This questionnaire for the interview of an Editor presents you a snapshot of what types of questions to ask a candidate in order to get familiar with his skills, knowledge and capabilities.

Editor Interview Questions

An Editor is responsible for managing content teams and leading content strategy, in order to develop engaging and informative content. Just like any other role, be sure of what you are looking for in an Editor before you start interviewing candidates.

If you are not hiring for a senior position, then an experienced writer who is ready to increase his responsibilities may be a great find. But, if you are recruiting for a senior position then look for a candidate with extensive experience and deep knowledge. Some companies prefer candidates with an industry-relevant experience (like academia, healthcare etc.). While Digital-only publications on the other hand, emphasize on hiring an editor with an impressive digital portfolio and skills like social media and SEO. You can modify these questions according to the position you are recruiting for.

Use a portfolio of work samples to get the conversation started. By looking at a candidate’s previous work samples you can also get an idea of the type of work he has done and if it is aligned with the type of work you want to create. An Editor is also a project manager, so ask questions that will help you know how he manages an editorial calendar or delegates tasks and how acquainted he is about your business and your audience.

Operational and Situational questions

Editorial Questions

• What do you like to do in your own time?
• How do you think your work experience will help you in this position?
• How do you create interest in the most repetitive tasks like proofreading, editing, source-checking, fact-checking etc?
• Name the two best social media platforms that according to you work wonderfully in increasing the reach of your content.
• How much do you rate yourself in SEO, on a scale of 1-10
• Which style guides do you prefer?
• Name the best publishing platforms that you use often.
• What is your approach when it comes to hiring smart people for your team?
• Share about your experience of creating style guides.
• What things do you keep in mind when shortlisting stories for your publication?
• How do you choose topics for your editorial calendar?
• What is the best way to give a positive feedback to a teammate
• What is the best way to keep a team motivated during stressful times?
• Say, your team member has made a serious PR crisis, how would you go about it
• Describe the voice of our brand.
• If you are asked to change one thing about our publication, what would that be?

Portfolio Questions

• Which project in your portfolio are you most proud of?
• How many people are there is your present marketing team? What are your role and responsibilities
• Tell me about a time when you worked with your team to complete a challenging project.
• What types of tasks do you generally delegate and why?
• What is the correct way to measure success for content pieces?