Communication at work

So what do you think an average mathematical scientist in the workforce actually does all day? They sit by themselves in front of a computer, or carry out heroic calculations, right? No way!

Most professional jobs involve a fairly diverse range of tasks.  Some of the tasks a typical job in the quantitative area might involve include:

• talking to clients about what sort of services they need;

• preparing documents for clients describing the quantitative procedures you will be applying to their problem, (or perhaps documenting the procedures you have already used);

• working in teams to solve business problems (which might involve doing calculations, writing code, or it might just mean making better use of software that is already available);

• reporting to managers about the progress of your project(s), either through written reports or giving a presentation at a team meeting.

Almost all quantitative jobs will include one or more of these tasks, and they all involve communication with other people, either in written form or orally.

Don’t believe it?  Go to any job recruitment web site, and see what employers are looking for.  You will find that in almost all jobs, the “essential” selection criteria include words like:

“Excellent written and oral skills and the ability to work both autonomously and in a team will be required.”

“Essential requirements: ... Excellent communications skills  and a quick learner with exceptional interpersonal skills.”

“Good verbal and written communications skills are essential.”

Those include quotes from job ads for some of the more technical quantitative jobs – financial services analyst, biostatistician, and business analyst.  Success requires good communication skills just as much as technical knowledge.  Many employers would prefer to employ a graduate with excellent communication skills and reasonable technical skills over a graduate with top grades who has difficulty communicating his/her ideas.

Communication for study

One of the goals of our courses at UTS is to prepare you to enter industry.  And we know that most professional jobs will require you to write reports and give presentations, even if the audience is just your fellow team members.

So in many of the subjects you study, you will be asked to write reports and give presentations, either individually or in teams.  Your success in these subjects depends not only on your technical ability, but also how well you are able to present your ideas in a written or oral form.

BUT I *KNOW* HOW TO WRITE AND SPEAK PROPER!

We know you can write and speak in English – if you didn’t, you wouldn’t have been accepted into your course.  But communication skills are like any other skill – some people are better at it than others.  And the more you work at it, the better you get – everyone has room for improvement.

If you do need some extra help with your communication skills, we want to make sure you can get that help while you’re at UTS. Remember that your future employer demands good communication skills, and your success at UTS depends on good communication skills too.

ELSSA CENTRE

The English Language Study Skills Assistance (ELSSA) Centre provides academic language and literacy support to students at UTS.  Their services are available to all students, regardless of whether English is your first language or not.

The ELSSA Centre runs regular workshops, and can meet with students in groups or individually to help with writing and seminar presentation.  ELSSA can also offer advice and help in preparing assignments.  All of these services are free, so take advantage of them.

The ELSSA Centre is on Level 18 of the Tower Building, or phone 9514-2327.