Crafting My LinkedIn Interview Message

Our 3rd assignment had us write a formal message to contacts on LinkedIn requesting feedback on the types of writing they do in their jobs. 

Writing messages to professionals made me rethink how informal I usually am online. You can’t write a LinkedIn message like a text. You need structure, a clear purpose, and a respectful tone. It also has to be brief but not rushed. This assignment also made me more aware of respect in communication. If you’re asking someone to take time out of their day, the message has to show respect and intention. The wording matters, the pacing matters, and the level of detail matters.

Sending the messages felt like an actual step into professional networking rather than a class exercise. I found myself checking for tone issues, making sure my message wasn’t too long or too casual, and re-reading it so many times.

This assignment strengthened my confidence in writing real world communication and made me more aware of how I present myself to people who might one day be colleagues or references. It also laid the groundwork for the bigger report required later.

After sending the LinkedIn messages, the next part of Assignment #3 involved creating a professional report summarizing the responses I received. This was the first major workplace-style document we’ve created in ENG 390, and it helped me understand how the audience defines structure.

I wasn’t just summarizing conversations, I was organizing information as if I was going to present it. That meant I had to make choices that reflected professionalism and a tone that was respectful.

The most interesting part of the assignment was seeing the similarities across industries. Even though my contacts work in different fields, they all emphasized three themes:

  1. Writing is constant. Emails, reports, messaging, proposals, all of these shape their day.

  2. Clarity is essential. Miscommunication creates mistakes, delays, and misunderstandings.

  3. Tone matters more than people think. Many said that writing isn’t just about information, it’s about how you frame it and how it affects relationships.

Several also mentioned that technical writing or detailed communication is becoming more important as workplaces rely on remote tools. This showed many points from our in class lectures about the growing importance of written communication in digital spaces.

Creating the report helped me see how much the class is training us to work in professional environments. It’s easy to write essays for a professor, but summarizing information for a workplace audience uses a completely different set of skills. I had to be objective, and intentional.

This assignment made me more aware of how writing functions behind the scenes of every profession. Whether you’re in marketing, health services, technology, or management, writing drives projects forward.

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