How to hire a full time content writer

Hey guys!

It's been quite some time since I've hired a content writer and besides most of the time I've used freelancers.

Now i'm looking to hire someone full time...i know exactly what I need (seo articles, i've been doing this for more than 10 years) but now I have a bunch of CVs on my desk and dunno how to start. I'm looking to hire someone to work from our office and have no idea how to start

Can you guys recommend me a course, youtube channel or something that i can study in 1-2 days max?
I'm not looking to hire the best talent in the world but i'm also trying to get the most of what i have.

Thanks to everyone that is willing to help any bit of information...seems that hiring "real people" and not freelancers is a completely different ball game.

Get them to write a bunch of articles for you and you can judge them based on that. You can also include a probation period of say, 3 months, in their contract and retain them/let them go based on their performance.

I suppose you must be willing to pay really high for the quality you are looking for. I mean, hiring shouldn't be this complicated. No?

It looks like you wanted to hire USA Forbes-like writers. Hmm

PS. I'll obviously search myself on youtube and google for things such as "how to conduct an interview" and things like that...but any tips from people that know their stuff are more than welcome.

crystalwiz said:

I suppose you must be willing to pay really high for the quality you are looking for. I mean, hiring shouldn't be this complicated. No?

It looks like you wanted to hire USA Forbes-like writers. Hmm

Click to expand...

No, I need Romanian writers now...the prices that freelancers charge here are insane...it's not worth outsourcing this service anymore. Besides, I placed the sallary range in the ad...its not big at all and im surprised i received so many applications....it's true...filtering was a pain in the ass and now it's the next part...face 2 face interviews....after I get past this step (since i have no actual experience in this field) I know what I have to do.

You do not need a course to hire someone. You will learn with experienced. If you are doubtful, hire him as an intern and try for some time.

I don't really have any advice for you unfortunately, but I would love to know how you get on. If you can find the right person I think it would be a real asset for your business and its something that I am contemplating this year (Hiring a content writer). Good luck finding someone.

Also, a note to everyone else in this thread; as the OP is looking to hire a writer to work locally, this thread can remain in white hat SEO and as such, please don't offer your services here.

Give them some samples to write and decide based on this. And this should be done in office not through email.

Would they have to be in-house? I know a guy who fully employed someone from Upwork and said it was a lot more convenient. If you want to pick out of the cv's you've been given, I would recommend giving them a sheet of different points you'd want in the article and let them all write a copy for you to analyse.

It would also be beneficial to ask them to analyse their own copy and explain why they wrote down what's in the article. This way you'll also get an understanding of each person's thought process, which is one of the most important aspects imo.

My only advice for hiring a good content writer is to ask for writing samples (review copies) and evaluate them for style, tone, and quality. Additionally, ask about their experience writing for your niche, for you can have a visibility about their past work.