Things that don’t belong in a UX Writer job post
Are you looking to hire a content designer/ UX writer? Perhaps your first ever? If yes, you’re probably having a mild panic attack (if you’re doing it right).
You’d probably copy some of the existing job posts out there by one of the big names in the business, perhaps. And you’d be right to do so. However, do yourself a favor and stop for a beat. Read the job description out loud (yes, out loud) and think about how it sounds.
If it sounds like you’re asking too much of a person, you probably are. If you feel like the description is too broad, it probably is. If it sounds like your expectations are unreasonable, they probably are. If you feel like this is the miracle cure you need to fix whatever is wrong within your company, don’t even bother.
What you need to do is be honest to yourself about whether you felt some variation of the above. That’s a start. Next, take remedial measures. Break the function down into multiple roles if needed. Be welcoming of new and diverse skills and experience. Content design, after all, is in its infancy right now.
Let me help you with this a bit. Here are some things that I think are absolutely unnecessary or too much to even mention as requirements in a job post for a content designer.
Native English
Don’t get me wrong. You need somebody who has very good English. Somebody who can read, write and speak grammatically accurately. And these people are still going to take the help of online and offline tools to double-check their work and make sure they have it right. And why shouldn't they? Don’t doctors and surgeons revisit their medical books before a critical procedure or when they’re unsure of something? Do lawyers have the entire legal code memorized? And were these people born doctors or lawyers? Or into families of doctors or lawyers?
So it’s fairly obvious that you don’t need somebody who’s a native speaker of the language. You don’t need somebody who was born in an English-speaking part of the world and grew up in a home speaking English every day. I would go so far as to say that you need to actively strive to keep your writer pool as diverse and “non-native” as possible.
I’ll tell you why.
If they’re diverse in tongue, they’re diverse in linguistic capabilities, in cultural background, in social norms, in upbringing, in their values system, in their perceptions and perspectives. That diversity is the strong rock upon which you can build your Church of content design within your organization.
Because like your content design team, your audiences are most likely diverse. They may come from all parts of the world and speak and act in different ways. And when you’re writing content, you’re trying to hold a conversation with these people. That’s what your diverse writer pool will help you achieve.
Fluency in Dutch, Russian, Mandarin, Klingon, Parseltongue, etc.
I know, I might sound like I’m contradicting myself. But hear me out.
Imagine this: You have a non-native content designer creating content in English because that’s what you require of them. Then that’s where your expectations should end as well.
If you’re getting started with content design you’re most likely getting the content written in English or your primary language, and then localized for the other markets you operate in. If you have a more mature content practice, and if your business demands it, you may employ native content designers for some of your key markets.
In either of these cases, their job is to write in the language that they’re hired to write in. You can't hire an Italian content designer to write copy in Italian, and have them localize it in English. That’s too much brain-switching that will eventually wear your writer out. Besides, are you paying this person double the salary? Because you’re getting twice the work out of them!
Sure being multilingual can be an indicator of intelligence and resourcefulness. But it should not be a job requirement for content designers to be able to write copy in multiple languages.
Experience managing localization
Localization is a whole other beast and it’s not your content designers’ job. Their job as content designers is to write for localization, not write localized copy.
Localization management is a separate full-time job, and a taxing one at that. It may be easy for you to see the copy in English translated into a hundred other languages. But there’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes to make that happen — things that you most likely won’t notice.
A localization manager would need to create and maintain a pool of translators for each language you need your content in. They need to build and streamline the localization process, manage queries from translators, track their work, process their payments, test the translated copy for quality, make sure it’s consistent with the tone and voice you’ve created for your brand, and a lot more.
Obviously, you can’t expect your content designer to create stellar English copy that gives your users the best experience using your products, AND handle all these gazillion localization activities. It’s not just impractical, it’s inhuman.
Bottom line, don’t try to cut corners and don’t set up your writers for burnout. Invest in processes and specializations that enable people to do their best work, because that will in turn make your business flourish.
Help content, SEO copy, Blog posts, Whitepapers, blah blah blah...
Again, this ties into some of the earlier points. I think the biggest problem with content design — it being a relatively young field and all — is that people often aren’t sure what’s included in the package and what’s not. Or, they try to test the limits to see how much can be stuffed into one role.
However, what concerns me is that while content design may be new, help documentation, SEO and blogging have all been around for a while and have enjoyed their own status of uniqueness with dedicated roles for each of them. So then why change that now? What’s prompting this attitude of expecting one person (your content designer) to do all of this?
If I’m being defensive I’d say it’s because UX writers can probably handle all these different types of writing quite effectively. I’d also add that people may think UX writers have a lot of spare time at hand. But in reality, if you’re using them right, they wouldn’t have the time to catch a breath.
But in reality it all points to an exploitative hiring strategy — let’s pile on more work on this writing mule and save some dough. Don’t be like that. Don’t cheap out. You’ll ultimately be doing yourself and your business the biggest favor by hiring dedicated professionals for each role, who can then collaborate and exchange ideas as needed.
In conclusion, it’s great that you’re wanting to hire a content designer to strengthen your product and its experience. But while looking for somebody to do this, be realistic, don’t expect too much, don’t be cheap, and set them up for success from the get-go.
