Hiring guide
How to Hire a Technical Writer
Hiring a technical writer: API, docs-as-code or product docs, where to source, a rewrite-a-page work sample, red flags and onboarding to your docs.
The short answer
Hiring a Technical Writer comes down to verifying clear, concise writing for a defined audience, learning complex products quickly and asking good questions and information architecture and structuring a docs site before you commit interview time. The process below runs 5 stages, screens on evidence rather than résumé claims, and scores every candidate against the same criteria.
- Watch for: Samples that read like marketing copy rather than instructions
- Watch for: Cannot explain who the reader was for each sample or what problem it solved
- Score on: Accuracy and completeness of the rewritten page
- Score on: Fit of tone and structure to the stated reader
Paste your Technical Writer job description; Cohesyve finds, contacts and tests candidates on the real work and ranks them. Ten candidates free, no card.
Applying for a role like this? Practise the assessment free →To hire a technical writer, decide first what kind of documentation you need, such as API references, product help, internal runbooks or regulated manuals, then test candidates on rewriting real material for a real reader. Strong writing samples alone can hide whether someone can learn your product quickly and work with engineers. This guide covers where to source, the skills that matter, a practical work sample and the red flags.
Why this role matters
A technical writer makes your product usable without a support ticket. Clear docs cut onboarding time for customers and new staff, reduce repeat questions to engineers and help developers integrate with your APIs. Poor documentation quietly sends users elsewhere and loads support and engineering with work they should not have.
Where to find candidates
- Write the Docs community, its Slack, conferences and job board
- ISTC (Institute of Scientific and Technical Communicators) in the UK, and tekom in Germany
- LinkedIn, searching for writers with documentation in your domain, such as APIs, SaaS or medical devices
- GitHub, looking at contributors to open-source project documentation
- Developer communities, for developer advocates or engineers moving into documentation
- Freelance platforms such as Upwork and Contra for defined documentation projects
Skills to look for
Red flags
- Samples that read like marketing copy rather than instructions
- Cannot explain who the reader was for each sample or what problem it solved
- Uncomfortable running the product, code samples or commands they document
- No experience working from feedback by engineers or reviewers
- Writes long pages without headings, steps or examples
- Expects finished specifications before starting, with no plan for finding information themselves
The interview process
- 1
Define the documentation need
Decide the audience, the doc types and the tooling: developer docs in a Git repository, a help centre, or controlled documents. This shapes the samples you ask for.
- 2
Portfolio review
Ask for three samples close to your needs, with a note on the audience and their part in each. Look for task-based structure, accurate steps and clean examples.
- 3
Subject-matter interview
Have an engineer explain a feature for a short session, as they would to a new writer. Watch the questions the candidate asks and how they confirm details.
- 4
Rewrite work sample
Give a real but messy page, such as an API endpoint reference or a set-up guide, plus the engineer's notes. Ask them to rewrite it for a named reader and list the questions they would raise. A job simulation of the real work is one option for giving every candidate the same material.
- 5
Team fit and process
Discuss how they would plan the docs, keep them current with releases and work with product, engineering and support.
Cohesyve
Start the Technical Writer interviews from a ranked shortlist
Cohesyve takes your Technical Writer job description, finds and contacts candidates and tests each one on an AI job simulation of the job, so the stages above start with people who have already done the work. Ten candidates free, no card.
How to evaluate
- Accuracy and completeness of the rewritten page
- Fit of tone and structure to the stated reader
- Quality of the questions they raised
- Use of headings, numbered steps, code examples and warnings
- Comfort with your tooling or a credible plan to learn it
- Ability to work with engineers without slowing them down
Onboarding
- 1Give them product accounts, a sandbox and repository access in the first week
- 2Share your style guide, terminology list and templates, or ask them to create them
- 3Name an engineering contact for each product area
- 4Add docs updates to your release checklist so changes reach them early
- 5Give them access to support tickets and search data to find the biggest gaps
Common questions
Does a technical writer need to know how to code?
For API and developer docs, they should read code, run samples and work in Git. For end-user help or manuals, strong product understanding matters more than coding.
Should I hire a technical writer or ask engineers to write docs?
Engineers should contribute, but a writer brings structure, consistency and a reader's view. One writer can also edit and organise what engineers draft.
Is a technical writing certification necessary?
It is not usually required. tekom offers a certification and ISTC offers professional membership and training, which can show commitment. Writing samples and a work sample tell you more.
What should a technical writer's first project be?
Pick a high-traffic or high-ticket area, such as getting started or a common integration, and have them audit and rewrite it. This builds product knowledge and shows impact quickly.
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