Employers' Perceptions of the Writing Abilities of the Graduates of the Oklahoma State University Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the 2000-2005 Agricultural, Food, Environmental, and Natural Sciences Career Fair recruiters' perceptions of the writing abilities of the graduates of Oklahoma State University (OSU) College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources (CASNR). The researcher used a Web-based survey to determine the organizational and recruiter demographics and the importance of writing skills in the recruitment process and workplace. The findings revealed the majority of recruiters took writing skills into consideration frequently or almost always and they assessed the writing abilities of graduates most frequently by their written letter of application. In addition, recruiters indicated almost all of their employees have some responsibility for writing and the most frequent type of writing is e-mail correspondence. Overall, recruiters reported they were satisfied with the writing abilities of the graduates of OSU CASNR.