Hiring for creative roles can be intimidating without a strong understanding of the skills each role brings to the content operation. We’ve outlined technical skills to look for when hiring a visual designer, web designer/developer, or videographer. On top of the skills we’ve outlined below, you’ll also want to keep an eye on people who are adept written and verbal communicators and who are able to facilitate healthy conversation and strong rationale for their decisions to other members of your content team. This is critical to ensure the end result is always in support of your company’s objectives—not just pretty to look at.
Particularly if you face budget constraints, it’s important to understand what each type of role can bring to a team and what to look for during the application.
Visual Designer
Also known as: communication designer, graphic designer.
How They Contribute to the Content Operation
Visual designers use their skills in graphic design and branding in order to blend strategy and storytelling. They ensure clarity of message to your audience and work to maintain the visual identity across corporate and campaign assets.
Day-to-Day Duties
- Collaborate with content creators and subject-matter experts to communicate intended messages
- Design a wide variety of assets and supporting visuals with the end user in mind. These assets and visuals effectively communicate intended messages throughout the customer journey
- Uphold and evolve a company’s brand
- Ensure design consistency across expanding content and collateral in conjunction with other content creators
Sample Interview Questions
- How would you critique our brand? What would you do differently?
- Describe an environment where you thrive most.
- Walk us through your design process and your approach to a project.
- How do you manage the transition of your work to a developer and ensure it’s implemented as intended?
- How do you solicit feedback from team members on a project?
- What are your preferred software programs that you use for design?
Web Developer/Designer
How They Contribute to the Content Operation
A web developer/designer uses their broad skills across web development and design to manage, build, and design key digital customer touchpoints. They share a lot of areas of responsibility with the visual designer: ensuring clarity of message and maintaining the visual identity across assets within the digital experience.
Day-to-Day Duties
- Collaborate with content creators and subject-matter experts to communicate intended messages across various digital properties such as the company website, emails, and landing pages
- Design, update, and maintain content for digital properties
- Ensure design consistency across expanding content and collateral in conjunction with other content creators and designers
- Leverages user experience best practices to ensure an intuitive and usable experience that is also engaging
Sample Interview Questions
- How would you critique our current web experience? What would you do differently?
- Describe an environment where you thrive most.
- Walk us through your design process and your approach to a project.
- How do you solicit feedback from various team members on a project?
- What are your preferred software programs for design?
Videographer
How They Contribute to the Content Operation
Videographers use their broad skills in directing, editing, and design. They transform scripts by produce engaging, multi-sensory content through the use of typography, sound, music, and motion design. Their ability to transform a script into a moving piece of content helps accelerate and fill the funnel.
Day-to-Day Duties
- Collaborate with content creators and subject-matter experts to communicate intended messages
- Create a wide variety of videos to support the entire funnel across all strategic contexts
- Manage the entire video production process to create high-quality, empathy-building content
- Uphold and evolve a company’s brand
- Generate video ideas to support the overall content operation’s goals
Sample Interview Questions
- Walk us through your production process and your approach to a project.
- Describe an environment where you thrive most.
- How do you solicit feedback from various team members on a project?
- What are your preferred software programs for video production?
- Where are there opportunities for our brand to leverage video more?
Final Thoughts on Hiring Creative Roles
In order to evaluate the best fit for your team, you should expect candidates to submit a web-based portfolio that showcases past work, whether via case studies or a reel. Each candidate should be able to articulate what their role was in the execution of a given project. What they say here alone will give you a good sense of what it would be like to work with them and how they like to collaborate.
Before you post the job description, be clear about the way you think this person will fit within the overall content operations team. The Content Operations and Strategy Hiring Handbook will help you map out which roles to prioritize. And once you know what roles you are looking to hire, download the job description templates to get everything ready so you can find your next team member faster.
