Further Education and Writing Support [by Multiverse Coach Joe Thorogood]
George Orwell once is reported to have said that those who can’t write well can’t think well and others will do their thinking for them.
At some point or another, we must all translate the thoughts in our head into written missives that the world can decipher. When it comes to choices about comma placement or whether we need an em (—) or an en (–) dash it’s easy to outsource these tasks to Grammarly and Spellchecker.
For those applying for jobs or working in Further Education, such tools are useful. Not sure how to format your CV? Borrow a template from Microsoft Word. Worried about an algorithm sifting your covering letter? There’s blog posts showing you which specific words will trick the AI into hiring you. For a premium, some word processing plugins will relieve you of burdensome choices about tone, style and even word choice.
But what if an apprentice is writing their portfolio for their End Point Assessment? What if they have to write a summary of their massive project for the C-Suite? In such instances, their writing should present both the apprentice and their ideas at their absolute best. We want them writing — and thinking — for themselves.
We don’t just outsource decisions about our writing to AI but also to our workplace. We’ll defer to custom and the styles of our colleagues. That’s always a risky strategy: a recent Skills for Jobs report from the Department for Education revealed that 15% of the workforce have the literary skills of an 11-year old, slightly lower odds than rolling any number on a six-sided die.
When we give up the majority stake in our writing we risk producing documents that are perfectly correct and instantly forgettable because they no longer represent us. We sacrifice our insight and our individuality: two things firms are crying out for.
Take, for example, copywriters; a quick search on LinkedIn reveals multiple firms looking for ‘creative copywriters’. Flicking through most glossy corporate reports, university brochures or job adverts confirms why: most business writing is uninspired; it’s hard to identify an individual voice in words that aren’t so much as written as they are vetted by committee.
Universities know this. In their careers centres, alongside psychometric testing practice and mock interviews, they also teach advanced writing skills. Some universities even have Fellows from the Royal Literary Fund (RLF); professional authors who sit down with students and their essays. These services are usually designed for academic writing but the underlying message remains the same: clarity of thought and originality of expression are valuable commodities that can be learned and should be taught.
I also know this: I learnt it when I was a PhD student at UCL. I bagged an appointment with the resident Royal Literary Fund Fellow Alicia Foster. It was a wonderfully clarifying experience. She helped me stop writing in a way I thought academics should write and instead suggested I do my writing — and thinking — for myself. It’s a lesson I treasured, so much so that in later years I worked at the University’s Writing Lab, teaching students to channel their own voice with clarity and confidence.
Further Education does not provide advanced writing skills; there’s no RLF fellows in FE colleges. Apart from the mandatory functional skills required to start an apprenticeship, learners receive little advanced writing support. Writing courses do exist but they aren’t cheap.
Some might argue apprentices get enough skills from writing at school. But passing GCSE English Lit and Lang doesn’t mean you can communicate your ideas with originality, clarity and professionalism they deserve. By that logic, we’re all chefs because we cook dinner and Formula 1 racers because we drive.
When students and apprentices converge on the same jobs, recruiters will read applications, CVs and covering letters from both groups. One has access to advanced writing support and Royal Literary Fellows; the other does not. It’s a playing field riven by a candidate’s ability to present themselves as a clear and confident communicator..
At Multiverse, we’re changing this. We’re now offering apprentices 1:1 writing support so they can sharpen their writing, thoughts and insights. We’ll help our apprentices write not just their best versions of their ideas — but the best versions of themselves.