Interface: Your Professional Voice
Today’s workplace is a dynamic environment that is undergoing numerous changes. The widespread shift from working in person to working from home, for example, has radically altered how we communicate with one another. Job markets have meanwhile become increasingly competitive as employees search for the best opportunities among employers who struggle to maintain a stable workforce. Meanwhile, new tools built from artificial intelligence technologies have had a profound impact on every occupation and the skills required of the workforce.
Despite these exciting challenges, one skill remains in constant – if not higher – demand: good writing skills. AI tools like ChatGPT have teased a likely future where mundane writing tasks might someday be accomplished with a few strategic prompts. But the ability to connect with audiences, new clients, and consumers demands we make those intrapersonal connections that AI is incapable of simulating. Understanding the specific needs and desires of others while being attentive to their individual cultural, physical, and social perspectives, for example, is a distinctly human trait – one that is conveyed in our writing.
Making Connections
Correspondence and other forms of direct communication are forms of writing in which these skills are required. A job application cover letter, for example, remains a necessity despite recent skepticism about whether it is still necessary. Résumés have also changed of late, but if you’re thinking that a snappy, creative video résumé means you’re off the hook, think again: even a video introduction requires a well-crafted script. The résumé, whether it’s on your hard drive or LinkedIn, persists as a minimum requirement that should be maintained.
Over the next month, we’re going to work on some conventional types of writing. Our first unit delves into some of the fundamental writing genres that remain important in the professional realm. We will work through some of these – the email, memo, and cover letter – because they are at the very least a crucial foundation for your professional experience. You probably have written many of these before and have copies on hand. Memos, on the other hand, might be a little less familiar. Our goal here is to gain experience with them because, as we’ll discuss, many of the new, creative approaches still rely on older genres.
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Image: “Rockset Office in San Mateo, California.” by Rodbauer, CC BY-SA 4.0
