I write excellent formal letters/emails that get attention - what job could I do?

[Olete32]

I know it's a weird ask, but I'm thinking of all my strengths as I'm desperately trying to pivot.

I write really articulate, attention-grabbing emails/letters. As a result, I've secured significant amount of compensation for people, had institutions change their policies, and secured press coverage for events. I'm articulate, pithy and not afraid of confrontation.

I've mostly written letters/emails on behalf of friends and family. I'm wondering if there is a job that could utilise this quality?

Any thoughts?

Something in opps strategy?

I used a lot of the skills you describe to approach partners, suppliers, bid writing, negotiation etc and to address legal challenges.

My coup de grace was making a man who libelled our company sweat out and apology with one strongly-worded letter.

Good persuasive writing has got me into a lot of job interviews - ones I was wildly unqualified or inexperienced for! So you have to walk the walk in your application.

PR

I came on to suggest this. The CAB will train you up as a volunteer.
Then you can get paid jobs in CABs, Law Centres, disability charities. Or something like a caseworker for an MP.

Definitely lots of briefing jobs in Civil Service policy but it won't be only written communication skills they are looking for. Almost certainly some element of line management at SEO and above. Will be lots of Seeing the Bigger Picture.
Many departments restricting external recruitment at the moment. Worth checking CS Jobs and setting up alerts.

@Olete32
Have you considered doing a similar job, but for an organisation whose work you find more meaningful?

Are there any causes you are especially passionate about?

There are many highly impactful small charities (and some larger ones too) that would benefit from your skill set.

@Jenepeuxpasdiscuteravecdesstupides Why do you think that “taking someone to task” on their own thread which was polite, engaging and informative would be a good idea though? Who made you the grammar police?! (For MNers of longstanding that should perhaps be “the GRAMMER POLICE”!)

It’s just unnecessarily petty and attempts to derail what is otherwise a really interesting and positive thread.

No it doesn't lol.

There are some great suggestions here for a good writer at the beginning of their career who is looking to make the most of their skills. But I don't think any of them will pay as much as PR.

MP correspondence manager, for example, is essentially a secretarial role. You won't be writing fantastic persuasive letters from scratch, but copying and pasting messaging on policies put together by the comms team. Where it doesn't exist, it will be pushed upwards for someone else to do. Absolutely nothing wrong with that, but it is more about organising than creativity.

IMO you'd be far better off pivoting to a different area of comms (or public affairs) which will both fulfil you and pay well. It's not all media relations. Find a sector you care about/are interested in and look for mid-to-senior positions using your existing experience and go for messaging/campaigning/reputation management/stakeholder relations type roles.

You have failed to capitalise ‘Indian, Mexican, Chinese’ correctly.

That is a more egregious error than an errant comma.

😁😁😁

Comms for Marketing. Writer potentially. We employ freelance writers for reports etc. they are well paid and can fit the hours around family/care commitments.

ChatGPT doesn't write decent emails etc yet. You can tell them miles off. There are AI programs that can be used my marketing to write blogs/emails etc but they aren't amazing and are generally not written to be read but more to gage interest etc. I know, sounds strange!

Good morning, everyone - thank you for continuing to contribute ideas. I'm very grateful.

This is interesting - maybe I need to think about a shift in PR. I haven't done PR or marketing in years (I pivoted to do something else writing/training wise about 12 years ago, although decanting information was at the heart of the role) but I think I could sell myself into a new area.

It's SO hard getting to mid-life and trying to make changes. Well, I'm finding it hard. And the climate is crummy - not a great one for opportunities at the moment.

I would love to know more about this - and your company. Would it be okay to DM you?

Supporter care for a charity?

I came on to say comms. I don’t work in it but have worked for large institutions which have comms people. It’s not just the writing, there are quite political decisions to be made about what goes out where and when. Chat bot couldn’t do that. Not yet anyway.

A fundraiser? Working for a charity or a university?

I do this job in a specialist area. It gets very creative linking all the policy team's wording into an overarching narrative that makes sense and is in plain English.

You also have direct information responses where as long as you hit the agreed governmental department tone you can write what you like. It is super interesting being involved in the nitty-gritty of MP/House/Question Time dramas.

It is busy, deadlines can arrive out of nowhere and cases you think are on rails just blow up unexpectedly and require an insane amount of managing to get over the line.

It is a great job - no day is the same and I can say I learn something new every day. This was a midlife change for me from writing in a retail role and I came in as an apprentice (the oldest in creation I am no spring chicken) so I've been invested in and they have agreed to pay for more qualifications.

The flip side is the pay is not the greatest, but in my case it is not terrible in comparison to the sector I came from. The deadline pressure can get out of control. The workload doesn't stop - ever. You just don't get a chance to take a breath.

here is the link

https://www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/index.cgi

Copywriter
Proofreader
Bid/Proposal writer
Communications
PA
Content writer
Exam marker (higher education)
University support role (i.e. helping students with essays)
Secretary in a law firm
Editor
Ghostwriter (helping people write books)

Fundraising?

Civil service - either content design or comms. I've worked in both those roles and I have skills like yours.

Don't be a secretary in a law firm. It is going the way of the dodo bird.

I like an Oxford comma, but there are other errors in the OP that would cost me work if I made them.

So my advice - regardless of the job concerned or how great you think your writing is - would be to use a proofreader .

Thanks for this.

I do find these sarcastic/blunt messages about my grammar irritating. Firstly, I've been posting fast and furiously on this site without checking my grammar. This is a thread about ideas, about brain storming.

Will I make grammar mistakes? Of course! I've not reviewed a single post, this isn't formal writing and I've never said my grammar is impeccable. I've said I'm an excellent letter/formal post writer - which I am, regardless of how the grammar police sneer at me for making this claim.

Amongst my published friends and peers (all of us published by leading publishers), whose draft work I get to see, I can tell you that their prose, at some point, always contains grammar mistakes. It doesn't stop them being excellent writers. It's why proofreaders exist!

So, whilst I'm sorry my writing on this thread might have 'cost you your job' @SocksAndTheCity, your passive aggressive post adds little to the discussion.

To the others who've been helpful, thanks so much.

HR? Specifically employee relations or L&D.

For ER, having the right tone for messages and meetings has a big impact on employees. For L&D similar but for training and learning interventions. If you went for this I’d advise going for tech, financial services as HR can be both very well paid or terrible!