CAREER, WRITING
Practice Good Writing Now So You Can Nail That Job Interview
I’m not manic; I just write that way….
What does writing have to do with looking for a job?
The point of a job interview is for potential employers to evaluate your suitability for the job you want. They strive to find the best candidate for the job and to screen all other applicants out as quickly as possible.
Applicants who make it to the interview phase have gotten past the obvious and simplest means of screening; from this point on, employers have been known to use some subtle and ingenious ways to select the kind of people they want to hire.
One of these subtler methods is the impromptu writing sample done just before or after the interview. This is not a handwriting sample, but only a writing sample — a sample of how an applicant fits words together with no preparation.
It is critical, then, to not let your writing be an excuse for an employer to eliminate you from consideration. This means you must be a skilled writer well ahead of time.
One goal of a writing sample is to assess your competence as a writer. Can you write a basic memo or letter? Can you communicate in a professional manner with an external stakeholder?