Comments on: #WednesdayWrite: Writing Superlatives

By: Clement Boateng

Clement Boateng — Mon, 26 Feb 2018 02:13:07 +0000

Your intended career field – Civil Engineering

Longest kind of document someone in your field writes – Project Development Plan

Shortest kind of document someone in your field writes – Technical Memorandum

Most frequent kind of document someone in your field writes – Site Visit Reports

Most important kind of document someone in your field writes (and why) – Site Visit Reports and Bridge Inspection Reports ( It is important to document the current situation of various sites because that is what decisions are based on).

Most difficult/challenging kind of writing in your field (and why) – Project Development Plan (It can be very lengthy depending on the type of project. All information relating to the proposed project has to be gathered as well before it can be written).

Easiest kind of writing in your field (and why) – Memo (It is usually one or two pages long. It does not require research. It is just a general idea about a project or experiment).

Biggest surprise about writing in your field – I thought civil Engineering was all about calculations and not writing.

Favorite thing about writing in your field – One gets to communicate technical information using good writing skills.

Hokiest thing you have done (that you can talk about in class) – Paying extra $50 on my car car registration to get the VT number plate instead of a regular number plate.

By: Khang Lieu

Khang Lieu — Sat, 24 Feb 2018 04:08:35 +0000

Your intended career field: Software Engineer
Longest kind of document someone in your field writes: User manuals (Which are boring to write too)
Shortest kind of document someone in your field writes: Instant messages (Slack)
Most frequent kind of document someone in your field writes: Code comments
Most important kind of document someone in your field writes (and why): Code comments, because they explain how each part of the code works for future contributors. Without them, other people can’t improve the code since they can’t understand parts of it.
Most difficult/challenging kind of writing in your field (and why): Technical data sheets, the format has to be easy to read and the information cannot have any errors (The parts might be used in life or death situations such as space shuttles, airplanes, cars, etc.
Easiest kind of writing in your field (and why): Instant messages, quick and easy
Biggest surprise about writing in your field: I didn’t realize that my field would include as much writing as it does
Favorite thing about writing in your field: I like explaining how all the code fits together
Hokiest thing you have done (that you can talk about in class): Talking to alumni I meet about Tech at my part time job in D.C.

By: Ashleigh Griffin

Ashleigh Griffin — Fri, 23 Feb 2018 23:19:12 +0000

Your intended career field: Oral History
Longest kind of document someone in your field writes: Transcripts
Shortest kind of document someone in your field writes: Emails
Most frequent kind of document someone in your field writes: Transcripts or outlines/interview questions
Most important kind of document someone in your field writes (and why): IRB Proposals; they are what the IRB uses to assess a project to determine whether it is within the safety guidelines when working with human subjects.
Most difficult/challenging kind of writing in your field (and why): Transcripts/Subject Index; they are long and take a lot of time to do as you have to listen to the interview and write word for word what is being said and any noises or side comments that are made. There may also be information within the transcript that can’t be included for third party privacy so the editing process can be tedious. Time stamps for transitions must be included and important subjects added to the index along with information on where to find that subject in interviews.
Easiest kind of writing in your field (and why): Advertisement; generally a flyer or facebook event or small packet of information doesn’t take long to put together and can be reused or revised for other uses.
Biggest surprise about writing in your field: Not much if I’m honest, maybe that IRB proposals are so involved because I thought that they were maybe a two or three page document where as the one for the project I work with is 11 pages long.
Favorite thing about writing in your field: You get to explore different topics that aren’t talked about or are only shown in one perspective. Getting to share stories and new information to people is exciting.
Hokiest thing you have done (that you can talk about in class): I put VT stickers on my cars (and I hate putting any typs of decals or stickers on my cars)

By: Jeremy C.

Jeremy C. — Fri, 23 Feb 2018 04:25:38 +0000

Your intended career field
Computer Science

Longest kind of document someone in your field writes
Documentation

Shortest kind of document someone in your field writes
Code Comments

Most frequent kind of document someone in your field writes
Commit Messages (Short text that accompanies small code changes)

Most important kind of document someone in your field writes (and why)
Code comments because it really does help other co-workers understand the logic behind your work.

Most difficult/challenging kind of writing in your field (and why)
Documentation. It is a challenge to write good documentation that concisely describes the functionality of a service.

Easiest kind of writing in your field (and why)
Slack message. It is a casual form of writing that does not take much cognitive effort.

Biggest surprise about writing in your field
More prevalent than I originally thought.

Favorite thing about writing in your field
Often very short, but feels important.

Hokiest thing you have done (that you can talk about in class):
Yell ‘go hokies!’ when running into alumnus around the country.

By: Mark Marut

Mark Marut — Thu, 22 Feb 2018 03:46:10 +0000

1. Your intended career field: Chemical Engineering
2. Longest kind of document someone in your field writes: Either process/user manuals or technical full fledged reports on operations of equipment.
3. Shortest kind of document someone in your field writes: E-mails, and daily/weekly progress reports.
4. Most frequent kind of document someone in your field writes: Daily reports to ensure safety requirements and equipment is working properly.
5. Most important kind of document someone in your field writes (and why): I would say project proposals, because these are the initial papers that get a project started, and cannot be too long or short, and will get shut down a lot of the time, but it’s how the engineering department keeps moving forward.
6. Most difficult/challenging kind of writing in your field (and why): Probably technical reports and user reports, because these need to be in depth about every single piece of equipment that is being used, from predictions on what will happen, to what actually happens, and what could go wrong, and how different environments will affect the equipment.
7. Easiest kind of writing in your field (and why): Emails, because these are short and to the point, and can be facilitated anywhere, without much editing needed.
8. Biggest surprise about writing in your field: Not much room for creative writing.
9. Favorite thing about writing in your field: It covers all the basis in technical writing, because handling and operating equipment that costs hundreds or thousands of dollars requires a tremendous attention to detail.
10. Hokiest thing you have done (that you can talk about in class): Haven’t missed a chicken parm day yet.

By: shuai liu

shuai liu — Thu, 22 Feb 2018 03:26:13 +0000

1. Your intended career field: Data analysis
2. Longest kind of document someone in your field writes: research paper
3. Shortest kind of document someone in your field writes: Messages with one word
4. Most frequent kind of document someone in your field writes: emails
5. Most important kind of document someone in your field writes (and why) research paper because i have to write ideas, logic, and all those need to be precise.
6. Most difficult/challenging kind of writing in your field (and why): research paper because all the data I need it’s base on the tests, i have to record almost everything.
7. Easiest kind of writing in your field (and why): journal, just for recording what i did for the day .
8. Biggest surprise about writing in your field: people had the same thought like mine.
9. Favorite thing about writing in your field: Project analysis, because this is the time i can brainstorm a lot of ideas.

By: Rachel Cannon

Rachel Cannon — Thu, 22 Feb 2018 03:18:11 +0000

1. Your intended career field => Civil and Environmental Engineering
2. Longest kind of document someone in your field writes => site assessment reports that detail all features of site, environmental contamination, wetlands, parcel boundaries, topography, etc.
2. Shortest kind of document someone in your field writes => memos
3. Most frequent kind of document someone in your field writes => emails
4. Most important kind of document someone in your field writes (and why) => proposals because they are how companies get bids for projects based on the proposed solution and budget
5. Most difficult/challenging kind of writing in your field (and why) => construction general conditions because the scope of the project must be clearly defined so that there is no confusion between the owner, architect, engineer, builder, and other parties involved in project.
6. Easiest kind of writing in your field (and why) => CAD drawings because the writing is just labels and descriptions for the maps and images.
7. Biggest surprise about writing in your field => how many different types of writing there is in the field
8. Favorite thing about writing in your field => I enjoy being able to convey image graphically and format data so it can be easily understood.
9. Hokiest thing you have done (that you can talk about in class) => jumping to enter sandman before taking exams

By: Caed Cunningham

Caed Cunningham — Thu, 22 Feb 2018 02:51:57 +0000

Hi! My intended career field is Civil Engineering

Longest kind of document someone in your field writes –> Depends, likely reports or proposals.
Shortest kind of document someone in your field writes –> E-mail or abstract.
Most frequent kind of document someone in your field writes –> E-mail.
Most important kind of document someone in your field writes (and why) –> Designs and calculation are most important as they are integral and end up becoming the tangible final project.
Most difficult/challenging kind of writing in your field (and why) –> Depends, I’m guessing white papers because they require so much research and thoroughness.
Easiest kind of writing in your field (and why) –> Invoices, simple list of what to bill a client!
Biggest surprise about writing in your field –> How much of the job entails writing!
Favorite thing about writing in your field –> Its all very clear and practical communication about a tangible subject.
Hokiest thing you have done (that you can talk about in class) –> Volunteered to hand out recycling bags at VT football tailgates!

Thanks!

Caed

By: Casey

Casey — Thu, 22 Feb 2018 01:43:49 +0000

1. Your intended career field: enterprise software engineering

2. Longest kind of document someone in your field writes: use case document (often hundreds or thousands of pages)

3. Shortest kind of document someone in your field writes: commit message (often less than 50 characters)

4. Most frequent kind of document someone in your field writes: commit message (several hundred per day)

5. Most important kind of document someone in your field writes (and why): vision; without it, there is no project

6. Most difficult/challenging kind of writing in your field (and why): business case; most software projects are probably not worth investing in so it’s hard to argue that they should be

7. Easiest kind of writing in your field (and why): wiki page; it’s low-stakes so somewhat lower quality is more acceptable

8. Biggest surprise about writing in your field: software engineering is purportedly about coding but I write vastly more than I code.

9. Favorite thing about writing in your field: it requires precision, which I find the most natural way to write

10. Hokiest thing you have done (that you can talk about in class): I have a Virginia Tech door mat which I inherited from a previous roommate and only kept because I didn’t want to spend money on a different one. I actually have moral objections to strong tribal identities like this and try to avoid it as much as possible.

By: Omar Saadeh

Omar Saadeh — Thu, 22 Feb 2018 01:30:32 +0000

1. Your intended career field: Data Analysis

2. Longest kind of document someone in your field writes: Market Research Report

3. Shortest kind of document someone in your field writes: Email

4. Most frequent kind of document someone in your field writes: Comma-separated-value files

5. Most important kind of document someone in your field writes (and why): Market Research Report since it closes the gap between corporate ambitions and consumer demand

6. Most difficult/challenging kind of writing in your field (and why): Working with “big data” which is mostly unstructured and trying to find patterns that lead to specific insights.

7. Easiest kind of writing in your field (and why): Emails since they require relatively less effort.

8. Biggest surprise about writing in your field: Analyzing and interpreting data is similar to story-telling (writing skills should be on spot)

9. Favorite thing about writing in your field: Expanding my knowledge in certain fields.

10. Hokiest thing you have done (that you can talk about in class): Snuck into the Ohio State game in 2015 and the Clemson game in 2017 without tickets.