Real questions from job applications
Photo by Jacqueline Dooley
Searching for new clients isn’t for the faint of heart. I had the benefit of avoiding the job search process for most of 2026 because I was lucky enough to work for a startup eLearning company, LXA. While at LXA, I spearheaded editorial agenda creation for their flagship martech/digital transformation conference AntiCon, based in London. This involved conducting speaker research, outreach, and coordination. I got to interview many smart marketing executives and help them clarify their sessions for the AntiCon agenda. It was a tremendous learning experience and a great way to employ my research, interviewing, and journalism skills in a new way (e.g., beyond straightforward content writing.)
Alas, all good things must end. The conference took place in May and my contract ended in June. I’m once again open to work and finding the content ecosystem has shifted quite a bit, particularly when it comes to how AI plays a role in just about every job description. I’ve been answering questions about my own approach to creating content using AI. The questions are fascinating and have helped me unpack my current process, something I’ve developed over the past four years of working with many different AI tools. Got a question for me? Send me a note and I’ll add it to this list.
Please explain how you'd review an AI-generated draft. How do you edit around consistency, accuracy, tone, and positioning?
I view AI-generated drafts as if they're outlines versus finished pieces. I never generate an entire piece of content in one sitting, though I have edited (and rewritten) complete drafts when a client asks. When I work with AI to create a new piece, I typically write in content chunks, so I can edit, refine, check facts, and redirect as I move through a piece. I create AI guidelines and guardrails prior to drafting content, and check the output against these guidelines, which is how I ensure consistency, tone, etc. I think of it like those gutter protectors in bowling. They prevent the ball from going in the gutter and redirect an errant ball to keep it in pay. I guess that makes me a gutter corrector when it comes to AI writing.
Briefly describe a content system or publishing framework you built from scratch. What problem did it solve?
The content systems I’ve created are generally for a party of one (me). Typically I’ll build a project in Claude or Abacus that includes content guidelines, a list of AI tells to avoid, and clear direction. I often have the AI tool help me create the guidelines based on client kickoff calls and other background materials. I do all content creation in the relevant project, and pull in additional AI tools for research and planning. Every step of content creation has a designated process. Steps include kickoff, brief review, outline creation (if needed), research and drafting, QA/fact validation, and final editorial review which happens prior to submitting version 1 of the draft. Having a well-thought out process solves the problem of guesswork and ensures that anything created or written with AI is thoroughly reviewed, factual, and (importantly) sounds fully human and on brand.
When you’re checking an article you wrote, before you turn it in, what do you review for?
I check a piece against the brief I was provided or the approved outline (or both) to make sure the piece hits all the main points. I also check for keyword compliance and give it a thorough proofread for things like typos, inconsistencies, buzzwords/ambiguity, and overall tone (e.g., does it sound like the client's brand? does it comply with any provided guidelines?) I will typically bring AI in to help me with the final edit and point out things that are missing or typos I may have missed. I always read the entire piece myself before submitting it to my client or the content lead. If there's time, I like to let the piece "cook" overnight and read with a fresh brain in the morning.
Tell us about a time you had to translate a complex subject into engaging, readable content.
The main focus of my work for Coveo, an enterprise AI search engine, was writing about complex technology and translating it into readable, engaging content for enterprise buyers. One piece stands out though - I wrote about AI hallucinations right around the time when ChatGPT had just launched. The technology was so new, that people were just beginning to grasp its limitations, but Coveo had years of experience working with AI models and were about to launch a generative model of their own. That piece was initially posted in 2022 and I updated it again in 2025.
You’re given a content brief that a freelancer created and the primary and secondary keywords were not used. Where do you add them?
This is a hybrid AI-human process for me. I typically read everything including the brief, the draft (or published piece) and all of the keywords then I load them into an AI tool like Market Muse or Claude. If Claude, I'll create a project where I can provide detailed instructions on optimizing the piece with the given keywords. I then go through the piece in "chunks" and weaving keywords naturally into the text. This is something that AI is great at assisting with, but I think it's important to provide close oversight because there's a risk of keyword stuffing and repetition. I really like using MarketMuse for this process because it's got a built-in text editor that allows for collaborative editing.
If you were to write a headline about your life so far, what would it be and why?
Career writer and marketer discovers 5 tricks to achieve happiness (you won’t believe #4!). My 5 tricks? Birds, long trail walks, 2 tiny dogs (this counts as 2 things), and my daughter, not necessarily in that order. I love anti-headlines with a good hook. I think it would be fun to write an essay like this because I love a piece with a good bait and switch.
Last question for all the marbles: Give me your best joke
The best joke is on me. In 2018, I pivoted to writing content full-time after managing paid search campaigns for over a decade. Refocusing my career on content three years before AI was about to totally disrupt content is objectively hysterical.