX writing, the hiring manager might want to assess your knowledge of this skill during the interview process. So, tell the interviewer that you can log user data and use the results in your UX microcopy. Plus, mention that you have accomplished such projects in your last job with a specific one as an example.
What Do You Do to Maintain and Improve Your UX Writing Skills?
All employers want to know the process of improvement UX writers follow and how they work. Recruiters at Google ask this question to get an idea of your special skills. They ask to know how you work on your UX writing skills and your expertise to present new and different ideas. So, feel free to discuss your specific skills while mentioning your approach to maintaining and improving them.
If you want, you can say that going through the design process of different sites enables you to improve your design thinking. Also, share how you improve your design skills by developing custom designs along with your UX copy. You can tell them which skills you work on for maintenance on a regular basis. And how it helps you in maintaining your creative skill and building a constant flow of ideas.
How Would You Change/Improve Our Product?
No matter what the company is, there are improvements to make in UX copy and content. Interviewers ask this question to assess how much you know about the company and how much research you have done. It also tells how good you are with on-spot ideas. They can also ask this question in a different way: What changes or improvements can you make in our product’s microcopy?
To prepare for this question, read through Google’s profile ahead of your interview. Check their website and the products/services they offer. Use their apps on different platforms. Go above and beyond, see where you can make improvements, and come up with ideas on how you can add further value. Remember to mention their target users and the kind of research you might carry out when enhancing the existing copy.
Form a general understanding of the writing techniques of the company and its services. You can try to get in touch with Google’s senior UX writer and ask questions related to this writing role. If asked, suggest something or provide a recommendation for improving Gmail, Google Chrome, Google Search, Google Maps, or Android. This will show your interest in the company and the role as opposed to any other UX writer job.
During the interview, if the interviewer asks this question, provide them with some of your examples. And if they skip this question, you should still try to share your thoughts on this to show them that you did your research about their company and you know what you are doing. However, avoid bashing your potential employer with your answers since you are just giving suggestions.
Tips to Ace Your UX Writing Interview
Following are some of the tips to help you stand out as a content strategist or a UX writer during the interview process:
- No need to get intimidated by UX. If you are a professional writer of any kind, you already have most of the basic skills that UX writing needs.
- Introduce every writing sample with some information about the company and product/service where it comes from and also a little about the intended audience. Assume the interviewer has limited information about your projects.
- Convey three things in your portfolio: Problem, Approach, and Solution. Outline the problem in a Before sample in brief and show the solution in an After sample. Explain your technique on how you came to the solution. Seeing the approach is as important as seeing the solution.
- Tell them about your process as much as the work itself. Feel free to talk about the things that could have gone better and what you learned from them.
- Make your interview conversational. Bring your curiosity and ask logical questions from your interviewer. Have at least a single question to ask at the end of the interview to show them your interest in Google and its workforce.
Final Thoughts
Here, we have shared with you some major UX writing interview questions Google asks and the different ways the hiring manager can mold these questions. Follow the tips we have provided for all questions. Instead of jumping to answers at once, take your time to understand the context. Work on your hard and soft skills, get certifications and go through typical UX writer interview questions. Keep yourself up with the latest types of UX writing tools and design applications. Show your willingness to learn about the company and your enthusiasm to work.
If you have prior experience as a UX writer or a technical writer and you are familiar with a great design thinking process, the interview gets easier for you. Once you feel ready, prepare answers for common Google UX writing questions and do your best. Also, make sure you research about the company and keep your interview engaging for a positive outcome. Good Luck!
If you are new to UX writing and are looking to break-in, we recommend taking our UX Writing Certification Course, where you will learn the fundamentals of being a UX writer, how to dominate UX writer interviews, and how to stand out as a UX writing candidate.
