Avoid pretentious job descriptions:
Assassin with words; copywriting ninja; content rockstar; words wizards aka Gandalf with words - all pompous, overblown introductions to overlong, bombastic job description with a list of requirements that would make Walter Scott envy. A simple job title will suffice. In the flood of job listings, it makes easier to spot and read.
Not knowing what type of copywriter do you want
Do you want a copywriter or a content person? Do you need someone to focus more on short texts, banners, emails, headlines & taglines etc., or a person to write long form content, such as websites, blogs, press releases, presentations? a no-nonsense copywriter or a someone who's more on the 'wild side?'
Don't mistake a copywriter for something else: Copywriters can do a lot of things. But don't write "copywriter" in the job title and expect a video-script writer, speech writer or technical writing. Giving the job title "copywriter" and describing it as something else is confusing, annoying and expose you as someone who doesn't really know what he wants.
If you're looking for a copywriter, hire a copywriter
Copywriting is his strength. Same thing with a content writer. Don't interview a copywriter, say, "well, we expert the content person to do 70% of the time analysis." Because even if he can or is willing to do it, he won't stay long at your company: Unless he's got an affinity for such things, he's a copywriter first, and he'll look for something else that's more appealing creatively.
Using a scanning tool to find candidates
You're not going to find a right copywriter, content writer, or creative person in general when you hope that his CV "matches X amount of keywords." Not only it is ridiculous, it's ineffective, doesn't guarantee you'll find the right copywriter for you, it also doesn't guarantee the person will stay for long, even if you do want to hire him.
The wrong person is responsible for the hiring
If you're going to hire someone for a department, you want the head of the department, or someone expert in that field, be involved in the hiring. There is no reason why someone from QA, for instance, or a CRM manager, be involved in hiring a copywriter.
Putting the candidates through endless 'copy tests.'
Let's be honest: Far too many companies are too much in love, so to speak, with the hiring process, that they'll lose sight of the ultimate goal: hiring the right person for the job. Chances are they'll lose perfectly good candidates because at some point or another, he or she will take a look at the ridiculously long copy test and say, 'I don't need this.' If the candidate's resume is not enough, and if his experience is not enough, and if the reference is not enough, will an extra-long blog (at no charge, I might add) make the difference?
Asking extraneous questions
Such as, "what's your biggest failure" or "If you were an animal, which one would you be?" Is that really the deal breaker, wanting to know whether a person wants to be a dinosaur or an alligator? These questions also have almost nothing to do with the person's capabilities. Nothing.
My personal favorite: "Describe your creative/copy creation process." Here's a hint: It involves THINKING. Sarcasm aside, this is another irrelevant question. A thinking/creative process is a person's personal thing. There's no point in asking in describing the creative process. Would a publisher ask JK Rowling, for instance, to describe her creative process? No, they're interested in the results. So should you. After the employee produces the creative, you could ask how he or she created that. But as a general question? It's pointless.
Focusing on the wrong aspects of the job
A copywriter's main strength is copywriting. And that's the main task they should be hired for (according to the job description, of course). If A/B testing is part of the package, if he has to spend part of the time in analytics stuff, train him (or have someone train him).
Determining to micromanage:
Copywriters, content people (and creative personnel overall) dislike, to say the least, to be micromanaged. Not only it is extremely intrusive and annoying, it's disruptive to the creative process. So if you wanted to know how the creative process works, it does not include micromanagement.
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