Competency Category:
Competency Series:

8.4 – Communicate in Writing

Purpose & Context

Career Development Professionals (CDPs) communicate in writing to inform, explain, or persuade others.

Effective Performance

Competent career development professionals must be able to:

  • P1. Establish context, purpose, and audience
  • P2. Structure communication in a coherent and logical manner, e.g. introduction, main topic, transition statement,conclusion
  • P3. Illustrate points with examples, where appropriate
  • P4. Tailor language to intended audience, e.g. tone, style, sentence structure, vocabulary
  • P5. Follow rules of grammar, punctuation, spelling, and sentence structure
  • P6. Write in a clear and concise manner:
    • Use plain language
    • Avoid use of jargon and complex rhetoric
    • Avoid acronyms or abbreviations without explanations
  • P7. Proofread document

Knowledge & Understanding

Competent career development professionals must know and understand:

  • K1. Grammar, punctuation, and spelling conventions
  • K2. Usage of plain language

Contextual Variables

Competent career development professionals must be able to perform this competency in the following range of contexts:

Further considerations regarding writing style and formatting may be required depending on the document’s purpose and audience.

Glossary & Key References

Terms

Industry-specific terms contained in the standard defined here, where applicable.

None

Information Sources and Resources for Consideration

None

Context Rating Scales

Criticality

Q: What is the consequence of a professional being unable to perform this skill according to the standard?

Moderate risk: CRITICAL

Frequency

Q: How frequent and under what conditions is this skill performed?

Routinely, regular course of procedure

Level of Difficulty

Q: Under routine circumstances, how would you rate the level of difficulty in performing this skill?

Minimal difficulty or complexity

Time Required to Gain Proficiency

Q: What is the average length of time or number of repeated events that are minimally necessary for an individual to become proficient in performing the skill to the standard?

To become fully proficient in this competency, a career development professional requires the experience of writing at least three samples of each of the documents and reports required to perform successfully in the job.

Autonomy

Practitioners typically perform this competency without supervision, and alone.

Automation

It is somewhat likely that this competency will automate.

Requisite Work Aids, Tools, Equipment or Materials

None