Crafting your Interviews for digital roles
These set of questions have been created specifically for the interviewing for a freelance position. There are of course specific sector trends or environments that may require additional probing, whether it be their knowledge of a sector or their experience of working to a particular set of compliance or process frameworks. However, you should find these questions helpful in creating your interview flow and in obtaining the relevant information regarding their skills, workload and approach to communications.
What is a competency based interview Question??
Competency-based interview questions ask for examples of experience and for specific instances to demonstrate the utilisation of skills to deliver a professional objective.
Competency and suitability Interview Questions
When conducting interviews with potential freelancers, it’s essential to understand their technical skills and explore their work ethic, communication style, and problem-solving abilities.
As freelancers often work independently, understanding their approach to tasks, commitment to deadlines, and adaptability becomes crucial. The interview process serves as a valuable opportunity to gauge the candidate’s professional qualities and ensure a seamless collaboration. To guide your discussions, consider the following set of questions designed to provide insights into the freelancer’s work ethic and suitability for your project.
General Approach Interview Questions:
Category | Questions |
General Work Ethic | 1. Can you describe a situation where you had to meet a tight deadline, and how did you handle it? 2. How do you prioritise tasks when working on multiple projects simultaneously? |
Communication Skills | 3. How do you keep your clients updated on the progress of a project? 4. How do you handle disagreements or conflicts with clients, and can you share an example? |
Adaptability | 5. Have you ever had to pivot or change the direction of a project midway? How did you manage it? 6. How do you approach learning new tools or technologies for a project? |
Problem-solving Abilities | 7. Can you share an instance where you encountered a significant challenge in a project and how you overcame it? 8. What steps do you take when faced with ambiguous project requirements or changes? |
Collaboration and Independence | 9. How do you ensure effective collaboration with clients or team members, especially when working remotely? 10. Describe a project where you took the initiative to suggest improvements or optimizations. |
These questions aim to uncover the freelancer’s approach to various work-related scenarios and provide valuable insights into their work ethic and professional demeanor. Adjust and expand upon these questions based on your specific project requirements and desired attributes in a freelancer.
For those unfamiliar with the intricacies of freelancing, hiring someone with the right mix of skills and work practices can be a challenging yet crucial task. An interview should focus on establishing insights into the freelancer’s work process, payment terms, and proficiency in areas like PPC and Analytics. Additionally, you should explore the benefits of trial periods and how the freelancer approaches audits and reporting. The aim is to equip you with the tools to assess not only technical capabilities but also the freelancer’s ability to integrate with your existing activities, communicate complex concepts alongside actionable insight/reasoning and provide leadership and strategy for long-term gains.
Skills and Process Interview Questions:
Category | Questions |
Trial Period and Payment Terms | 1. Are you open to a trial period for our project? If so, how do you typically structure trial periods and what are the benefits? 2. How do you handle billing? Do you require payment in advance, deposits, or use a different payment structure? |
Audit and Reporting Approach | 3. Can you explain your approach to conducting audits and providing reports for a project? How do you ensure clarity for clients who may not be familiar with technical details? 4. In the past, how have you communicated complex analytical findings to clients with limited technical knowledge? |
PPC and Analytics Knowledge | 5. What is your experience with PPC campaigns, and do you specialise in ecommerce, display, or search campaigns? 6. How do you interpret and utilise analytics data to plan changes to a campaign? |
Skills Validation and Certifications | 7. Do you have any skills badges or certifications that demonstrate your proficiency in PPC, Analytics, or related fields? 8. How do you stay updated on the latest trends and changes in the field? Can you provide examples of occasions that you made an effort to improve your skills or knowledge recently? How do you keep ahead of the changing landscape and utilise tools that improve your efficiency? |
These questions aim to uncover the freelancer’s ability to adapt their communication to suit a less technical audience, their approach to handling financial aspects, and their proficiency in the specific areas of PPC and Analytics. Feel free to adjust and expand upon these questions based on the unique aspects of your project and your preferences in a freelancer.
Creating a mix of types of questions is good practice for all interviews. Providing an opportunity to demonstrate aptitude, emotional intelligence, qualifications and opinion also allows validity to situational answers.
You will also likely require a specific set of questions for SEO focusing on – the tasks
Effective SEO management requires a combination of technical skills, strategic thinking, and clear communication. In this interview, we’ll delve into questions that help you understand how a freelancer identifies and logs SEO tasks, collaborates with team members and external parties, and approaches performance reporting. There are different types of SEO and more than likely your freelancer will excel at one of these disciplines, I have created an article to provide a general summary of the different types of SEO.
Additionally, we’ll explore their experience in managing websites, including server-side tasks and communication with third-party web hosts or developers. These questions aim to provide insights into the freelancer’s approach to SEO and experience in working in different team environments and their ability to set and communicate performance targets or reporting skills. If you are looking to improve your WordPress SEO it can be challenging to know where to start and I would suggest that it be wise to ask questions relating to business performance to allow you to judge whether the individual will be able to integrate with your existing marketing plans and teams.
SEO Interview Questions:
Category | Questions |
Identifying and Logging SEO Tasks | 1. How do you identify and prioritise SEO tasks for a website? Can you provide examples of tasks you typically focus on for improving search visibility? 2. How do you log and track the progress of SEO tasks? What tools or methodologies do you use for task management? |
Collaboration and Communication | 3. In a collaborative setting, how do you work with other team members, such as content creators or developers, to implement SEO strategies? 4. Can you share an instance where you successfully communicated SEO requirements to a third-party web host or developer for implementation? Are you a specialist in WordPress, Shopify, SquareSpace? |
Managing Websites and Server-side Tasks | 5. Have you managed websites from a technical standpoint, including server-side or database tasks? Can you provide examples of your experience in this area? 6. How do you approach implementing technical SEO changes, and what considerations do you take into account? Have you managed any Site Migrations and what typically is the biggest challenge? |
Setting Targets and Performance Reporting | 7. How do you go about setting realistic and measurable targets for SEO performance? 8. Can you share your approach to performance reporting? What key metrics do you prioritise, and how do you present this information to clients or stakeholders? |
Adjust and expand upon these questions based on the specific requirements and nuances of your project.
Freelancers can often allow for increased performance and efficiencies of both marketing budgets and internal resources. It is essential to find the right fit for your work culture and team.
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