ANALYSIS OF THE WORKER 
A number of investigators have found significant correla- 
tions between a properly weighted total score on items of 
this sort and success in the occupation studied. By such 
means it has been possible to select employees more accu- 
rately for life-insurance selling and for certain types of 
specialty selling (89). 
2. Personal history. A man’s vocational tendencies are 
determined in great part by his early personal history, and 
predictions of future success should rest in part upon his 
past accomplishment. Below are some suggestive questions: 
Where was the worker born? 
What was the native country of his parents? 
What was his father’s occupation? 
Under what conditions was the worker brought up? 
How many brothers and sisters did he have? 
Which of his parents did the worker prefer? 
Which of his parents did the worker take after? 
Who was the dominant member of the family? 
What was the financial and social status of the worker's 
family? 
What occupation did his parents wish him to enter? 
Was his childhood such that if he had it to live over again, 
he would choose more cheerful conditions? 
Freyd, among others, has shown the worth of such topics 
in the differentiation of occupational groups (58). 
The investigator will want to use his own judgment in the 
selection of questions on personal history. He will be 
limited by the difficulty of obtaining such personal informa- 
tion from the worker, but the difficulties are not insurmount- 
able. 
Two groups of personal history items are so valuable in 
this connection that each deserves special mention: the 
worker’s previous occupational experience, and his educa- 
tion. 
3. Previous experience. The worker’s occupational career 
should be recorded in sufficient detail to show not only the 
61