Humanities at Work

Writing for Corporations

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By Wendy Waters

If you have succeeded in a graduate program in the humanities or social sciences, you most likely have talents coveted by corporations -- the ability to communicate ideas effectively, summarize information quickly, and think creatively. Corporations today produce massive amounts of written materials. They need good, clever writers to produce marketing pieces, research reports, business proposals, PowerPoint presentations, media releases, and more.

Of course, these types of writing assignments don't look much like a paper in English or history. As several successful corporate writers with humanities degrees explained recently on the WRK4US discussion group, forging a career in corporate communications requires you to adapt to meet the needs of business.

The writing done at corporations generally falls into four categories:

• Marketing communications: This usually involves producing brochures, direct-mail pieces, radio spots, print advertisements, business proposals, and the like.

• Corporate communications and public relations: Often closely related to marketing communications, this work typically includes crafting annual reports, news releases, updates to shareholders, and public information bulletins.

• Technical writing: This can include writing documentation for a new product or writing up research results, often on a technical subject.

• Internal communications: This type of writing is particularly prevalent in larger corporations, and includes drafting internal memorandums, employee manuals, company policies and procedures, employee newsletters, etc.

Depending upon the size of the corporation and its needs, a writing job might fall neatly into one of these categories, or, more likely, will involve several or all of them.

Be aware that writing for corporations rarely begins and ends with crafting powerful prose. Most positions also require that you have -- or learn -- other business-related skills. Writers in these jobs often find themselves overseeing budgets, analyzing numbers, managing projects, or supervising teams of people, and they must have above-average abilities with computer-software programs.

If this sounds daunting, have faith. Humanities Ph.D.'s who have successfully transitioned from academic to writing careers have found it possible -- with effort and initiative -- to learn these additional skills on the job. Salaried writers for corporations generally earn $30,000 to $70,000 a year, depending on their experience and level of responsibility as well as on the size of the company and the city or region where they work.

Kevin Walzer, who holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of Cincinnati, has thrived as a marketing communications specialist, in part because of his openness to acquiring new business skills and knowledge. He has written news releases, advertising copy, marketing packages, and lengthy (100-plus pages) business proposals.

"Every day is a chance to learn something different," Walzer says. While working in advertising departments he learned to manage budgets. Producing marketing campaigns allowed him to gain skills in promoting products and using graphics software. His doctorate, he says, turns out to have been a great beginning for his career.

Some humanities Ph.D.'s find their niche in technical writing. Writing up the results of a lengthy research study often requires the same organizational skills as producing a term paper or dissertation. Additionally, the ability to explain complex information clearly, whether in everyday English or technical terminology, is essential and something at which most humanities graduates excel. Patents, research grants, or business deals often depend on effective communications, putting English-language gurus in demand.

Tara Listel (not her real name) broke into technical writing while completing her Ph.D. in English at a large university in the Northeast. To support herself, she had found a position at a large research-oriented pharmaceutical company. Initially she wrote and edited reports and publications on arthritis treatments. Her strong writing and analytical skills quickly impressed her employer, who soon increased her responsibilities.

Today she continues to work for the company on projects like establishing corporate writing policies and guidelines. She also trains science writers one on one.

Part of Thomas Wilk's work as a senior technical writer and editor at Battelle, an environmental consulting organization, is to set up systems to keep others in his company organized. As a team leader, Wilk (an A.B.D. in English from Ohio State University) supervises the review of all technical documents assigned to his team and ensures that they are edited and delivered on time. Besides checking the documents for proper grammar and spelling, the editing work also involves making sure the paper reads well, contains accurate information, and conforms to company formatting guidelines.

"As an editor in a group full of scientists," he says, "I have the opportunity to bring my skill with language and information technology into contact with specialists in science, geology, chemistry, text processing, and graphic design, and this combination tends to turn projects into intense and pleasurable learning experiences."

Editing is only one element of his work. "Perhaps the key responsibility of my job is to develop and maintain positive working relationships with the high number of people involved on each project," he explains. Keeping documents moving through the production pipeline requires regular meetings with everyone from project managers and researchers to graphic designers and other editors. To succeed in his position, Wilk must negotiate for their time and for their adherence to particular deadlines.

Coordinating the work of other writers is also a key part of Bob Batchelor's internal communications work as vice president of corporate marketing and communications at Bank of America. From his office in San Francisco, Batchelor (M.A. in history from Kent State University) supervises written communications for several divisions across the country. He works with these groups to produce articles for an internal company Web site, to write briefing documents, and plan communications strategies for reaching the corporation's 153,000 employees.

His job, too, is not only about writing. "What I like most about the job is that it requires me to use all the business acumen that I've developed," he says. In his previous positions at dot-com startups and big accounting-consulting firms, Batchelor learned to read quarterly earnings statements and annual reports, and learned how public relations and marketing strategies work.

"Academe prepared me for the business world in terms of establishing a baseline of critical thinking, writing, and research," he says. "The rest I had to learn on my own."

Being able to learn independently is the nature of graduate study, and it's a skill that Batchelor and the other writers mentioned here have used repeatedly in their new careers. As the experiences of these three writers demonstrate, strong writing and sharp thinking skills gained in a humanities program provide a good foundation for building a corporate writing career.

None of these people attended graduate school with a goal beyond teaching and doing research in academe. But their experiences demonstrate that a humanities degree prepares you for much more than just being a professor. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

A final note: This article focused on the experiences of former graduate students who now write for corporations. For guidance on how to structure a résumé and cover letter to persuade corporations to hire you, see the resources on the Humanities at Work Web site.