Formats is important because It demonstrates that you can follow instructions. If you were a hiring manager, you would not want to hire someone who either doesn’t, won’t, or can’t follow directions. It provides consistency. Your readers, whether they are your professors, your boss and coworkers, or your clients, won’t have to guess how you organized your ideas. It facilitates practice of discipline and adherence to standards. I can’t think of a field that doesn’t have some set of standards, such as how to meet web accessibility issues or provide network security. Learning to stick to standards takes practice. It allows you to focus your efforts on content. There are no surprises in how you create a cover page or put the reference list together when you use an established method.











