With today’s world being highly driven by technology, writing is no longer viewed as a relevant skill to people’s career paths. It is either too intimidating to properly address writing skills or often considered menial without significant bearing to one’s way of life today. Therefore, most people tend to overlook and underappreciate the skill. This view is, however, a mistaken one given the pivotal role played by effective writing skills in the workplace. Regardless of the field of study, one’s career choice and performance go hand in hand with how well one can express their ideas in writing.
Even with the best digital technologies emerging daily, writing is among the most important skills one needs to develop for optimal career performance. In conservative fields such as law and science, proper and accurate communication is crucial to performance. Adoption and mastery of effective writing skills promote effective communication that is vital to workplace operations. According to Borglin, excellent writing skills helps people to establish clear and effective communication enabling them to market themselves as well as the institutions they work for (Borglin). The writing skills honed through constant practice and diligence establish communication which is essential in leveraging one’s career.
Although proper academic writing and the effort involved is often demanding to most students, it develops one’s analytic skills thus boosting their knowledge. Most writings in academia demand significant time to focus and evaluate the subject at hand. Instead of making hasty judgments about the topic, one is required to devote himself to comprehensive research of the subject, reading, and analysis of the sources before shaping and finally communicating their thoughts (Anderson). Appropriate attribution of information will present important details of the source that include years of publication, correct spellings of the author’s name, and the page numbers of the information used, boosting the accuracy and fidelity of the ideas and facts being presented in a paper (Bailey). The ability to compress vast amounts of information in small papers successfully instills good research habits of being detail-oriented in the course of research. Exposure to academic writing, therefore, develops an analytic attitude that is crucial in the job market where one needs to properly analyze the situation and decide on the best possible solutions. Learning to properly present ideas in writing, though temporary, helps develop and enrich one’s knowledge that gives a clearer and better view of life.
In addition, writing promotes the development of creativity through critical thinking, a skill desired in all professional fields. Among the major functions of writing includes the ability to carry out creative assessment and unconventional communication of ideas (Anderson). The workplace environment is characterized by high volatility and uncertainty. Creativity and critical thinking skills developed through writing are essential for effectively wading through workplace uncertainty. Academic writing often discourages single one-sided thinking to leave some room for argument or divergent views. Consequently, this expands the scope of thinking by promoting the development of analyses anchored on critical thinking and objective evaluation of situations.
Perhaps the most common problem in the workplace today is the difficulty to focus on the task at hand. Although concentration is not an instinct and people tend to be easily distracted or lose interest whenever they feel pressured or face any difficulty, Sailer, Koutsolampros, and Pachilova argue that focus and concentration can be achieved through constant training (Sailer, Koutsolampros and Pachilova 4). Academic writing is an effective training focus training tool given the precision of tasks and the accompanying deadlines. Students need to purposely forego other activities to focus on a given task to improve their academic performance. Consequently, it fosters professionalism and promotes discipline.
Works Cited
Anderson, Abel. “Advantages Of Academic Writing Explained”. Netnewsledger, 2020, https://www.netnewsledger.com/2020/11/20/advantages-of-academic-writing-explained/
Bailey, Moya. “On Misogynoir: Citation, Erasure, And Plagiarism”. Feminist Media Studies, vol 18, no. 4, 2018, pp. 762-768. Informa UK Limited, https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2018.1447395. Accessed 11 May 2022
Borglin, Gunilla. “Promoting Critical Thinking and Academic Writing Skills in Nurse Education”. Nurse Education Today, vol 32, no. 5, 2012, pp. 611-613. Elsevier BV, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2011.06.009.
Sailer, Kerstin et al. “Differential Perceptions of Teamwork, Focused Work and Perceived Productivity as An Effect of Desk Characteristics Within a Workplace Layout”. PLOS ONE, vol 16, no. 4, 2021, p. e0250058. Public Library of Science (Plos), https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0250058.
