Career Opportunities

Writing to Learn courses can help you in the future in several ways.

• WL courses help you learn the skills employers want.
• WL courses can introduce you to the expectations in your field.
• WL courses demand critical thinking.

WL courses help you learn the skills employers want.

Through her research, Ms. Ehlers discovered that employers consider those candidates best suited for the work force who can share knowledge effectively, both in writing and in speaking. She contacted employers in diverse fields, from social work to auto technology, and the response was the same. This means that no matter what field students go into, they will be expected to have both oral and written communication skills.

In particular, interviewees are sometimes asked to write during interviews, without the help of editors or spelling and grammar checks. They are hired in part on their ability to write a clear, thoughtful essay on the spot.

Employers told Ms. Ehlers that students need more writing experience than they can get in a single course, such as Composition or Technical Writing. Writing to Learn courses give students the writing practice they need.

Many employers commented on how poorly potential employees correspond by e-mail. E-mail correspondence should be written in a professional business style, with a professional tone, clarity of purpose, no abbreviations, few punctuation problems, and good grammar.

WL courses help students become more hireable by asking students to live up to these standards on formal papers, and by giving students the help they need to achieve this kind of fluency.

Employers want solid content in their employee's writing, but also want mechanical correctness. An article in the September 2001 College Composition and Communication journal describes a study in which employers were asked to rate how they were affected by mechanical errors in business writing. Many of the employers found such mechanical errors as sentence fragments and misspellings as "very bothersome." This study shows that employers do notice and pay attention to errors in writing.

The Career Services information emphasizes that students must realize how integral writing will be in their careers, no matter what field they enter.

WL courses can introduce you to the expectations in your field.

WL courses demand critical thinking.

Many WL instructors have their students apply ideas from the course to real-world events, by having students write responses to readings in newspapers and professional journals based on discussions in class. Some instructors have students work in groups to solve problems as a team. Always, each student has to digest issues raised in class and write about them. This kind of critical thinking practice prepares students for their careers, where they will be responsible for solving problems on their own and articulating their solutions.

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