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Communication Skills: Your Ticket to Work or Your Ticket Out the Door
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The Importance of Communication Skills to Your Career
Surveys
of employers consistently show that communication skills are critical
to effective job placement, performance, career advancement, and
organizational success. In making 
hiring
decisions, employers often rank communication skills among the most
requested competencies. Many job advertisements specifically ask for
excellent oral and written communication skills. In a poll of
recruiters, oral and written communication skills were by a large margin
the top skill set sought. In another poll, executives were asked what
they looked for in a job candidate. The top choices were teamwork
skills, critical thinking, analytical reasoning skills, and oral and
written communication skills. When we discuss communication skills, we
generally mean reading, listening, nonverbal, speaking, and writing
skills. We devote special attention
to writing skills because they are difficult to develop and increasingly significant.
hiring
decisions, employers often rank communication skills among the most
requested competencies. Many job advertisements specifically ask for
excellent oral and written communication skills. In a poll of
recruiters, oral and written communication skills were by a large margin
the top skill set sought. In another poll, executives were asked what
they looked for in a job candidate. The top choices were teamwork
skills, critical thinking, analytical reasoning skills, and oral and
written communication skills. When we discuss communication skills, we
generally mean reading, listening, nonverbal, speaking, and writing
skills. We devote special attentionto writing skills because they are difficult to develop and increasingly significant.
Why Are Writing Skills Increasingly Important?
Writing
skills are particularly important on the job today because people are
writing more than ever before. Technology enables us to transmit
messages faster, farther, and more easily than in the past. You will
probably be writing many e-mail messages. In fact, e-mail is “today’s
version of the business letter or interoffice memo.” Because electronic
mail has become the primary channel of communication in today’s
workplace, business e-mail messages must be clear, concise, and
professional.
Writing
skills are also increasingly significant today because many people work
together but are not physically together. They stay connected through
spoken and written messages. Writing skills, which were always a career
advantage, are now a necessity. A survey of American corporations
revealed that two thirds of salaried employees have some writing
responsibility. About one third of them, however, do not meet the
writing requirements for their positions.
“Businesses
are crying out—they need to have people who write better,” said Gaston
Caperton, business executive and College Board president. The ability to
write opens doors to professional employment. People who cannot write
and communicate clearly will not be hired. If already working, they are
unlikely to last long enough to be considered for promotion. Writing is a
marker of high-skill, high-wage, professional work, according to Bob
Kerrey, president of New School University in New York and chair of the
National Commission on Writing. If you can’t express yourself clearly,
he says, you limit your opportunities for many positions.
You
may be thinking that jobs in technical fields do not require
communication skills. For example, communication has traditionally NOT
been a necessary skill for finance and accounting professionals.
However, times are changing. A recent poll of 1,400 chief financial
officers sponsored by Accountemps revealed that 75 percent said that
verbal, written, and interpersonal skills are more important today than
they were in the past. Even technical specialists must be able to
communicate with others and explain their work clearly. A survey of Web
professionals showed that those with writing and copyediting skills were
far less likely to have their jobs sent offshore. Another survey
conducted by the Society for Information Management revealed that
network professionals ranked written and oral communication skills among
the top five most desired skills for new-hires.
Professionalism Counts With Employers
In
addition to expecting employees to write clearly, businesses expect
employees to act in a businesslike and professional manner on the job.
One employer was surprised that many of her new-hires had no idea that
excessive absenteeism or tardiness was grounds for termination. The new
employees also didn’t seem to know that they were expected to devote
their full energy to duties when on the job. One young man wanted to
read Harry Potter novels when things got slow.
Projecting
and maintaining a professional image can make a real difference in
helping you obtain the job of your dreams. Once you get that job, you
are more likely to be taken seriously and promoted if you look and sound
professional. New-hires can sabotage their careers when they carry poor
college habits into the business world. Banish the flip-flops, sloppy
clothes, and IM abbreviations. Think twice about sprinkling your
conversation with like, you know, and uptalk (making
declarative sentences sound like questions). You don’t want to send the
wrong message with unwitting and unprofessional behavior.
How Does Your Education Affect Your Income?
Because
the U.S. economy is increasingly knowledge based, education is
extremely important. Two thirds of all new jobs require some kind of
postsecondary education. The more education you have, the more you can
expect to earn and the less likely you will be unemployed. Writing is
one aspect of education that is particularly well rewarded. A Fortune
magazine article reported this finding: “Among people with a two- or
four-year college degree, those in the highest 20 percent in writing
ability earn, on average, more than three times what those with the
worst writing skills make.” One corporate president explained that many
people climbing the corporate ladder are good. When he faced a hard
choice between candidates, he used writing ability as the deciding
factor. He said that sometimes writing is the only skill that separates a
candidate from the competition.
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4 comments
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