I’ve already spoken about the advantages of hiring technical writers and engineering writers to make the most of your engineering blog.
But how do you find the right writing agency for the job?
To start, you’ll need to meet with your team and examine your requirements, ensuring that everyone is on the same page.
Figure out the answers to basic questions, such as what type of projects your writers should be working on. While I’ll focus on working with an engineering writing agency, you could also decide to hire someone internally to join your company full-time.
If you’re hiring someone full-time, you’ll need to create a straightforward job description that puts your best foot forward – after all, writers looking for positions will judge the job advert as much as you would judge their application.
But if you’re going out to look at external engineering writing agencies, you’ll be able to match agencies to your criteria. So how do you choose the ideal match?
Below, I’ll take you through some key factors I’ve found particularly valuable and which will help you when hiring engineering writers for your engineering website.
1. Look for an agency that’s professional and trustworthy
Of course, this is something you’d want with every job so I’ll keep this section short.
In a nutshell, though, there are two elements to consider:
- – Look at the work the engineering writing agency has done previously – something like writing samples, a portfolio of work, or even a website can be helpful here. Take a good look at the samples. Are these well-organized and created with care and professionalism?
- – If necessary and if the information is available, you could chat with clients who have worked with the writing agency before to get some idea of how the company works.
Figuring out how a company approaches work can sometimes be more important than the work itself.
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2. You’ll need writers with exceptional grammar and writing abilities
This may be a given, but it’s good to remind yourself to evaluate your writing agency’s abilities and the quality of the writers on the team.
For example, I’ve found that there are many writers that aren’t actually very good when it comes to spelling and grammar.
This isn’t ideal.
You definitely want to be working with a company that excels at producing world-class technical content. The people on the team should be able to communicate clearly with good structure and impeccable writing skills.
If the type of writing you require is quite different to what the agency has in its portfolio but you’re generally impressed with the writing samples, you can always ask them to work on a trial piece to better judge their technical writing style.
Don’t forget that, in addition to basic grammar and writing skills, you may also want to consider the company’s attention to detail, project management, and research skills, as these are likely to feed into the writing process.
3. Industry-related experience and expertise
Engineering writers specialized in your field will be the ideal find.
If, for example, you work for an aerospace engineering company and you find an engineering writing agency with a background in this field, it’s likely to be a perfect match. They’ll then already have an industry-specific level of understanding, will be familiar with most of the jargon, and will likely need less time in training.
But, don’t dismiss an agency because they lack industry-specific experience or writing credentials.
Using the above example, you may find a writing agency with a great portfolio but no aerospace background. Working with them may be a bit more challenging as they’d need more time in training to learn the technical jargon and understand the field, but this doesn’t mean you can’t still work with them.
A highly adaptable engineering writing agency with a good, varied background may still be an excellent fit. This is especially true if they’re highly curious and very easy to work with.
Check out the qualifications and skill sets of the team at Engineering Copywriter here: Meet the Team
4. Consider how adaptable they are
It’s highly unlikely you’ll find anyone who already knows the ins and outs of your style guide or the way your engineering company operates.
You’re probably more likely to find an agency that’s worked with similar companies and may be somewhat familiar with the type of work required. But, even then, there will be differences between your company and other companies.
So it’s very important to find a writing agency that’s adaptable and open to learning new processes, style guides, or procedures.
Ask if they’re open to new ideas and how they respond to feedback to get a gist of how adaptable they are.
Engineering writing teams who are more adaptable will be much easier to work with.
5. Focus on timeliness and the ability to meet deadlines
You’re likely hiring engineering writers so that you can produce better content at a faster rate, consistently hitting traffic or content targets.
This means you need your engineering writing agency to meet deadlines and complete tasks on time – even without supervision.
Giving your potential writing agency a trial project is one way to determine if they can submit tasks on time, but it’s generally a good idea to make these trial projects reasonable – i.e. keep them relatively short and allow for enough time to complete the project, as the agency may have existing clients and deadlines.
Focusing on communication and communication styles is also very important at this point. Can your writing agency not finish the task in time due to an unforeseen reason, but they communicate this well in advance? That’s also important to consider, and denotes professionalism.
6. You’ll need an agency with a keen interest in learning
I’ve mentioned aspects of this before, but it’s so important that it deserves its very own section.
The engineering writing agency you’ll end up choosing may not necessarily be an expert in your industry or have pre-existing knowledge about your product or service. But they should definitely be interested in learning about your business and the products and services you offer.
While you’d expect that interest to be there during the initial onboarding process, I’d recommend finding someone with a genuine interest in your company.
Ultimately, you want to find engineering writers who are eager to write informative and even entertaining engineering content for your company. A team that asks questions and is genuinely curious about your company will be much better suited to continually developing this material than a team that lacks that natural curiosity.
If your potential engineering writing agency has a keen desire to grow with you, chances are you’ll be in good company.
Are you ready to hire the best engineering writers?
The above tidbits will certainly help you when you’re looking into hiring engineering writers for your site or blog. But if you’re ready to get started drop me a line – I’m here to assist.
Hiring Engineering Writers FAQs
What rates should I expect when hiring engineering writers?
Writing rates may vary depending on experience and the type of work in question, but it’s worth keeping in mind that working with an engineering writing agency gives you more than just one writer – you’ll get access to a whole team of professional engineering writers, proofreaders, and project managers – which isn’t comparable to hiring an individual.
What type of trial project should I set for potential engineering writing teams?
A trial project should be an accurate reflection of the work the potential engineering writing team will be doing. Ideally, a trial wouldn’t be too long a project so that you have the time to assess the agency more easily.
Do I need to hire a full-time engineering writer?
You can hire a full-time engineering writer if your company needs one, but this isn’t a necessity. You’re probably better off working with an engineering writing agency that can produce content for you as and when you need it instead of hiring someone internally and then having to find work for them.
