7 UX Writer Interview Questions and Answers
UX writers deal in microcopies and design. Their mandatory work responsibility is to analyze how they influence the users in digital workspaces.
Good UX writers have exceptional portfolios. Exceptional portfolios are a privilege to secure better positions and prosper careers. But, as a newbie, it is relatively difficult to secure a job without a portfolio. So, what should you do as a UX writer newbie in such cases?
Apart from having an exceptional portfolio and resume, a UX writing job seeker should be prepared for the tricky questions that recruiters ask in a UX writer interview. By answering the interview questions like an expert, you can secure a UX writing position even if you don’t have a portfolio. Remember that good skills and knowledge is required to rock a UX writing interview.
If you’re interested in learning the UX questions and answers via video, watch below. Otherwise, skip ahead.
Recruiters don’t hire just to fill a vacant seat but look for a person who can commit to all the duties. Especially in UX writing, the interview process is much more detailed as it involves testing multiple skills rather than one.
Sometimes, the hiring process for UX writers can include a writing test to assess the design thinking and soft skills of a candidate. The interview team includes a senior UX writer, a content strategist, and a product designer.
This is what the typical UX writer hiring process looks like:
In this article, we will provide you with a guide on how you can rock your UX writing interview with the right words. The questions and some tips to answers these questions are valid for both fresh graduates as well as other writers looking to secure positions in the UX writing field.
These interview questions are not solely for UX writers, but also for recruiters and hiring managers who are looking to hire talent with balanced scanning of UX skills and direct experience.
UX Writer Interview Questions and Answers
Sometimes, interviews become daunting. To avoid such situations, practice ahead of interview time. Research about questions that recruiters possibly can ask in a UX writing job interview. This way, you can walk in with much more confidence.
The usual questions take major time in a UX writing interview session. Although the questions are usually, your strategy to answer them matters the most.
Although it is almost impossible to know all the interview questions, you can develop a vague idea with these interview questions and the answers we have prepared below.
The questions will not be exact, but you need to understand the mathematics behind a question. Understand the question’s focus, and then answer with a compact piece of explanations.
We have prepared some interview questions for UX writers, and techniques to answer those questions for a UX writing interview:
1. How has been your UX Writing Journey so far?
Questions about journeys are usually conversation openers. In other words, you have a chance to bring out positivity in your conversation with the interviewer and hook them up.
All questions aim for a certain answer, but there’s a hidden focused question behind every question. This question can also be molded as What makes you the right UX candidate for this writing seat? or When did you first learn about UX writing?
This question is an opportunity to answer your journey in UX writing and how you came to know about it. So, talk about yourself and how you came to know about the UX field. Discuss any UX writing projects you’ve done and try to relate your answer with the points in your resume.
The question is like an icebreaker for conversation. But the real spectrum is broad. Relate it with your UX story.
In addition to that, answer it with a fact in mind that the interviewer is only interested in your passion for becoming a UX writer. Thus, keep your conversation stick around UX. You can also talk about where you perceive yourself in the future with a UX writer role. Also, remember that there are no wrong answers to such questions.
Make sure that your past UX journey includes certain words like success and achievements.
When you are asked this question as a candidate, discuss the facts that make you excited for this role. From discussing your excitement for the seat, make a transition towards why you are the perfect fit for this UX role.
As far as wrapping up line is concerned, come up with a positive statement. For example, “I am pretty excited to show you how I am a perfect candidate for this UX writing seat and a great addition to the team”.
2. Why Should We Hire a UX Writer?
This query is associated with their need as well as your knowledge of UX writing. If you are invited for a UX writing interview, the interviewer is convinced that you already know what UX writing is.
Here they ask: Do you understand the importance of this UX writing role?
But they want to know about your understanding of the role. Do not repeat a typical UX definition for the role. Instead, try to define it according to how you perceive it from your experience.
Discuss the importance of UX writing both in terms of business needs, and user goals. Convince the interviewer of user-centricity and empathy. Don’t forget to discuss the microcopies you wrote as a UX copywriter.
Show your comprehension of user testing, A/B testing, and card sorting. In addition to that, relate how these tests associate with UX writing. Why the company should focus on users when building a product, and how you can play your role in helping the company achieve its goals.
Sometimes, it is a good approach to take a project from your portfolio as a case study and how that enhances your understanding.
Remember that you are not here for users but the organization. So, mold your answer in terms of the organization’s needs and goals. A product that users appreciate is a successful product. Discuss the user-centricity in terms of the company’s good product development.
These questions can sometimes be molded as “How do you define UX writing?” or “How did your experience lead to UX writing?”. So, before answering right away, take your time to understand the question and its scope.
3. What Are Your Favorite Examples of a Good UX Writing Project?
The know-how of the importance of good UX design is one thing, while the know-how of development of a good UX project is another.
The hidden question behind such interview queries is: What is your understanding of elements of user experience writing?
In such questions, remember that the interviewer is looking to know about your best UX writing practices. For example, your strategies to accomplish a user-centered project, and your familiarity with the tools that make a product enjoyable for users.
In addition to that, the interviewer is much eager to know about your approach to solving the complications and problems. In reply to such questions, discuss the thought process that drives a design process.
Recruiters, sometimes, can ask about your workflow. As all thought processes are different, there’s no specific answer to any of such questions. You just need to list some of your best UX writer samples, and the thought process behind the accomplishment of that project.
In answer to such questions, take the recruiters on a journey on how you frame a process with your words. Take a project and use that as a case study to discuss your approaches. Try to relate the project challenges with the challenges listed in the job ad description.
4. How Do You Cope in a Collaborative Role?
When interviewers involve any word like teamwork and collaboration, they are testing your teamwork skills.
Sometimes, however, this question can be molded as: What is your working experience with UX team designers, UX researchers, content strategists, and UX managers?
UX writing is a collaborative role and requires good communication skills for effective teamwork. So, recruiters may want to test your skills to work in a stressful environment where you must work in correspondence with other workers’ tasks and duties.
Discuss how you accomplished a project in collaboration with the marketing team, development team, and product design team.
The tips to answer these questions require you to mirror to the recruiters that your efficiency comes out best in teamwork.
This way, recruiters can assess your skills to cope with co-workers.
Also, elaborate that you are well-versed in the use of collaborative design tools like Figma and Adobe XD and with the help of these, you ensure a project’s efficiency with teamwork.
However, this question can sometimes be molded as “How do you maintain work efficiency in a team?” or “How do you respond to feedback from UX designers?”. Understand the context of a question before abruptly answering it.
5. How Do You Write by Keeping Both the User’s and Organization’s Goals in Mind?
No doubt the recruiter wants to assess your writing approaches here. But at the same time, they want to know how you can fulfill dual goals through your writing by making a successful product that users also like to use.
The question can sometimes be molded as: How do you ensure a vast audience understands a technical article?
For an experienced UX writer, it is no trouble to understand that this question kind of revolves around user research in the UX writing field, and how you collaborate with the user researcher’s team.
User research is a fundamental part of UX writing, so the interviewer might want to assess your knowledge of this skill in the interview process.
Make it clear for the interviewer that you can easily log user data and use the results in your microcopies. Also mention that you are goal-oriented and that you have already accomplished such projects in your past. Don’t forget to mention a specific project as an example.
6. How Can You Improve Our Product?
For this question, the interviewers assess how well do you know about the company.
This question can be molded as What changes you can make in our product’s microcopy?
To prepare for this question, make sure you read through the company’s profile. Check their websites and the products they offer. Try to contact the company’s senior UX writer and content strategist. Ask them questions for this writing role, and the visual design process of the UX team.
In addition to that, check where improvements can be made. Pick a design and come up with a strategy on how you can add more value. Develop a general understanding of the content writing techniques of the tech company and its services.
Make sure that you are not bashing the interviewer with your answers, not you are pointing out any faults. Instead, they should reflect your answer as to how much value can you bring to their company through your UX copy skills.
7. Do You Have any Knowledge About User Data, A/B testing, and Card Sorting?
With such questions, the interviewer assesses your knowledge of specific UX skills. Sometimes, the question can also be molded in terms of collaborative tools, as How skillful you are with Figma, Adobe XD, framer, and Github?
Thus, we highly recommend you to prepare well and familiarize yourself with the specific skills and tools as the recruiter might want to test your knowledge of digital products and software.
A/B testing and card sorting process are basically user research tactics, that are used to gather end-user data. UX writers use this data in developing microcopies that provide a good customer experience.
For an experienced UX writer, such questions are good news as they are already familiar with these UX tools.
On the other hand, Adobe, Figma, and the rest of mentioned tools are design platforms for collaborative working. These workspaces allow multiple writers to work on a single project.
These are some questions that a UX writing manager can ask you. Although the exact questions are not known, the questions will mainly revolve around concepts like these.
Try to make the interview process conversational. To do so, come up with a question that you can ask the interviewer in return.
Prepare a thoughtful question in your mind to engage with the recruiter. This way, you can end your interview with a healthy image.
The best tactic to rock an interview is to make it engaging and conversational. The recruiters should not feel as if they are interviewing an arrogant person with lots and lots of UX knowledge. Keep it engaging and appealing for a positive impact.
You can also come up with questions like “What your product mainly targets for”, or “What personal experience are looking for in a candidate for this seat”.
If you’re looking to master the crucial skills so you can professionally answer UX writer interview questions, then make sure to enroll in our UX writing course. Our course also provides some secret tips on how to pitch the interviewer into hiring you. Don’t forget to check it out:
Summary
We have provided you with some great UX writing interview questions, and most importantly the ways a question can be molded in a UX writer’s interview.
Focus on the tips we have provided for each question. Do not abruptly jump to answer query confidence, instead take your time to understand the context.
Prepare well before the interview, and you can do so by anticipating what kind of question the interviewers can ask you.
Keep yourself updated with the advanced forms of UX writing tools and design software.
It is truly good to hear that UX writing interview is easy to prepare if you are an experienced UX writer. Or if you have prior experience as a technical writer, and you carry an exceptional design thinking process, it can be easier for you.
No doubt, an interview is not for a single person, but in fact, it is a two-way process. You should also ask questions to assess whether the company is the right choice for you or not. This is how you can mirror your willingness to learn more about the company and your enthusiasm to work.
In the last, we recommend you to research well about the company and keep the interview engaging for a positive result.
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.
