Fresh in the industry? Hoping to eat a pie from the content writing plate. And why shouldn’t you! Well, wait no more. These are the top 10 interview questions you need to prepare for a content writer interview as a fresher. Prep these up and you are good to go.
This article will be divided into two sections- Section 1 will cover the basic information one must know before sitting in the content writer interview as a fresher. Section 2 will cover almost all the important 10 questions that are asked in the interview. Let’s begin!
Basic Information one must know before sitting in the content writer interview
The services company offers. It’s possible that the company that you are applying for is a tech company and their blog page consists of articles from the coding domain of which you know little or nothing about.
It’s better to have such info beforehand so that you can tailor your answer better if you are not from the tech domain.
Go through the social media content, blogs and posts of the company you are applying for, to have a better understanding of their services and their content writing style. You can look into these questions If you have opted for Content Writing as Career Choice.
Having gone through the blogs and their content, you can get a picture as to who their target audience is.
Last but never the least. Don’t forget to do a search on the Founder’s name. The establishment year of the company. And the most important one “How much salary do they offer to a Fresher Content Writer” so that you are able to negotiate well. Some companies even hire freshers as freelance writers and pay them 30 to 50 paise ppw (pay per word) per article published. Just hop on to glassdoor or quora in order to look into the salary part.
Important questions asked in a content writer interview for freshers.
What do you understand about Content Writing?
There are many ways to answer this question. The best way to tackle it in a content writer interview would be-
Anything that receives more clicks and is reliable, is content in this age of digital media.
It’s a broad field that includes writing blog posts which can be technical, social, educational in nature or can even serve an entertainment purpose. Product reviews, scripts for videos, and podcasts, etc. also comes under content writing.
What is the basic difference between an article and a blog?
This is one of the most asked questions to a fresher content writer. The interviewer asks this question to check the basics of the content writer.
One way to answer this question is that both are pretty similar but one minute distinction is in the tonality.
The tone of the blog is more informal in nature which connects to the audience on a personal level, whereas an article is more informative and formal in nature including various types of facts and research work.
What are keywords in blogs or articles?
You can answer this question by saying that the meaning of the word is visible from the word itself. What that means is that the keyword plays a ‘key’ role in the article or blog.
The role of the keywords is one of the biggest reasons due to which your article or blog stays on top of the google page.
Basically, keywords are words or phrases whose search volume is higher. These are the words that people are mostly interested in searching for on Google.
If you want to explain further, You can add on that there are two types of Keywords-
Short Tail Keywords
Their search volume is generally higher and they usually contain 1 or 2 words. For instance,
“Digital Marketing” ,”Content Writing”
Long-Tail Keywords
They have lower search volume than Short Tail Keywords have usually have more 3 or more words
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Differentiate between keyword stuffing and keyword density.
A content writer interview cannot be sat through if one doesn’t have good grip on Keyword and its roles.
These two questions can also be asked in the interview. Keyword stuffing as the word indicates when content writers try to stuff in more keywords than the required amount. When the keyword density crosses 2%, it is called keyword stuffing. The formula to find keyword density is-
Number of times a keyword is used/Total number of words of the article * 100
Google or any search engine algorithm’s standard percentage for keyword density is 1-2%.
How do you utilize SEO in the content provided to you?
A Content writer Interview cannot be done without delving into SEO. You can tackle this question in this manner-
I make sure that the topic I am working upon, its content is plagiarism free. I also make sure that I use appropriate and enough keywords in the article. I also utilize external and internal links in the article.
I also make use of the body tags (headings) through proper keyword research.
How do you research a topic?
One of the most important skills as a content writer whether fresher or experienced is your research skills. It tells the interviewer how you go about writing your content. You can answer it in this manner-
I go through genuine articles, published research papers, journals and magazines while conducting research.
I usually avoid blogs unless I cross check their facts. I think research is not done and dusted unless you have conducted a competitor research as well.
Such as what is their method of internal and external linking. Or if they have also interlinked their off-page content (Medium or LinkedIn Pulse). I also go through their keyword density and phrase keywords etc.
How are your content writing skills going to benefit us if there are some poor-performing blogs on our website?
To answer this question you can say that-
First I will check if the topic demands additional research. I would then check keywords and their density.
I would also check whether the Headings/Sub-Headings are unique or not.
I would improve/add CTAs in it to make better audience conversions.
How do you proofread your content?
Proofreading is a must before you want to publish any article. As a Fresher content writer you can tackle this question in this manner.
I read the article thrice before submitting it. I check my sentence structure and see if the tone is not varying much throughout the article.
I use grammarly for any punctuation errors. I also make sure to do a thorough facts and information crosscheck before submitting the article.
Why do you want to be a Content Writer?
This is one of the most expected questions asked to a fresher content writer. You can answer it by saying that-
I have been an avid reader throughout my life and that is where I get most of my inspiration to write.
My reading habits have also made me understand some of the nuances of web content writing. With some guidance I would like to hone my writing skills and make a career in content writing.
What are your strengths as a content Writer?
Being a fresher content writer, this question might seem a bouncer but you can easily play this ball by saying-
I have good research skills. Also being an avid reader, it’s quite easy for me to gauge the tone of the articles and what tone I must adapt to attract and engage the audience.
I think my biggest strength would be to always think outside of the box and experiment with new writing styles.
Content writing is a very lucrative career, since it is an integral part of the Digital marketing industry which is estimated to grow by Rs 539 Billion in 2024.
Hence, if as a fresher you are applying in content writing jobs, try to think from the interviewer perspective.
Go through the requirements of the company you are interviewing in and prep up these questions. You are all set!