12 Technical Writer Interview Questions and Answers
Technical writing demands an appropriate balance of practical experience, qualifications, and the right skill set. Recruiters often find it difficult to find a candidate who ticks all the boxes. To filter away unfit candidates, they leverage tricky technical writer interview questions.
Apart from any preliminary assessment, the job interview can make or break a candidate’s shot at being hired.
If you’re a job seeker with an interview lined up (or a recruiter hiring a technical writer for the first time), keep reading. This article will list the 12 most commonly asked technical writer interview questions and appropriate answers. If you want to understand the Q&A via video, watch the video below. Otherwise, skip ahead.
Let’s jump right in.
Technical Writer Interview Questions: What to Expect
Interviewing for a new technical writing job can be extremely nerve-racking, especially if you haven’t had any luck lately or a dream employer is interviewing you.
Completing relevant technical writing courses is crucial as part of your preparation for a technical writer interview. Additionally, understanding the job description can help you tailor your preparation effectively.
Reviewing technical writing samples can provide valuable insights and help you understand what is expected in the role. Familiarity with the document development life cycle can be beneficial for technical writer interviews.
Even the most experienced candidates tend to lose their cool.
And when the interview is for a competitive technical writer job, you must bring your A-game.
Depending on the organization, you may be interviewed by an existing tech writer, subject matter expert, and/or an HR professional.
After conducting research on the web, interviewing candidates who recently appeared in interviews, and recalling our own experiences, we’ve noticed that technical writer interview questions can be classified into the following two types:
- General questions
- On-job/Technical Questions
There may be no particular order in which the interviewer asks a potential technical writer those questions. And even if there is, it isn’t easy to notice it when the technical writer is asked.
Stay calm, collect your thoughts before appearing for the interview, and take your sweet time answering the questions.
Essential Technical Writer Interview Questions
Now that you have a basic idea of what to expect in your technical writing interview, it’s time to get a little specific and look at the actual list of questions and answers from actual technical writer experiences. Understanding the target audience is crucial for answering technical writer interview questions.
Let’s start with some basic, generic questions without any specific answers. Being open to constructive criticism is important for continuous improvement in technical writing.
Here are a few that you can expect in your interview:
1. What Drove You to Pursue Technical Writing?
Technical writing isn’t as commonly heard of as other writing and editorial jobs.
Despite having a knack for it, some promising technical writer candidates never get the opportunity to explore this career path.
And the technical writer may discover that a few of those who do are really not cut out for it the hard way.
To understand the candidate’s career goals and ensure they align with what they’re looking for, recruiters will often ask a technical writer why they chose this career.
There’s no right or wrong answer here. Simply explain your journey, passions, and what drove you towards this field as a technical writer. Think of a concise and engaging way to tell your story, especially if you aspire to become a senior technical writer and want to share your motivations for pursuing this career path. Having a technical writing project to showcase can help demonstrate your skills and passion for the field.
2. What Are the Characteristics of Good Technical Writing and Technical Writers?
Some might argue that this question leans more toward the job-related category, but the answers may vary.
To provide a more specific response, counter the interviewer with a query asking exactly what type of technical writing they are referring to and, more importantly, who it is meant for.
If they give you a type, adjust your answer accordingly.
In case they ask you to provide a generic answer, here are some solid characteristics to list:
- Technical writers should create great technical writing for a specific target audience with specific goals
- It should be as unambiguous as possible (leaving no room for doubts)
- Ideally, the content should be ever-green
- Graphics should be leveraged to complement the writing
- A skilled technical writer is capable of handling complex projects that require in-depth research and self-education through various methods such as reading, watching videos, taking online courses, and consulting subject-matter experts.
Understanding the document development life cycle is crucial for producing high-quality technical documentation.
To make your answer airtight, highlight that the definition of “good” writing will always vary from company to company at the end of the day.
3. Are You Comfortable Collaborating with Other Team Members?
Technical writers have to collaborate with various team members, including, but not limited to designers, web developers, subject matter experts, and sometimes external leads.
Naturally, the ideal candidate should be a team player. Technical writers often need to interview subject matter experts as part of the collaboration process. The job won’t be easy if you’re not so big on collaborating with other members.
You also don’t want to answer with a simple “yes.” Elaborate a bit – share an example of the different jobs/projects you’ve worked on where you had to collaborate with one or more people.
Need more help with technical writing interview questions? If you’re interested in learning more about the technical writing role and landing your dream technical writing job, then check out our Technical Writing Certification Course.
4. Why Do You Wish to Work for Our Company?
This is one of those questions often heard in interviews, irrespective of the position or career.
As with all the aforementioned technical writer interview questions, this one doesn’t have an ultimate answer.
But to win the recruiters and show them that you’ve done your homework, conduct some research and find out the accomplishments of their company if you already haven’t. Understanding the company’s job description can help tailor your response to why you want to work for the company.
You may also express that you look forward to working in an environment that promotes professional growth. Working side-by-side with talented people has always been one of your priorities.
Job-Related Technical Writer Interview Questions
In a typical interview, most of the questions that hiring managers ask are to test your knowledge about the field.
Understanding the candidate’s perspective and expectations for the technical writer position is crucial for the interview process. Some organizations may emphasize other questions to check if you’re a good fit for their culture and test your competency via a separate assessment. Having relevant technical writing samples can help demonstrate your skills and experience, making you a more attractive candidate.
But why take the chance? This is your opportunity to revisit some core concepts/experiences, prepare for potential technical questions, and impress the recruiters.
Here are some of the popular questions to expect:
5. Tell Us About a Challenge That You Overcame ?
Recruiters like to throw this question to see if you’ve ever been in a stressful situation in your job (and assess your response to test your definition of a “challenge”).
Of course, this question won’t come up if you’re applying for an entry-level technical writing position (such as a technical writing intern).
If you have some prior experience, think of the most difficult challenge you had to overcome. This could be anything, ranging from not having the appropriate tools to work with to the unavailability of an SME.
Define the problem, explain why it seemed like a real challenge, and discuss how you overcame it. Having a technical writing project to showcase can help demonstrate your problem-solving skills.
6. Do You Have Experience with Any Content Development Tools?
A technical writer has to rely on a bunch of content development, management, and authoring tools to do their job.
Experience with these different software tools, such as MS Word, WordPress, RoboHelp, etc. is a huge plus.
Mention all the relevant programs that you have experience with.
Furthermore, ask the interviewer about the programs they provide to their in-house technical writers. If they name a software you’re unfamiliar with, be honest about it, but at the same time, reassure them that you’ll learn to use it.
Having relevant technical writing samples can help demonstrate one’s proficiency with content development tools.
7. What are the Specific Roles and Responsibilities of a Technical Writer?
As with every other job on the planet, the exact technical writer job description varies from recruiter to recruiter.
While the recruiter must have already shared the job description with you long before the interview, they might also be curious to know what you believe are a technical writer’s typical roles and responsibilities.
The most important ones include:
- Create and manage personas
- Interview subject matter experts to ensure technically sound content
- Communicate with the designer and/or any other member of the team to finalize the content
- Perform editorial work and report to the supervisor(s) about progress
Understanding the document development life cycle is crucial for fulfilling these roles and responsibilities.
List anything that you feel a technical writer should be paid for.
8. What is Topic-Based Authoring?
As the name suggests, topic-based authoring is a concept in technical writing that focuses on creating content on specific, narrow topics.
With topic-based authoring, the goal is to keep the scope of the content limited to the topic at hand only. Understanding the target audience is crucial for creating effective content in topic-based authoring. This enables faster delivery of information, reduced resources, and the ability to use the content in different contexts.
To learn more, this old piece by IBM on topic-based authoring will be extremely helpful.
9. Explain the Concept of the Document Development Lifecycle.
Document development life cycle (DDLC) is a systematic approach to content development. Its goal is to make highly complex technical documentation into easy-to-digest, unambiguous writing that effectively serves its purpose.
DDLC consists of the following phases:
- Analysis
- Design
- Content development
- Editing/Proofreading
- Publishing
- Maintenance/Reporting
Having relevant technical writing samples can help demonstrate one’s understanding of the document development life cycle. The approach can also be applied to regular blogging.
10. Do You Have Any Practical Experience with [XYZ Area]?
Ideally, a technical writer is also a subject matter expert. Time would otherwise be spent interviewing other people.
While this isn’t always a requirement, having a technical background can help you gain a competitive edge.
The recruiter might ask you if you have experience with the concerned fields, such as computer science/IT, engineering, etc. Additionally, relevant technical writing samples can help demonstrate your expertise in these areas.
11. What are Some of the Technical Writing Projects You’ve Worked On?
Another technical writer interview question doesn’t apply to those without prior experience.
The person conducting the interview may spontaneously ask you to talk about a technical writing project you’ve worked on and describe your approach to it.
In the moment, you may get confused and end up underselling yourself. This is your chance to share your best work with your potential recruiter.
Some companies may also ask for writing samples before the interview. In such cases, the recruiter may also offer constructive criticism. Having relevant technical writing samples can help demonstrate your work on technical writing projects.
12. What Specific Skillsets Do You Bring to the Table as a Technical Writer?
A great technical writer should have a diverse skillset.
Technical communication skills – especially writing skills – are prerequisites. You don’t need to bring them up (the recruiter already knows that).
Instead, highlight any other in-demand important skills that you might have, such as HTML, API development, graphic designing, etc. Additionally, having relevant technical writing samples can help demonstrate your skills as a technical writer.
Conclusion
The trick to acing your interview lies in anticipating the whole process, creating a list of all the possible questions the recruiter might ask, and brushing up on your knowledge. That’s pretty much it.
Having relevant technical writing samples can help demonstrate your skills and experience during the interview. Also, remember that an interview is supposed to be two-way communication. Follow up with your queries once the recruiter is finished to learn as much as you can about the company.
FAQs
What are the key characteristics of an experienced technical writer?
A successful technical writer should have excellent writing and communication skills, a keen eye for detail, the ability to understand complex information and simplify it for the target audience, proficiency in various content development tools, and strong collaborative skills to work with subject matter experts and other team members.
How can I prepare for a technical writer interview?
Preparation involves understanding the job description, reviewing technical writing samples, completing relevant courses, familiarizing yourself with the document development life cycle, and practising common interview questions. Researching the company and its accomplishments can also help tailor your responses.
What should I highlight when asked about my experience with content development tools?
Mention all the relevant programs you have experience with, such as MS Word, WordPress, RoboHelp, etc. If the interviewer names a tool you’re unfamiliar with, be honest but express your willingness and ability to learn it quickly.
How do I handle the question about why I want to work for a specific company?
Conduct research on the company’s achievements, culture, and values. Highlight your enthusiasm for their work environment, opportunities for professional growth, and how your skills and career goals align with the company’s objectives.
What are some examples of technical writing projects I should discuss in an interview?
Discuss projects where you played a significant role in creating documentation, manuals, user guides, or any other technical content. Explain your approach, the challenges you faced, and how you collaborated with team members to complete the project.
What is the importance of understanding the document development life cycle in technical writing?
Understanding the DDLC is crucial as it provides a systematic approach to content development, ensuring that complex technical information is presented clearly and effectively. It helps in planning, creating, editing, publishing, and maintaining high-quality documentation.
How can I demonstrate my problem-solving skills during a technical writer interview?
Share specific examples of challenges you’ve encountered in previous roles and how you overcame them. This could include dealing with limited resources, tight deadlines, or collaborating with difficult team members. Emphasize your analytical skills, creativity, and persistence in finding solutions.
If you are new to technical writing and are looking to break-in, we recommend taking our Technical Writing Certification Course, where you will learn the fundamentals of being a technical writer, how to dominate technical writer interviews, and how to stand out as a technical writing candidate.
