During a year-long ethnography in a workplace setting (a non-profit job and literacy training agency), a study examined how managers learned new genres required in their jobs. There were 2 research questions: (1) what are the specific aspects of a genre to be mastered for effective written communication? and (2) what is the developmental process for acquiring written expertise in a given genre? Data collection involved participant observation of a subject one day a week over a year at a job resource center, collection of all drafts of press releases during that period, and interviews with the subject. Results correlated with the work of M. Himley (1986) and J. A. Langer (1985) in that surface features such as physical format and jargon were picked up first; issues of appropriate content and rhetorical strategies were understood and utilized only with repeated practice. The data contests C. Berkenkotter's work (1988) in that the subject seemed to be learning on both a procedural and a declarative level simultaneously; in other words, the subject was learning at the same time how to write generally in a particular field and how to write specifically in a particular genre. Additional findings show that the subject encountered practices in the workplace inconsistent with what she had learned in school. (Contains 18 references.) (TB)