Workplace Documents: Finding and Applying Written Information
Workplace Documents asks you to read realistic text, such as memos, policies, procedures, emails, notices, and forms, and then answer questions about what it says, what it implies, or what you should do. The skill is targeted retrieval plus careful inference.
Know these concepts: identifying the main idea versus supporting detail, locating specific facts, following a sequence of steps in a procedure, understanding conditional instructions (if X, then Y), recognizing the purpose and audience of a document, and drawing a reasonable conclusion. You should also be able to spot when a document does not contain the answer.
Traps: (1) Choosing a true statement that does not answer the question asked. (2) Confusing what the document says with what you assume is typical practice. (3) Missing qualifiers such as 'except,' 'not,' 'only,' and 'before.' (4) Overlooking a later paragraph that overrides an earlier one. (5) Selecting an inference that goes beyond the text.
Worked example: A policy states that requests must be submitted 'at least five business days before the event.' A question asks whether a request submitted Monday for the following Monday qualifies. Count business days: Tuesday through Friday plus the next Monday is five business days only if you count carefully; the safer reading is that Monday-to-Monday spans exactly five business days, so it meets the minimum. Rule of thumb: underline the exact words the question hinges on, then match them to the text. If the answer requires a fact not in the document, it is wrong.