Jeffrey Katz on the value of writing skills

In an interview published in The New York Times, retail executive Jeffrey G. Katz (pictured) said that he looks to hire people who have strong problem-solving skills. When interviewing job candidates, he tries “to see whether we can work collaboratively to come up with solutions. I’ll also say: ‘Look, would you think about this problem and get back to me? How would you launch this product as a marketer? How would you tackle this problem?’ ”

And he wants to see the answers in writing: “When you ask people to write, they have more time to think carefully about something, so I’ll see what careful thought creates. If there’s an inability to string thoughts together, that’s good to know. Or maybe they’ve done their research, and their passion and interests are also reflected a little bit more. It’s just a way to dig in slightly deeper.”

The Takeaway: Strong writing skills can help open doors to good jobs in good companies, because smart executives usually recognize the value of writing skills.

Thanks to Paul G. Henning for spotting the interview.

Also see “Smart people know grammar is important – an editorial”

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