Writing in the Workplace: Job requirements and expectations for professional writers

Communicators today are able to engage with tools like sound, color, and video — going well beyond just written words on a printed page. New technologies have also expanded avenues for circulating and distributing texts that are more instantaneous and diverse.

These new communication opportunities bring new opportunities in the workplace for writing graduates as well. For instance, a “social media writer” did not exist 10 years ago, nor were the skills needed for such a position on the radars of writing curricula.

Students who excel in writing are uniquely qualified to contribute to the communication and information demands of the twenty-first century workplace, and yet many jobs in writing fields call not for applicants with writing or communication degrees, but for applicants with technical expertise. This study addresses two important issues: what are the skills that employers expect from applicants entering the “writing” workforce? how can we better help students recognize and articulate the value of their writing degree?

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Principal investigator
Claire Lauer

Co-investigator(s)
Eva Brumberger, Mark Hannah

Funding agency: Conference on College Composition and Communication

Date:

Amount: $9,600