Writing Skills

Week 10

Do you consider yourself an ethical person?

By the end of this class

Youll understand the importance of writing skills

What are the elements of writing
How you can make your writing better
How employers today test writing skills in future
employees.

Why writing skills?

The Recruitment and Employment Commission (REC) says
that around half of all CVs received by recruitment consultants
contain spelling or grammatical errors.
Candidates aged between 21 and 25 are most likely to make
these mistakes and graduates in this age group are,
surprisingly, twice as likely to make mistakes as those who did
not go on to university.
Even something as basic as the name of an employer, or an
individual recruiter, is often spelled incorrectly.

Why Writing Skills?

The former Graduate Recruitment Manager at City law firm Mayer
Brown found that 20% of applicants got the firms name wrong (one
hopes that these people did not also apply to another law firm called
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom (UK) LLP!).
Your covering letter is an important part of your job application, as it
demonstrates your writing style better than your CV (which is usually
more brief and factual).
Written Communication involves expressing yourself clearly, using
language with precision; constructing a logical argument; note taking,
editing and summarising; and writing reports.

Why Writing Skills?

"A single spelling mistake can cut online sales in half."
A study by the University of Hertfordshire on over 500
companies found that poor spelling or grammar alienated
77% of the companies surveyed.
The greatest attractors for employers were relevant work
experience (46%), followed by a "good work ethic" (43%).

Elements of Written
Communication

There are three main elements to written communication

Structure (the way the content is laid out)
Style (the way it is written)
Content (what you are writing about)

Structuring
A good structure will help you to express yourself more clearly,
whether in a dissertation, an essay, a job application letter or a
CV. The following tactics may help you to structure your
writing:
Clarify your thoughts and the purposeof your
communication before you start writing. In business
communications, clarity is more important than style.
Identify the key points, facts and themes
Decide on a logical orderfor what you have to say

Structuring
Compose a strong introduction and ending.The first will
make an immediate and positive impression on the reader; the
second will remain in their mind after they have finished reading
Use short paragraphs and sentencesrather than long,
rambling ones. Keep to one idea per paragraph and put your
point in the first line, then add the supporting information.
Help key points to stand outby the use of headings, subheadings and bullet points. This will allow your reader to quickly
scan your message for the main points.

Style
Writing in a style appropriate to the audience
How much information and detail will they need?
Should you use specialist terms or should you translate
these to make yourself understood by a generalist reader?
How formal or informal should your writing be?

Style
For example: A scientific paper aimed at an audience of non-scientists
would have to be written in simpler and less technical language.
A report in the Financial Times would be written in a very different
style from one covering the same issue in the Sun
A lawyer giving advice to a client would not go into the same amount
of details as to legal precedents and arguments as a law student
would when writing an academic essay.
Emails sent with job applications should be treated more formally
than emails to friends and family!

Style
"Bad writers, and especially scientific, political, and
sociological writers, are nearly always haunted by the
notion that Latin or Greek words are grander than Saxon
ones, and (use) unnecessary words like expedite,
ameliorate, predict, extraneous, deracinated, clandestine,
subaqueous."

George Orwell

The Premise of Writing

The four basic premises of writing are clarity, brevity, simplicity, and humanity.

William Zinsser
Beauty of style and harmony and grace and good rhythm depend on simplicity. Plato
Hard writing makes easy reading. Easy writing makes hard reading. William Zinsser
I am sorry for the length of this letter, but I did not have the time to write a short one Blaise Pascal.
(In other words writing improves in proportion to the amount of effort put in).

You can tell within 30 seconds if a CV has been thought through or been cobbled
together.

Checklist

Structure(the way the content is laid out)

Is thelayout clearand easy to follow?
Doheadings stand out(e.g. are they in a larger font size)?
Is the information arranged in alogical sequencewith a
beginning (introduction), middle, and end (conclusion)?
Does the introduction clearly state thesubject and purpose?
Does itbriefly summarise the content?

Checklist

Style (the way it is written)

Does it lookneat, and elegant?
Is itconcise, with an exact use of words and economy of style?
Is itsimple, direct and lucid? (See table on right)
Areparagraphs too long?
Paragraphs of less than 10 lines are easier to read.
Is ablank line left between paragraphsto aid clarity?
Aresentences too long? A sentence should contain just one idea.

Checklist

Content (what you are writing about)

Have you carefully checked the spelling and punctuation?
Have you a clear objective?
Have you listed the essential points you wish to make?
Have you shown an interest in the reader by writing with warmth,
sensitivity and friendliness?
Have you edited it through several revisions, honing the text until it is just
right?
Have you left it overnight if possible: your mind will assimilate it better
and you will come back with a fresh view.

How will employers assess your written

communication skills?
Your very first contact with a prospective employer is likely to be in writing. When employers

readapplication forms,CVsandcovering lettersthey are not just looking at WHAT you

have to sayabout yourself, your skills and your experiencebut also at HOW you say it.
Application Forms
Application formsoften ask you to write a piece of text in response to questions such as the
following:
"Please write about yourself in no more than 4000 characters [approx. 750 words].
You may wish tomention any posts of responsibility held at school or subsequently, any
regular employment or other work experience, any sporting or other achievements and any
particular interests and personal qualities which are relevant). Please also state briefly why
you are making this application

How will employers assess your

writing skills?
Structuring your answers, and choosing your words, carefully will
help you to answer these questions effectively.
Where you have a very tight word limit, it is essential to be very
concise in your answers and to avoid any non-relevant information.
Where you have a lot of space to fill, avoid the temptation to go
into a lot of unnecessary detail simply in order to fill the page!
Select what you are going to say, break down your answer into
shorter paragraphs to make it easier for the recruiter to read and
structure it into a coherent narrative.

How will your employers asses your

writing skills?
At theintervieworassessment centrestage
There may be further tests of your written communication skills such as:
In-tray/In-box exercises.
These are a form ofrole playin which you will be given a selection of
letters, emails and reports which somebody doing the job might find in
their in-tray or e-mail inbox first thing in the morning. Items may need a
response such as drafting a reply to a customer complaint, writing a
report, delegating tasks to colleagues or recommending action to
superiors.

How will your employers assess

your writing skills?
Case studies
We like to include a written test as it gives candidates an opportunity to demonstrate their
knowledge and understanding of the work by giving them a case study and then asking them to
pull out the main issues, such as risk, analysis and planning ideas, legislative framework etc. You
should never be tested on anything that is not included in the person specification for the job.
(Social work recruiter)
You will be presented with a file of papers which provide information from different sources on
three fictitious projects, each of which is being considered by thegovernmentas a solution to a
specific problem. Your task is to analyse the papers and prepare a note which builds a balanced
and convincing case for one of the three projects. To do this you will need to compare and contrast
the options, using the stated criteria, and explain convincingly the reasons for your
recommendation.
(Civil Service Fast Stream)

How will your employers assess

your writing skills?
I was given 15 minutes to read through what the employer described as
the worlds worst-written press release (a fictitious example!), mark it up
and note the mistakes.
(Marketing candidate)

You will have 30 minutes to read the exercise briefing materials and
prepare a written report on the given subject. This exercise is designed to
assess your ability to produce written reports to an appropriate standard.
Your report will be assessed on the basis of your application of structure; use
of clear, concise language; and logical and coherent presentation.
(PricewaterhouseCoopers)

Lets have some fun

Heres a writing exercise. Write a letter to one person you
admire. Your letter should include the following:
Why you admire them?
What about their lives you wish to emulate?
One thing you would have done differently in their life. (If any)