Connor Konshak

College Writing
Chris Godsey
11/6/15
Proposal for Improvement
In the past few weeks I have learned that emails, reports, writing clearly, and writing
effectively will be important in the writing I do as a business major and in my future career of
business. This is my proposal for how I will use my time here at UMD to better equip myself for
the writing to come.
Throughout this learning experience I have found that there are many types, audiences,
and purposes of writing in my future. I learned what my most common types of writing will be
in an article written by Jack Suttle. He emphasizes the importance of emails, reports, and
presentations because they are a common part in the life of a businessman. Once I had found
some specific types of writing, I needed to find how often they would occur and the specific
purpose of their occurrence. In an interview with Paul Konshak, he explained to me how often
writing will occur is dependent on the type of writing I will be doing. He stated that emails
would be the most common part of my everyday life. Its important to communicate clearly
through email, therefore everyone can be on the same page. He also touched on how he gives
reports to his boss on how his team of employees are working. I now know that this is a less
common form of writing, but it is a very important one. It affects not only his job, but also the
jobs of his coworkers. I also interviewed a business major here at UMD named Alex Knutson.
He also stressed the importance of being clear, concise, and to the point. Depending on the

specific type of writing, my audience will most likely be my coworkers whether it be through
email, presentations, or reports.
I have found all this information through the use of Google, interviews, and databases. I
started by getting a basic idea of the writing in my future through the use of Google because I
believe it is usually the best generator of basic information. It was here where I found the types
of writing I talked about earlier. I also found an article written by Dr. Stephanie Heald-Fisher that
consisted of a brief explanation of the importance of writing in landing a job. I did not realize
that writing played such a large role in the application process, but through using Google I could
better understand things about writing that I did not yet know. Once I had found what I needed
from google, I wanted to include some first hand experience. I then turned to my father who has
been an IT manager at Georgia pacific for over 10 years. From that interview the information I
acquired from google was then elaborated on from first hand experience. I learned about the
purpose and potential audiences of my future writing assignments. For my second paper I needed
more in depth information, so I turned to the databases. It was here where I found the story from
NBC Chicago that continued to emphasize the importance of writing with the story about the
man with an Ivy League education that lost his job because of his inability to write clearly and
effectively. Through Google, interviewing, and databases I was able to find the information I was
looking for.
Looking back on my research I see that a lot of the information given coincides with one
another. Some of the biggest overlaps are that email is the most common forms of business
writing, the overall importance of writing clearly and effectively, and the consequences of
writing poorly. In both Suttles article and Konshaks interview, the repetition of email being a
common part of the day was emphasized multiple times. Through this reoccurrence I have a

strong feeling that emails will be a part of my everyday life. I know I will most likely be
responsible for emailing my coworkers and that if I want to succeed, these messages have to be
easily understood. Another overlap was the importance of writing clearly and effectively. In the
majority of the sources I have listed so far, the overall importance of this type of writing has been
emphasized over and over. As stated in both NBCs story, Heald-Fishers article, and Konshaks
interview it was explained that writing can truly make or break a job opportunity. Whether it be
landing a job or maintaining a job, writing well plays a key role in the success of a business
person. This gives me the idea that even though I will have a job in the business field, I will not
only need to know my business, but I will need to learn important writing skills as well.
Through all of the research I have conducted thus far, I have a solid idea of what skills I
want to have come graduation day. I want to be able to convey what I am thinking into whatever
I am writing. When the time comes, it is a goal of mine to impress my employer and land a stable
job. Once I make it into the business field, I want have the skill of writing clearly. This skill can
be useful in a variety of ways such as landing my future job in the first place and maintaining it
after. I want to be able to write well in general because it is important to the success of my future.
One skill I feel will be fairly natural to improve is my ability to email. I plan to practice
throughout my four years here as a basic way to communicate. I have already started by emailing
my teachers when I have concerns or questions about my classes. I will continue to do so and try
to be as clear and professional as possible just like I will need to be in my job to be. Practice is
the best way to learn this skill, so I will plan accordingly.
The next skill I plan to learn by the time I am finished here is being able to write clearly
and effectively. I reached out to Abram Anders, who is a business professor in the Labovitz
School of Business and Economics. I asked him if he could point me in a direction that would

lead me to opportunities that will improve my writing skills. He replied saying there are,
innumerable opportunities to improve as a business writer. He was able to break his input down
into three categories. The three areas were educational, experiential, and self development. He
provided opportunities in each of these categories that were a big help in creating my plan.
He first advised me to become more educated in writing and take classes geared toward
that goal. In order to figure out which classes would be helpful to a business major, I figured
there would be no better resource than a UMD business major himself. I asked a marketing
major named Alex Knutson what he felt helped him become a better business writer. He told me
that he has taken the course Business Communications and it has helped him greatly. This course
gave him countless opportunities to practice writing clear and precise. Anders also recommended
an advanced writing course and high impact business writing. I plan to become more educated by
taking some of these classes that will improve my skills as a business writer.
The second area Anders suggested was experiential. To gain some experience I plan to
seek out an internship with a significant amount of writing and written communication. There are
plenty of internship opportunities around campus, but I have to find one that works with my
football schedule. As a football player the coaching staff will help me look for these
opportunities that will not conflict with my athletic experience.
The last area Anders suggested was self development. He assembled a list of links to
websites geared towards becoming a better writer in the business world. I plan to look into these
resources and hopefully better myself as a writer. Aside from the resources Anders provided, I
also plan to take advantage of a resource called The Writer's Workshop. This is a resource
available in the UMD library where students can set up appointments with writing experts and
get tips for where and how to improve. I plan to bring my writing here and allow them to make

comments and give me advice. I will then take their advice and make corrections on my own.
Eventually what they tell me will become natural to me and I will improve.
There are a lot of skills I need to have before I graduate to make me as successful as
possible. I need to be able to communicate clearly through email and plan to improve by
practicing as much as I can. Communicating clearly and effectively as business people do, will
make me a more professional writer. I plan to do this by educating myself through taking writing
classes geared toward business and will seek out opportunities to intern in jobs that require a
significant amount of business writing. Lastly, I plan to look into resources that will enable me to
improve on my own. I have a lot of work to do if I want to be the writer I need to be upon
graduation and I plan to seek out the opportunities that can get me there.

Work Cited
Abram, Anders. "What Do You Suggest?" E-mail interview. 4 Nov. 2015.
"Having Good Writing Skills Is Important for the Business World | Globe University Blog."
Globe University Blog. N.p., 23 July 2012. Web. 14 Sept. 2015.
"How Writing Became a Lost Art in Business." NBC Chicago. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2015.

"Importance of Writing Skills in Business." Small Business. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Sept. 2015.
Knutson, Alex. "What Has Worked for You?" Telephone interview.
Konshak, Paul J. "What Writing I Do in My Job." Phone Call. De Pere. 10 Sept. 2015. Lecture.