Hiring great writers is a critical investment for businesses, according to tech company founder, CEO, and bestselling author Jason Fried.
When you’re hiring, what criteria do you look for in a candidate?
For founder and CEO of web application company Basecamp, Jason Fried, the top hiring criteria is: Are you a great writer?
It may be surprising that a tech company would have such a strong focus on great writing when they’re mostly employing computer programmers, designers, and developers.
But Fried says great writing says a lot about how a person thinks and works.
In his bestselling book, Rework, Fried devotes an entire chapter to the importance of great writing (it’s worth noting that most chapters in the book are only one page).
“If you are trying to decide among a few people to fill a position, hire the best writer. It doesn’t matter if that person is a marketer, salesperson, designer, programmer, or whatever; their writing skills will pay off.
That’s because being a good writer is about more than writing. Clear writing is a sign of clear thinking. Great writers know how to communicate. They make things easy to understand. They can put themselves in someone else’s shoes. They know what to omit. And those are qualities you want in any candidate.
Writing is making a comeback all over our society. Look at how much people e-mail and text-message now rather than talk on the phone. Look at how much communication happens via instant messaging and blogging. Writing is today’s currency for good ideas.”
In a recent interview with the New York Times, Fried elaborates on this idea.
“Our top hiring criteria — in addition to having the skills to do the job — is, are you a great writer? You have to be a great writer to work here, in every single position, because the majority of our communication is written, primarily because a lot of us work remotely but also because writing is quieter. And we like long-form writing where people really think through an idea and present it.”
Fried’s theory – and he’s not alone in this – is that good writing indicates clear, critical thinking – a skill that every employer should want in a candidate.
And this is even more important when your business is hiring people to create content.
5 reasons to hire great writers
1. Clear communication
You know good writing when you read it. Whether it’s a tweet, blog post, magazine feature, or novel, good writing communicates ideas clearly. It’s easy to understand. It doesn’t weigh heavy on the mind. It’s a pleasant experience.
Good writers are generally good communicators. Many of them literally study communications at university. The ability to clearly communicate ideas is important to the success of every business, both internally and externally.
It is especially important when you’re hiring staff or contractors to help with content creation, marketing, copywriting, public relations or brand storytelling. You need good writers in these roles who can clearly communicate your story in a way that engages your audience.
2. Critical thinking
Writing is the art of turning ideas into coherent sentences of text. In order for this to happen, the writer must process their thoughts — bundles of disjointed ideas swirling around in their head — before compiling a beautiful, meaningful, creative piece of writing. This is why Fried says that clear writing is a sign of clear thinking.
But it’s more than clear thinking. Clear writers are highly critical thinkers. They objectively evaluate an issue or idea in order to form their own judgements, which are then expressed through their writing.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos once said: “When you have to write your ideas out in complete sentences and complete paragraphs, it forces a deeper clarity of thinking.”
If you want clear, critical thinkers on your team, hire great writers.
3. Currency for good ideas
Fried says that writing is today’s currency for good ideas. This is because clear, critical thinking gives rise to new, innovative ideas.
Computer scientist, entrepreneur, venture capitalist and author (whoa, that’s a mouthful!) Paul Graham puts it this way:
“I think it’s far more important to write well than most people realize. Writing doesn’t just communicate ideas; it generates them. If you’re bad at writing and don’t like to do it, you’ll miss out on most of the ideas writing would have generated.”
New ideas are the bread and butter for successful businesses, so it makes sense to hire great writers who can deliver them, right?
4. Creative storytelling
When your business needs copy for a new landing page, product description, blog post, e-book, social media post, or marketing campaign (you name it!), a great writer will always deliver.
That’s because they understand the power of words, they have good command of language, and they are creative. But more importantly, great writers are natural storytellers.
And your business needs to tell a story through its marketing, social media posts, branding, and daily interactions with your audience, fans, and customers.
Hiring writers who understand storytelling helps to ensure that your key messages are being delivered consistently, effectively, and creatively.
5. Concise copy
As Jason Fried writes in Rework, great writers “know what to omit”.
A skill that is equally important as knowing what to include in a piece of writing is knowing what to leave out.
Often this is one of the main things that average or poor writers don’t understand. Universities and high schools tend to reward complex essays that include fancy words taken straight out of the thesaurus.
However, the best writing is simple, direct, and concise. Great writers write for the intended audience, your target market, who are usually every day people who use every day language.
The bottom line is that hiring great writers is going bring clear, critical, creative thinkers into your business.
