Effective communication -- both oral and written -- is one of the most sought after skills in the job market no matter your industry.
It goes without saying that marketing and advertising career men and women need to have the ability to get a message across in a clear and creative way. Now that skill is desired across the board whether you're in medicine, real estate, or finance.
Think about these scenarios:
- Doctors need to be able to document their patients' symptoms in a comprehensible way so if another doctor were to take a look, he or she would be able to care for the patient to the best of his or her ability (i.e. writing skills put to the test). They also need to communicate with the patient about his or her status without too much medical jargon (i.e. oral skills put to the test).
- Real estate brokers are responsible for keeping track of many listings, which requires them to have an organizational system to stay on top of each property. A paper trail is handy for knowing the status of each property (i.e. writing skills). Real estate brokers are also salespeople with presentation skills that will help clients fall in love with the property (i.e. oral skills).
- Finance employees are number-crunching all day long but, more often than not, there are paragraph or page-long descriptions helping tell the story. Even in a data driven role, writing skills are needed to drive the point home.
Effective communication correlates with being a team player in the office.
Aside from these examples, effective communication correlates with being a team player in the office. Are you able to easily share pertinent information or solutions to problems with your coworkers? Are you able to brainstorm new ideas and present them in a way that will resonate?
Your verbal and written skills are a critical component to your success in any position. Make it clear in your professional materials that you are a proficient communicator.
Sarah Sax is the Founder of Write For The Job.