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You've never had to read and understand some data, analyze it, and then communicate your results via written word in your career? I'm totally willing to grant y

• zrobotics 7y ago
  The typical academic essay doesn't (IME) really prepare students that well. What I felt worked best was a CS professor I had whose courses were entirely project-based and 50% of the grade was based on a report of your work. It was much closer to the type of writing an engineer will need to do and it was one of the most helpful experiences I had in school. Learning how to write well is important, but I didn't feel that any of the lit classes I took helped greatly.
• nitwit005 7y ago
  The handful of times I've been asked to analyze something, the result has been a list or graph with some accompanying description. I had a coworker who had a reputation for long emails. It was clear, based on hallway comments, that no one was reading them. People don't appear to have much tolerance for essays unless there's good reason for it.
  • hugey010 7y ago
    Agreed. When I write an email, I usually address the topic generically, then list options or reasons or whatever, then give a takeaway or action item. Most people seem to only read the topic statement. Not sure if I have lazy coworkers or I'm not an effective emailer.
    • rahimnathwani 7y ago
      TO: hugey010@... SUBJECT: Put the action statement in the subject line, starting tomorrow Your colleagues read your emails in sequence. You care that they have read the action statement so they can follow up or disagree. Putting it first will get it read. Put the action statement in the subject line, starting tomorrow. You can also repeat it at the end. If you have a better suggestion, let me know today please.
• leetcrew 7y ago
  I suspect that arguing on forums has done much more for my communication skills than writing a bunch of essays on topics I didn't care about. the feedback is a lot quicker, and the criticism much sharper.