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Copywriter interview questions
The questions people actually get asked for this role, and what each one is really testing.
What to expect
Copywriter interviews mix a look at your writing process with questions about how you handle feedback, data and client relationships. Expect the panel to test both your craft and your judgement, since a lot of copywriting work involves balancing creative instinct against a brief, a data point or a compliance line.
- Process: How you move from a brief to finished copy, including research and revision steps.
- Behavioural: Past examples of handling feedback, deadlines or difficult drafts, usually assessed with STAR.
- Scenario: Judgement calls around client pressure, advertising claims or ambiguous briefs.
- Technical: SEO knowledge, tools like Google Analytics or Mailchimp, and how you use AI writing tools without losing brand voice.
- Client-facing: How you manage stakeholder relationships when feedback is vague or conflicting.
Most copywriter interviews open with a portfolio review or a short writing sample discussion, move into process and behavioural questions, then close with a scenario or technical question and a chance for you to ask about the brand's content workflow.
- 1
Walk us through how you approach a new copywriting brief, from receiving it to submitting a final draft.
Why they ask: This tests whether you have a repeatable process for research, drafting and revision rather than relying purely on instinct.
How to structure your answer: Walk through your process in order: how you clarify the brief, what research you do, how you draft, who you loop in for feedback and how you finalise copy.
Example answer
“I start by clarifying the brief with whoever commissioned it, checking the objective, audience and any brand guidelines I need to follow. Then I do a quick pass of competitor messaging and, where available, past performance data for similar copy. I draft a few headline and angle options before writing the full piece, then send it to the designer or marketer working on the campaign for feedback. I revise based on their input and, where the channel allows it, keep an eye on early performance data once it's live so I can suggest tweaks.”
- 2
Tell me about a time you had to significantly revise a piece of copy based on feedback or performance data.
Why they ask: Copywriters need to take direction and data on board without losing the quality of the work, and this question checks how you handle that.
How to structure your answer: STAR: describe the situation, the task, the action you took to revise the copy, and the result once the revised version went live.
Example answer
“I'd written a set of email subject lines for a campaign that the marketing lead felt were too safe. The task was to make them punchier without straying from brand tone. I went back to the competitor research I'd done earlier, pulled some sharper angles from it, and tested three new subject line options against the original in an A/B split through Mailchimp. The revised lines had a noticeably better open rate, and we used that version as the template for the rest of the campaign.”
- 3
A client wants copy with claims that push close to what's allowed under Australian advertising rules. How do you handle it?
Why they ask: This checks your judgement under pressure and your awareness of standards like the AANA Code of Ethics and Australian Consumer Law around misleading claims.
How to structure your answer: Judgement-under-pressure structure: state the immediate concern, the trade-off you're weighing, the action you'd take and how you'd communicate it to the client.
Example answer
“My first concern is that a claim that's too aggressive can expose the client to a complaint through Ad Standards or a breach of Australian Consumer Law, so I wouldn't sign off on it as written. I'd flag the specific wording that's risky and offer an alternative that keeps the persuasive intent but stays defensible, usually by softening an absolute claim or adding a qualifier. I'd explain the reasoning to the client directly rather than just rewriting it quietly, since they need to understand the risk too.”
- 4
How do you optimise copy for search engines without making it read like it was written for a machine?
Why they ask: SEO copywriting is a core part of the role, and this question tests whether you can balance technical requirements with readability.
How to structure your answer: Technical explanation: describe your method, the tools you use, and a concrete example of the trade-off you managed.
Example answer
“I treat keywords as an input to the brief rather than the whole point of the sentence. I'll check search intent and any target terms in Google Analytics or a keyword tool, then write naturally around them, working the phrasing in where it reads rather than forcing it into every heading. On one landing page I had to include a fairly clunky product term for search purposes, so I used it once in a subheading and let the body copy speak more naturally, which kept both the search visibility and the readability intact.”
- 5
How do you use AI writing tools in your work, and how do you make sure the final copy still sounds like the brand?
Why they ask: Copywriting has high exposure to AI tools, and interviewers want to know you can use them efficiently while still producing distinctive, on-brand work.
How to structure your answer: Process explanation: describe where AI fits in your workflow, where you draw the line, and how you check the output against brand voice.
Example answer
“I'll sometimes use AI tools to get through a first-pass brainstorm of angles or to speed up a rough draft of straightforward copy, like a product description. But I always rewrite it against the brand's style guide and read it aloud to check it sounds like a person wrote it, not a template. For anything that needs a distinct voice or carries compliance risk, like a campaign headline or a claim about the product, I write it myself from the brief rather than starting from AI output.”
- 6
How do you handle a client or stakeholder who keeps rejecting drafts without giving clear feedback?
Why they ask: Managing ambiguous stakeholder feedback is a common friction point in copywriting work, and this checks your communication approach.
How to structure your answer: Stakeholder management approach: describe how you'd diagnose the gap, the questions you'd ask, and how you'd move the project forward.
Example answer
“When feedback is vague, like 'it's not quite right', I ask specific questions rather than guessing: is it the tone, the length, the angle, or something about how it fits the brand. I'll sometimes bring two clearly different draft options to a review so the stakeholder has something concrete to react to, which usually surfaces the real issue faster than another round of open-ended feedback on a single draft.”