Today’s Book Blogger Hop question is: Do you thing that readers make better employees, as opposed to non-readers? Why or why not?
My first thought on this question was…I don’t really see how the two ideas connect? Unless you’re working in a job where a knowledge of books is particularly relevant (a school, a library or a bookstore seem like the most obvious examples), I’m not sure there’s any direct connection to whether someone likes to read and whether they’re skilled at their job.
I think reading is one way people can grow, gaining knowledge, new perspectives and greater empathy. But it’s not the only way. And I don’t think a love of reading automatically indicates higher intelligence over non-readers–again, there are other ways smart people may choose to spend their time.
Good reading comprehension skills, the kind that they test on the SAT, are one skill that’s useful for employees, especially in any job with any element of admin. I work in marketing and I’ve sent a LOT of emails over my career, and the ability to understand an email and to write a clear one back is in fact really helpful. There probably is a correlation between people with good reading comprehension and people who love to read. But–it’s just one skill, and it also feels like I’m really parsing this question to get to this point. Also, many, many other things (work ethic, integrity, knowledge re: their actual job tasks) go into making someone a good employee.
After all that–I will say that I personally like working with readers because it gives me something to talk to them about. Although when I think about it, my friends tend to be readers. With the co-workers I’ve been closest too, we’ve usually bonded about something else; mostly the job, or occasionally geek TV shows.
So I guess that all adds up to a “no, not really” for this question!
Tales of the Marvelous 