August 5, 2009
Hire the Write Stuff...Last week, Curt MacRae, of Human Transitions who offers GET TO WORKshops for unemployed, underemployed, and at-risk employees wrote an open letter to American business. In his piece, published by www.examiner.com, he suggests that if companies want to change their culture and enhance their image, they should hire a journalist.
As MacRae explains, “As newspapers, and broadcast journalism continue to cut jobs, like the rest of our world today, many journalists are searching for new careers…These professionals did not quit their jobs; their jobs quit on them. Like many in the workplace, these writers, and their families, are shell-shocked, wondering if potential employers will place any value on the things they do best. Don’t underestimate that value.”
How can a journalist help? Here are just a few ways that MacRae suggests:
- Journalists will improve the writing, and the design of materials used in your organization. Everything begins to take on a more professional and polished look.
- Writers have to be versed in a variety of subjects, and they have to take advantage of every tool available to complete their job and to impart knowledge of the subjects they write about. Instead of “jack of all trades, master of none,” the journalist is often “jack of all trades, and master of many of them.”
- Journalists are forced to learn quickly because each day they have new assignments, in areas where they may have very limited knowledge. They also verify accuracy, because that’s what they are trained to do.
- Most journalists also speak well; if you need good presentations, the journalist can not only develop and build the presentation, but give it as well.
I would also add that, in my experience, many writers are consummate strategic thinkers. Having spent years pulling stories together from multiple sources into a cohesive and logical “whole” requires the ability to ponder, reflect, deliberate and weigh – all traits that are necessary to imagine, and then develop, alternate future scenarios. A writer can be a valued member of your strategic planning team – not only write your plan, but be an important contributor of ideas and perspective.
Curt ends his open letter to business by saying, “P.S. By the way, as coincidental as this may sound…I have written for years, mostly in a business environment…I have enhanced other companies’ images with my writing, and most coincidental of all, I’m looking for an interesting and challenging career change.”
Ditto for this writer.
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