XXV 
THE APPLICANT’S POINT OF VIEW 
No study of employment psychology would be complete 
without a discussion of the applicant’s point of view. 
The consideration of this topic will be particularly apt 
at this time if, in the minds of some readers, the fore 
going chapters have dealt with the applicant in a some 
what artificial manner. It is very easy to talk about an 
applicant as though he were a mere bit of mechanism, an 
inanimate pawn in the game of industry. In order to 
counteract this tendency, let us imagine ourselves for the 
time being in the position of an applicant entering an 
employment office. Let us attempt to adopt the actual 
feelings and mental processes of the individual in search 
of a job. The question which now suggests itself is: What 
kind of applicant shall we be? Shall we apply as expert 
mechanics, draftsmen, or accountants, or shall we apply 
for the work of ordinary laborers, work which requires 
neither skill nor education? Shall we apply as Americans, 
fluent in the English language and at home in American 
customs and manners, or shall we be Italian or Russian 
applicants, unable to speak any but the most broken 
English and still more helpless in writing the language? 
Shall we apply as men or as women? Shall we be appli 
cants for factory jobs or office positions? These questions 
could be continued indefinitely; but the few characters 
which we have suggested will indicate at once the com- 
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