This reflection paper explores the role of written communication in engineering through an interview with a Customer Support Specialist at Goodrich Aerospace. The paper examines how the interviewee adapts his writing style for different audiences — customers, coworkers, and management — and how the complexity of technical communication often goes unrecognized by readers. Key lessons include the dense, information-rich nature of professional technical writing, the value of clarity and tone, and the gap between academic writing instruction and workplace demands. The author reflects on his own preparedness as an engineering student and considers how workplace experience might bridge his essay-writing background with the practical communication skills his career will require.
The subject of this interview is a good friend who has occupied his position at Goodrich Aerospace for slightly less than one year. Approximately twenty percent of his working day — where his official title is Customer Support Specialist, Level 1 — is spent doing various types of writing. He holds a degree in computer engineering from San Diego State University. His parents helped him attain his current position; since both had already been employed by Goodrich Aerospace, it was simply a matter of passing his résumé to the right people.
Since the interviewee was a close friend, the interview was conducted at his home and was very casual in nature. After agreeing to participate, he was more than happy to provide all the information regarding his current position and how he got there.
The interviewee's writing is largely in email form. However, he stresses that even this type of written communication is essential to the overall functioning of the firm he works in — and, indeed, any firm. One of the more challenging features of the written portion of his job is that he routinely needs to alter his writing style depending upon the particular audience he is addressing. He writes for customers, coworkers, and management. Because of this, he must always be very conscious of the level of technical information within any piece of writing he creates. For coworkers and management, the level of technical material can remain fairly high; yet when writing to customers, this must be deliberately reduced, and alternative ways of conveying the same information must sometimes be devised. When writing specifically to coworkers, he notes, his writing does not need to be as formal as in other instances.
The fundamental basis of a properly functioning organization is good communication — this is perhaps the most significant lesson to be learned regarding the importance of writing. Of course, when most people enter engineering or the physical sciences, written communication is rarely regarded as the basic building block of science and engineering that it truly is.
No one runs an engineering firm alone. Everyone occupies an individual role and is responsible for a unique set of information and a unique set of responsibilities. This means that no single person can be in possession of all information within the firm at any given time; furthermore, no one is even capable of knowing what is happening just down the hall without proper communication. Ultimately, this is why writing skills are an invaluable asset in any workplace. It just so happens, however, that skilled writers are relatively rare within the engineering community. This is why focused attention to the craft of writing among engineers and scientists is receiving ever-increasing emphasis within organizations that recognize its elemental role in efficient business operations.
From this interview, an important insight emerged: even if an individual enjoys writing and communicating with coworkers, management, or customers, it may often be the case that the writer is not regularly proud of the finished product. The interviewee noted that although many of the memos and emails he sends are meticulously organized and worded, the final product often betrays very little of this complicated process to the audience. He points out that even a very brief memo, depending upon who he is writing to, could take much of his working day to put together. There is a long process of outlining, drafting, and revising to transform complex engineering material into something understandable to someone outside that area of expertise.
Once the piece of writing is complete, he says, it is highly unlikely that the reader appreciates the level of effort required to produce something readable. Consequently, he has very few pieces of writing from his time at Goodrich Aerospace that he feels particularly proud of; they seem to lack significant creativity, even though they certainly required knowledge and skill. This dynamic — where invisible labor produces seemingly plain output — is a well-documented challenge in professional communication.
Another major lesson from this experience is that, although the interviewee does not feel that he writes more than other engineers, he still believes that writing is a very important facet of his position. This suggests that almost anyone in an engineering role will be placed in an environment where writing is of crucial value — whether or not that person acquired strong writing skills in college or high school. As a result, many engineers enter the field with little or no practical writing experience and are forced to develop these skills on the job. This strongly suggests that college engineering and science courses focusing on technical or scientific communication could be extremely valuable to current and future engineers.
"Dense, clear, and cordial traits of professional writing"
"Gap between college writing courses and workplace needs"
"Author's own readiness for engineering workplace writing"
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