Someone wise once told me:
"If someone does something once, they will do it again. You can guarantee that."
Nowhere is this little insight into human behavior more apparent than when trying to hire a new freelance writer.
I've noticed it time and again.
If they do these things on their test article:
- Miss a deadline
- Ignore instructions
- Hand in a really bad first draft
- Leave obvious spelling/grammar mistakes
Then...they will do it again. Guaranteed.
But, I'm a sucker.
I like to give people the benefit of the doubt.
So when hiring new writers, I'd accept the first article if it was "OK" and trust that if I asked them to:
- Read the full instructions on style
- Follow the brief exactly
- Make sure it's on time
- Use more examples
- Use Grammarly
Then they'd simply do those things for the next article.
Well...
Unfortunately, I get proved wrong on that on a daily basis.
And can be exhausting.
It's definitely inefficient.
And it occasionally creates waste (just last week, I had to throw out an entire article and pay for it).
So, naturally, I've built a systematic test into my writing hiring process.
Here's how.
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Why It's Important to Vet for "Ability to Follow Instructions"
When working with clients to produce content, I work hard to create guides for writers on things like:
- What is the product? Use cases? USPs?
- What's the brand 'message'?
- What's the style?
When a writer really understands these things, they can make sure the content is unique, consistent, and high-converting.
So it's important to me when working with new writers, that they do actually follow these instructions.
No one makes a perfect first draft. So it's also important that a writer can continuously improve according to the editor's notes.
If a new writer can't improve their second draft, your 'scalable' content operation begins to fail.
And someone has to dip in and edit the content to make it release-worthy. 👎
How to Vet Writers for "Ability to Follow Instructions"
One of the ways, I vet writers for their instruction-following abilities by giving them what I call "weirdly specific" instructions in the hiring process.
For example, in a recent job ad, I asked applicants for 80-100 words on their favorite pet or job.
This job ad received close to 100 applicants.
About 30 followed this quite simple instruction.
Usually, I would wade through 100 applicants and pick the ones I thought best.
But with this tip in place? I instantly remove 70% of the applicants.
That 70% either didn't read the job ad (🚩) or just couldn't be bothered (🚩).
But those that did?
They're interested. They're keen. They're showing signs they know how to follow instructions.
These are people we might one day be able to hire and fully onboard.
There are lots of opportunities to give "weirdly specific" instructions throughout the hiring process.
For example:
- I ask them not to use AI (and test it)
- I give super clear writing test instructions
- I give detailed edits on first drafts and ask to make the changes
- I give specific advice on how to write introductions in a full SOP
And if they don't follow my instructions...
I've learned the hard way to trust my gut, pay them for their time, and say goodbye. And say it fast.
It's important to note that I don't make my instructions actually weird or overly annoying.
I'm not asking them to DM me on LinkedIn with a specific emoji then screenshot it, print it and send it to my address in a letter, then backflip and film it.
And I'm not trying to trick them either.
I'm giving clear, fair instructions and verifying whether the writer followed them or not.
What's the Impact of this Tip?
Learning to test this ability, and then trusting my gut with the results, has saved me countless times from:
- Unnecessary heartbreak
- Unnecessary headaches
- Unnecessary costs
A big secret behind scaling a content operation...is to not let anyone into yours who causes blockages.
So next time you hire or test a new team member, don't skip out on vetting for the "ability to follow instructions".
I'd love to know...
Had any funny, hard, or downright annoying experiences when hiring writers?
Let me have 'em!
Peace,
Ben
PS. Get my SOPs, hiring funnel, email templates, and a POV guide to hiring writers in the Scale Package. Use discount code "TODAY" to get 15% off.
