We are living in the digital time where almost every form of communication involves writing – be it on social media platforms, workplace or in academics. Students have no option except to hone their writing skills in order to excel in their studies. In fact, there is no better ticket to a good college and subsequent high grades achievements than good writing skills. This also determines one’s career progression after landing a job as if you cannot communicate well or write a good report, why then would you think that your employer retains you in your current job while there are other more competent individuals out there?
To avoid these unfortunate scenarios, recruiting companies and managers are today very keen on who they employ because some graduates are offered dream jobs only to fail to deliver on their mandates due to their pathetic writing skills. If a study on personnel updates that was published in 1988 by Lin Gresning is anything to go by, then there is a big need to screen out graduates who cannot write well as this survey indicated that majority of new college graduates (2/3) cannot even craft a simple letter.
In the same survey, 79% of company executives interviewed skilled writing as one of the most neglected skills in the business sector yet it is the key productivity factor. Another survey that was done by the Associated Press in 1992 supports these findings as most of the executives interviewed reported that 80% of their workforce had this shortcoming and needed to improve. No wonder the U.S. labor department in its 1991 report had the similar conclusion: that future jobs will require skilled writing and that is where we are now.
The following are instances where mastery in writing skills can come in very handy:
- While preparing personal essays
If you think writing skills are not important in your life, well, think again. Despite the fact that colleges and universities are institutions where skills are nurtured and developed, in some cases, many lose that opportunity simply because of their poor skills in writing.
In the United States, for instance, one is required to prepare a personal essay before they could be enrolled in a college so that they can be assessed on how well they can write as college work mainly involves writing a variety of essays as part of skills nurturing and assessment process.
In order to craft a good personal essay masterpiece, one must understand the topic well and then apply their expertise to craft it.
- Establishing and supporting an argument
Since most of the academic work involves essay writing, learning how to write well is a requirement that ought not to be emphasized as it is only by doing this that tutors can tell if their students have understood the taught concepts or not. A good paper is one whose structure is well-organized and ideas are neatly put in paragraphs.
You could be having brilliant ideas but end up failing in your exams simply because of the way you present them. While preparing a dissertation or an essay, one starts by establishing the point of discussion or in short, the argument and from there you demonstrate your understanding of the issue and support your point of view with proof. That way your arguments will follow a logical path and reach a credible conclusion as failure to do this leads to an invalid conclusion.
In short, proper writing entails the use of simple vocabularies, good grammar, appropriate tone, correct punctuation marks, and there should be no typos. In addition, the content should be concise and relevant to the topic.
- When applying either for a job or a scholarship
The same experience comes in handy when applying for a job or scholarship. Several questions meant to determine your competencies are asked and your success is pegged on how well you respond to these questions.
You may think that you are the most qualified candidate but unfortunately, if you don’t describe yourself well in writing then you lose that opportunity and your application ends up in a dustbin. Also, while awarding a scholarship, it means the sponsoring entity will meet the cost of sponsoring you, and considering that their aim is to take only the best, why then would you allow your poor writing skills deny you such an opportunity? Wake up and up your game.
- Doing online jobs
Are you a student and you are struggling to raise your college fees or is the pocket money given by your parents is not adequate and you feel like you want some more? Why not use your writing skills to do online jobs to make some extra cash? Nowadays you do not have to be fully employed to earn money. All you need is a computer and internet connection to get an online job.
There are several opportunities on the internet but unfortunately, almost all of them demand impeccable writing skills and this underscores the need for modern students to improve their skills. For one to secure such a job, many companies subject applicants to timed online grammar exams to ensure they hire only the best writers.
The reasoning behind this is that most people do not seek professional essay helper because they do not understand what they are doing but because they are busy doing other things, and again, by engaging professional help they are assured of scoring good grades just like if they did the work by themselves.
Apart from writing academic essays, other companies specialize on web content development while others outsource their services online to virtual assistants but just like those dealing with academics, good grammar is key in securing such a job. In a nutshell, there is no way you can work online if your writing skills are wanting.
- In a workplace
The era when people used to think that writing skills were only important in academics is long gone. There was a time when students cared less about these skills once they were through with their courses but things have changed. Today, having a basic degree is just a basis for employment but what makes one stand from the rest is their communication effectiveness as in every aspect of professional work, writing is involved; be it medical, engineering, software developing, accounting, etc.
If you are a doctor, for instance, you will have to write patients’ diagnostic reports and if you are an accountant then you will have to prepare financial reports. Some lose opportunities to grow in their careers due to their inability to write well.
Even if your work doesn’t involve report writing, you will not escape writing official emails and other correspondences to clients and co-workers and thus, you will have a hard time doing this work. If you are a student, do not wait for when it will come unexpectedly, work on skills early enough.
- While posting stuff online
Unlike in the past when there were minimal interactions with the mainstream media, things have changed. Some media companies that used to deliver their content to consumers physically are now delivering it digitally. Today people can receive a newspaper via email or read the same on the company’s website. It is also possible for you to craft an article and publish it on a blog. By publishing a story online, readers are able to have an interactive engagement not only with the publisher but even with other readers concerning the content by commenting or expressing their feelings through emoticons.
Generally speaking, people are writing more than they used before. If they are not busy chatting or updating their status on social media, then they are texting their friends using their mobile phones or sending emails. Students have also embraced technology as they are also creating discussion groups on social media where they post challenging questions for brainstorming. Those with solutions write down answers and support their arguments. Without these skills, how then can modern students manage in their academic journeys?
While having a physical conversation with someone, one is able to express their emotional reactions using body language and gestures but if one is doing it through writing then one has to craft it in a way that it will elicit the expected reaction. If this is poorly done, readers will not be able to read your mood or feelings and this underscores the importance of having skilled writing while crafting content for online consumption.