Hiring an in-office writer

I am in the process of moving my home website business into commercial office space because I need to hire an employee (or two) to help with all of the work.

I need to hire a writer - but the person needs to be in-office, because there are many specific day-to-day chores. For example, the person will have to be an expert in specific microsoft-office formatting, each piece needs to be checked and rechecked before being published, I need someone handy to check my own work, etc. Long story short, internet freelancers don't work well for my business any longer.

My question - Does anyone have any advice for finding and hiring my first employee?

Your best bet is someone who has done similar work for someone you know directly or indirectly.

If you are on LinkedIn, try asking your contacts (and their contacts).

Also determine if the need to work in-house is temporary or permanent. (There are more options with contract writers, and a contract writer could work on site for a period).

If possible, make sure the person is prepared to work with you on a trial basis: in a 2-person office you both need to get along with each other, and in a small company you can't afford a bad hiring decision.

Good luck.