You might find yourself with a workload that is exceeding your team’s workload ability to tackle, and you have the budget to hire a consultant. It is time to augment your staff and bring on a temporary writer as an asset to your team. Quick, easy, and efficient help for a temporary need.
Review Resumes Simply and with Care
Oftentimes, candidates might struggle to portray and sell their best abilities. Hiring teams will efficiently review resumes and cover letters, looking for keywords or exact phrases to identify those that are a fit for the project. However, taking some additional time to screen for the soft skills that candidates have can be highly beneficial. Writers with a contracting background can have a variety of past work history, but very likely will not have the space on a resume to effectively detail all their experience. This experience could be extremely relevant to your project and needs.
Identify a good Resume
Clarity
Look for resumes that are formatted well, are clear, and easy to read/follow.
Resumes should have a chronological work history and a brief overview of the position held.
Added clarification surrounding the history like a short sentence about the company and what they do, adds insight for a quick review.
Creativity
Assuming you have a good list of candidates that are intriguing to review and have provided clean, clear, and easy-to-read resumes now it is on to assessing their qualifications between the lines.
The first steps are typically to review candidates that meet the core qualifications your team is seeking. However, I would implore you to consider keeping these identifiers in mind as well.
What are the tools or skills that are easy to teach/ramp up? For example, there are hundreds of software tools, and most writers are quick to ramp up on new software.
Screen for hard-working, energetic, and creativity. This might prioritize checking every tool/skill set the Job Description requires.
Keep unique qualities in mind when reading resumes. An example might be candidates that have repeat clients, or those that are active members and contributors to organizations such as the STC or ATD (formerly ASTD). This indicates a passion for his/her profession.
Request samples. This can be helpful but is important to note that many are bound to NDA and Confidentiality agreements. Consider reviewing samples that are not exactly what you are looking for but that showcase the candidate’s availability to create successful documentation.
In Closing
Hiring contract writers to help augment a temporary or long-term project is a great opportunity to expand your team and provide your group with the help and resources to complete a successful project. Trust your instincts and keep an open mind. Many times, the best hire can be one that not only has most of the background you are seeking but one that has that intrinsic spark of energy and excitement to add to the group. Adding support and somebody with positive excitement to your team can be the lift everyone involved needs to see the project through to completion.
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