Kat Giordano graduated from Penn State Behrend’s Creative Writing program in 2017.
When Kat Giordano graduated from Penn State Behrend’s Creative Writing program in 2017, she wasn’t sure where her next chapter would start, but she never imagined it would be at a law firm.
“Creative Writing majors seem to have the impression that it will be difficult for them to find work, but that has not been my experience at all,” said Giordano, a legal technical writing team lead with Colombo & Hurd, a public law firm specializing in immigration law in Orlando, Florida.
Giordano, who began as a technical writer for another firm, leads a team of writers in drafting petition support letters for non-employment-based visa applications. She reviews documents drafted and submitted by the team, creates and leads presentations to support continued development of the writers, and develops templates and protocols to adapt to changes in legal strategy.
“I never had any intention of working in immigration law, but it turns out that I really love it,” she said. “Stumbling into this field is a happy accident for which I’m grateful.”
She’s not alone. This spring, Giordano was one of four Creative Writing alumni—all working for law firms—who participated in a virtual panel discussion with current Behrend students.
“Writing and editing are the primary skills required for my job, so having a degree that so heavily emphasized writing was very helpful for me,” Giordano said. “In a law firm, there is an exceptionally high volume of writing-intensive work to be done, so a trained writer who can hit the ground running and produce consistently good work is valuable.”
Giordano said legal experience is not necessary to write for a law firm.
“It’s easier to take someone with strong writing skills and no legal experience and teach them the basic skills they need to be a good legal/technical writer than it is the other way around,” she said.
Giving and receiving constructive criticism is another important skill that Giordano honed at Behrend.
“Working with my writers, I think back to my experiences in poetry or fiction class, and it helps me to keep my tone positive and encouraging,” she said. “I always appreciated it when my fellow students approached my work with curiosity, like ‘I wonder what would happen if your character, ...’ rather than criticizing it outright. You’d be surprised how many people skills you learn in creative writing classes that are applicable in the corporate world.”
Kat on ...
Practicing her craft: I write creatively on a weekly, if not daily, basis. I just released my fourth book, Thumbsucker (Malarkey Books). I also enjoy attending and sharing my work at literary readings, virtually and around the greater Philadelphia area.
Perseverance: Rejection really is part of the writing life, and it’s something you need to make peace with to maintain enthusiasm for the publication process. I am fortunate to have had this instilled in me as a student at Behrend, submitting my work to literary journals. I got a head start on growing a thick skin.
Independent presses: There is so much great work being published, across genres, in the indie/small press literary world because they take more substantial risks in publishing work that may not appeal to a wide audience but is still valuable and deserves to find readers.
The threat of AI: People think writing is easy because it’s something everyone can do at a basic level, but being able to communicate your thoughts and ideas effectively is not easy. The popularity of Artificial Intelligence tools like ChatGPT just prove that point, but there are many ways it falls short. I think it will be a long time, if ever, that AI can replace brilliant writers like the ones I work with.