Gabrielle Miller
5 October 2017
English 111
Communicating as a Professional
Communicating Is the Key to Success
Have you ever wondered how many college students can write correctly? Jeffery J. Selingo is the author of “There Is Life After College”, and he believes that writing and communication skills are an important set of skills to have, and that most college students do not have an ability to make a piece of writing sound powerful. Selingo says that most college students have taken five or fewer than five college classes that required them to write (Selingo). In the last five years, more employers have started to require that their employee have excellent writing and communication skills. Sadly, most of the future generation who will one day apply for a job are lacking either one or both skills. Selingo wanted to suggest ways that he could help college kids gain one of the skills so he talked to a few of his colleagues. They came up with a few ideas, such as, that writing requires preparation and planning, the writer can use his or her knowledge about writing to help themselves with editing their paper, and sharing their work with others so they can view and learn from what someone else wrote (Selingo). I, myself think that writing is important and that having communication skills are very important. I plan to use the tips Selingo gave and to use them in not only my college writing, but also to use them to obtain my future career.
In a professional workplace, knowing how to write and use grammar correctly is very important, and Kyle Wiens would very much agree. Kyle Wiens is the CEO of ifixit.com and Dozuki. He is a business-wise employer and requires that all applicants who apply for a position at one of his companies have good grammar since the majority of the things they do require them to write. He has been known to test applicants on their grammar, and if they fail the test, they will not receive the job opportunity. He says that grammar allows writers to appear to be a credible source on the internet, and that using grammar is a projection of the writer and that it allows the reader to appear respectful to not only the readers but to the writer’s superiors as well (Wiens). Since Wiens owns two successful businesses, he knows what smart choices are, and he says that checking an employee’s grammar before hiring them is a smart move. Overall, using grammar allows workers to do a better job than someone who cannot use grammar correctly. Forbes writer Susan Adams is a product of a grammar stickler. It was drilled into her head that grammar is important and that she needs to use whenever she writes or talks, with that being said, this is why she is so strict on grammar today. She explains that grammar is important because it allows the writer to go straight to the point rather than using the same words or even sentences over and over. When someone is writing on the Internet using correct grammar proves that he or she is intelligent and can communicate without making a fool of themselves (Adams).
When it comes to the workplace, many people know that education plays a huge role in a salary. Most of the time salary plays a huge role in whether the person in question, accepts the job or not. The main reason someone picks a job is because it is usually in their field of interest. For example, if someone was interested in being a nurse, there are many stages they must go through in order to become one. There are three paths that can be taken. One, get a diploma from an approved nursing program which most likely will still require someone to go to school after they get the job. Path number two, would be to get an associate’s degree in nursing from any school of their choice. The final option, would be to get a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing. There are many parts of being a nurse, but communication, reading, and grammar play a huge role. A nurse should be able to communicate with not only the patients and their family members, but other nurses and health care professionals. They will need to listen in order to understand and communicate a patient’s symptoms, needs, wants, and explain step by step details on how to perform a task. Along with this, they will need to be able to work with others and talk about the patients so that they can come up with a solution to their problem. At times nurses must read another doctor’s or nurse’s notes on a patient during shift changes to stay up to date with patient information. There are many parts of communication, and it is not always talking to people face to face, but sometimes it can be in writing or using software to record important information. Most hospitals use charts to record patients' information, so they will need to write legibly and not use abbreviations unless everyone would understand them. After charting is finished, a given nurse will most likely have to enter the information on to an online program. Some of those programs could include Microsoft Excel, medical software, and the hospital's electronic mail software ("Registered Nurses").
When I was first starting school, I never had a problem speaking in front of large groups, but as I grew up, that started to change. Each new school year, it seemed like I was more afraid to talk in front of people, but did not have a problem sitting down and answering a question that the teacher asked. Whenever it was my turn to answer a question in high school, I would start feeling sick and it would get to the point that I would mess up even when I knew the correct answer. Now, that I am in college, I fear that my fear of speaking in front of people is going to get worse. I know I need to overcome my fear because my dream is to become a nurse and part of that job is speaking up. In order, to overcome my fear I need to practice speaking to myself in front of a mirror, start talking in front of small groups and working my way up to large groups of people and writing little notes to myself so my chance of making mistakes decreases. I will also use my resources given to me by my English Composition Class. Furthermore, I can take a Public Speaking Class to overcome my fear, and be able to accomplish my dream of one day being a nurse.
In conclusion, I have learned that my writing may not be the best, but I am willing to put in the work so that I can obtain the future that I want. I plan to take my time writing and to become more aware of the mistakes I am making, “Writing takes time, in preparation and in actually writing” (Selingo). By taking my time, I can become more aware of the mistakes that I am making and will have time to fix them before submitting it for a grade. Writing in a professional way is important and most people think that people can get by without using grammar. The truth is, that a person with excellent grammar will be given more opportunities over those who do not care about their grammar.
Works Cited
Adams, Susan. “Why Grammar Counts at Work.” Forbes. 20 July 2012. https://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2012/07/20/why-grammar-counts-at-work/#99023ba421f6. Accessed 3 Oct. 2017.
“Registered Nurses.” Occupational Outlook Handbook. Bureau of Labor and Statistics, https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/registered-nurses.htm#tab-1. Accessed 3 Oct. 2017
Selingo, Jeffrey. “Why Can’t College Graduates Write Coherent Prose?” Washington Post. 11 Aug 2017. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2017/08/11/why-cant-college-graduates-write/?utm_term=.937c5228b7ac&wpisrc=nl_highered&wpmm=1. Accessed 19 Oct. 2017.
Wiens, Kyle. ‘I Won’t Hire People Who Use Poor Grammar. Here’s Why.” Harvard Business Review: HBR Blog Network. https://hbr.org/2012/07/i-wont-hire-people-who-use-poo. 20 July 2012. Accessed 3 Oct. 2017