Let’s start with the obvious: hiring an editorial leader is not the same as hiring a finance director or an app developer. You’re not just looking for someone who can “do the job”—you’re looking for someone who can shape your voice, run your team, manage crises without panicking, and yes, still meet the deadline for that brand voice refresh. With skill. With creativity. With enthusiasm.
Editorial people are storytellers. We’ve been trained—sometimes literally paid—to spin a narrative, massage a message, or zhuzh a disappointing article into something engaging. So chances are good if you ask a standard interview question like “What’s your biggest weakness?” your candidate will find a way to dodge it and go on about her “perfectionism.” Not helpful.
My Step-by-Step Approach on How to Interview Better
If you want to get at what really makes someone a fit for your role, you have to connect with them. When I interview editorial candidates, I don’t start with a trick question or a pop quiz about the gaps in their work history. I start by being a human.
Step 1: The Casual Icebreaker
You can feel the tension build after the “Can you hear me okay?”s are out of the way. Icebreakers are crucial. One easy trick is I look at their area code. “Oh hey, 214—that’s Dallas, right? I ate the best brisket of my life there.” Instant sigh of relief on the other end. The stress of the interview dissipates when you’re not immediately on guard. And the ultimate goal here is to see candidates as their non-anxious, real selves.
Step 2: The Soft Launch
I avoid the standard, “Tell me about yourself!” (Ugh! Where do you start?). Instead, I give candidates a seemingly easy question about their current role: “What do you love about it?” “What do you wish you did more of, less of?” It’s low-stakes. Honest. But it also reveals what energizes them—and what drains them—before they start performing as the ‘ideal candidate.’
Step 3: The Magic Question
The natural follow up in this conversation (which is what this should be: a conversation!) is “So, what do you want to do next?” I don’t pitch them on the job first. I don’t run through the requirements (yet). I want the closest I can get to the truth—unedited and unfiltered. And usually, I get it. Their answer tells me more than any polished cover letter ever could: “I really miss writing!” (It’s an editing role). “I want to work more autonomously.” (It’s a highly matrixed team structure.) “I’m just so over creating SEO bait!” (It’s a mission-driven organization: Bingo!) Nine times out of ten, I know right away if they’re the right fit.
Step 4: The Nitty Gritty
By now they’re relaxed and the threat of gotcha questions has passed. I can go deeper to make sure they indeed have the experience and skills that the job requires. How long have you been managing content teams? How many are on your current team? Do you write their reviews? How do you evaluate their work? What tools do you use to do that? Tell me about a time when a direct report couldn’t pull their weight. … You get where I’m going. Usually at this point in the call, they are willing to open up and share the details. As a result, I get a solid sense of how they think, how they lead, and if they will fit in with the team and the culture.
Bottom line: Hiring your next editorial leader isn’t about trick questions or perfection. It’s about connection, clarity, and finding the person who can carry your voice and vision forward. When you make the interview feel like a real conversation, you’ll quickly know who’s the right fit—and who’s just telling you what you want to hear.
So ditch the script. Bring the conversation. And please—for the sake of humanity—don’t ghost them.
Chandra Turner is the founder of The Talent Fairy, a boutique recruiting agency that specializes in placing editorial and content marketing talent for brands, non-profits, and media. She also serves as a career coach for editorial leaders.
Now I’m Freaking Out