Chapter Introduction

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GETTING HIRED has always involved writing. Whether you apply online through a company’s website, reply to a post on LinkedIn, or send a formal letter and résumé through the mail, you will use words to make the case that the organization should offer you a position.

You will probably make that case quite a few times. According to the U.S. Department of Labor (2012), the typical American worker holds more than 11 different jobs while he or she is between the ages of 18 and 40. Obviously, most of those jobs don’t last long. Even when American workers begin a new job between the ages of 40 and 46, a third of those workers will no longer be with that company at the end of one year, and two-thirds will no longer be there in five years.

For most of you, looking for professional work is the first nonacademic test of your technical-communication skills. And it’s an important test. Kyle Wiens, CEO of two tech companies, iFixit and Dozuki, requires all new employees to pass a writing test. His reason? “If it takes someone more than 20 years to notice how to properly use ‘it’s,’ then that’s not a learning curve I’m comfortable with” (Bowers, 2013).

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