WRITING IN PROFESSIONAL CONTEXT CHAPTER 1 GETTING STARTED

WRITING IN PROFESSIONAL CONTEXT CHAPTER 1 : GETTING STARTED

Writing is a part of every job. In fact, your first contact with a potential employer is through posting your résumé and writing a letter of application, which determine a company’s first impression of you. And the higher you advance in an organization, the more writing you will do. Promotions are often based on a person’s writing skills. To be a successful employee in this highly competitive, global market, you will have to communicate clearly and diplomatically with a host of readers from different cultural backgrounds. As a result, don’t presume that you will be writing only to native speakers of American English but probably for many readers with different background.

Writing to international readers with proper business etiquette means first learning about their cultural values and assumptions —what they esteem and also what they regard as communication taboos. Their concepts of time, family, money, work, managers, and communication itself may be nothing like what you do in your country. If you misunderstand their culture by inadvertently writing or saying some-thing inappropriate, it can cost your company a contract and your job. To communicate you will have to use “international English, ” a way of writing that is easily understood, culturally tactful, and diplomatic. International English simply means that your message is clear, straightforward, and appropriate for readers. It is free from complex, hard-to-process sentences as well as from cultural biases

4 KEYS TO EFFECTIVE WRITING Effective writing on the job is carefully planned, thoroughly researched, and clearly presented. Its purpose is always to accomplish a specific goal and be as persuasive as possible. Whether you send a routine e-mail to a co-worker or a special report to the president of the company, your writing will be more effective if you ask yourself four questions. • Who will read what I write? (Identify your audience. ) • Why should they read what I write? (Establish your purpose. ) • What do I have to say to them? (Formulate your message. ) • How can I best communicate? (Select your style and tone. )

FORMULATING YOUR MESSAGE • Your message is the sum of what facts, responses, and recommendations you put into writing. • A message includes the scope and details of your communication. Scope refers to how much information you give readers about the key details. The details are those key points you think readers need to know to perform their jobs. • Keep in mind that you will adapt the message to fit your audience. For technical audiences, such as engineers or technicians, you may have to supply a complete report with every detail noted or contained in an appendix. For other readers—busy executives, for example—a short discussion or summary of the financial or manage-rial significance will be enough.

CHARACTERISTIC OF JOB RELATED WRITING Job-related writing characteristically serves six basic functions: (1) to provide practical information, (2) to give facts rather than impressions (3) to provide visuals to clarify and condense information (4) to give accurate measurements (5) to state responsibil-ities precisely (6) to persuade and offer recommendations. These functions tell you what kind of writing you will produce after you successfully answer the who? why? what? and how?

EXAMPLE A Dosage and administration: Heparin sodium is not effective by oral admin-istration and should be given by intermittent intravenous injection, intra-venous infusion, or deep subcutaneous (intrafrat, i. e. , above the iliac crest or abdominal fat layer) injection. The intramuscular route of administration should be avoided because of the frequent occurrence of hematoma at the injection site.

EXAMPLE B Your doctor has prescribed a drug called heparin for you. This drug will prevent any new blood clots from forming in your body. Since heparin can-not be absorbed from your stomach or intestines, you will not receive it in a capsule or tablet. Instead, it will be given into a vein or the fatty tissue of your abdomen. After several days, when the danger of clotting has passed, your dosage of heparin will be gradually reduced. Then another medication you can take by mouth will be started.

WRITING ETHICS • Your writing also has to be ethical. Your reputation and character plus your employer’s corporate image will depend on your following an ethical course of action. • Many of the most significant bywords in the world of business reflect an ethical commitment to honesty and fairness: accountability, public trust, equal opportunity employer, good faith effort, truth in lending, fair play, honest advertising, full disclo-sure, high professional standards, and community responsibility. • Unethical business dealings, on the other hand, are captured in cover-ups, hidden costs, shady deals, spin doctors, accounting fraud, foul play, misrepresentations, price gouging, scams, bias, and unfair advantage.

WRITING ON THE JOBS • Writing for individuals you work for and with also requires you to develop your skills at persuading readers. You will be expected to make recommendations to your employer and evaluate various products or options by studying, analyzing, and deciding on the most relevant one(s) for your boss. • On the job, you will also be asked to write memos, e-mails, and even letters to boost the morale of employees, encourage them to be more productive, and compliment them on jobs well done. • You can also expect to write about (and explain and solve) problems your company faces, such as when a market has shrunk and your boss wants to know what can be done about it or when a service or product your company relies on becomes too costly.

10 COMMANDMENTS ON COMPUTER ETHICS 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Thou shalt not use a computer to harm other people. Thou shalt not interfere with other people’s computer work. Thou shalt not snoop around in other people’s computer files. Thou shalt not use a computer to steal. Thou shalt not use a computer to bear false witness. Thou shalt not copy or use proprietary software for which you have not paid. 7. Thou shalt not use other people’s computer resources without authorization or proper compensation. 8. Thou shalt not appropriate other people’s intellectual output. 9. Thou shalt think about the social consequences of the program you are writing or the system you are designing. 10. Thou shalt always use a computer in ways that ensure consideration and respect for your fellow humans.