One of my responsibility in the last two years is hiring a UX writer.

In Jakarta, Indonesia, the supply of UX writers is limited. Experienced UX writers are like unicorn, rare and most of them already settled happily in big companies. Sometimes, fresh graduates and career-switchers are the options I have left.

Although having a writing experience is preferred, you don't need to be a writer to start a career in UX writing. Here are the qualities I'm looking for when hiring an entry level UX writer. Let's go!

1. You Are a Reader

"If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write". — Stephen King.

The well-known American fiction writer sums it up in one sentence.

Reading exposes us to new words; hence it expands our vocabulary. With the new set of words in your dictionary, you will have diverse ingredients to write sentences for any taste and style. This will help you to develop your work.

When you read often, you will find grammatical errors, misspellings, incorrect use of words, inconsistent tone, cringey copy, and such. It taught you what not to do.

The more you read, the more chances you discover and become awe-inspired with other writers' work. You will unconsciously mirror all those good writing and reading in your work.

If you want to be a writer, you have to be a reader first. Reading is the best way to learn how to write.

2. You Are Curious

Even though words have been used in user interfaces since the creation of computers, UX writing is a relatively new profession. The discipline is still being written with so many possibilities and discoveries ahead; imagine we've gone from the text on the screen to voice assistants like Siri and Alexa.

I spent my early days as a UX writer reading articles and books about UX writing. I started with the "Clear, Concise, Useful" mantra to write four years ago. Today just those three are not enough; there are user interviews, workshops, copy testing, behavioral economics, tone of voice frameworks, glossary, you name it.

The UX writing discipline is evolving; you can't afford to be not curious.

Curiosity makes you eager to ask more questions, explore uncharted areas, try different methods, build new frameworks, and start initiative projects. All of that will snowball your skillsand set you up on a new UX writing gig.

Research shows that, curiosity makes learning more effective and enjoyable.

3. You Are a Problem Solver

"UX Writers are Designers". — John Saito

Designers see problems as challenges; instead of dramatizing or avoiding problems, they try to develop solutions.

To quote Torrey Podmajersky, a UX writer who worked at Xbox and today, Google, "UX writers use words to help users understand the experience, build confidence in the experience and most importantly, do what they were there to do."

In my opinion, UX writers guide users to reach their goals when using our product and help them solve the problems they encounter along the way. For example; when the flow is monotonous, make it delightful. The step-by-step is too long; simplify it. User encountered an error; offer solutions.

You should be a problem solver yourself before solving other people's problems.

4. You Enjoy Writing

One prolific UX writer in Jakarta said, "UX writing is 90% crafting and 10% writing", but you will write a lot in your early years of becoming a UX writer.

My Creative Director, who mentored me when I was a junior copywriter at an advertising agency, often said to me, "If you want to get a headline, write at least 50 headlines".

What on earth was that.

At first, I thought it was going to be a burden. But, on the contrary, I enjoyed it. I love the exploration process, the drafting and brain dumping was fun. When I got the perfect headline that sums up the key communication point, is catchy, and fits perfectly on the visual, I felt like a winner.

In UX writing, you will need to write even more because you will write headlines, buttons, pop-up messages, page titles, labels, empty screens, et cetera.

You will suffer every day as a UX writer if you don't find writing enjoyable.

5. You Are Resilient

Resilience is my criterion when hiring. For me, resilience is a fundamental skill everyone needs to have.

Resilient people utilize their resources, strengths, and skills to overcome challenges and work through setbacks. The journey is not always sunshine and rainbow; tight timelines, urgent requests, miscommunications, last-minute feedbacks are some of the things you'd have to face on the daily.

Also, the project you worked on so hard might get critical feedback from stakeholders. Higher-ups can cancel the project you love and put your heart on. The copy that made you sleep less than 8 hours might be replaced with something the business team made in 5 minutes.

Those shits happen. The designer and writer ratio is rarely 1:1; your time is limited, and you have to keep moving on.

Resilience is what you need to stay sane.

TL;DR Qualities I'm Looking for in an Entry Level UX Writer.

1. You are a reader. If you want to be a writer, you have to be a reader first.
2. You are curious. Curiosity makes learning more effective and enjoyable.
3. You are a problem solver. UX writers are designers, and designers solve problems.
4. You enjoy writing. You will suffer every day as a UX writer if you don't find writing enjoyable.
5. You are resilient. Shit happens and you have to be resilient to stay sane.

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Sincerely, a former graphic designer turned into UX writer.