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EMPLOYMENT  PSYCHOLOGY

ticeship.  It  is  necessary  to  discover,  first  of  all,  what  this
candidate’s  training  has  been,  particularly  his  education  in
mathematics.  In  order  to  ascertain  this  he  is  given  a
mathematical  test.  This  test  will  indicate  quite  clearly
whether  the  boy  has  had  the  necessary  preliminary  education ­
  and  whether  he  is  sufficiently  well  up  on  what  he  has
studied  to  warrant  immediate  admission  into  the  course.
However,  in  addition  to  this  it  is  desirable  to  know
whether  the  boy  possesses  the  right  kind  of  natural  ability
to  make  him  a  successful  journeyman.  This  is  a  more
subtle  problem;  but  in  order  to  obtain  a  forecast  of  the
boy’s  development,  tests  which  have  previously  proved
their  significance  in  this  respect  are  given.  These  tests,
described  in  the  chapter  on  tests  for  apprentices,  do  not
involve  education  or  training  in  any  particular  subject  but
rather  the  ability  to  think  and  act  quickly  and  appropriately ­
  in  certain  desirable  directions.  When  these  two
facts  have  been  ascertained;  namely,  the  boy’s  education
or  acquired  ability,  and  his.  capacity  or  innate  ability,  it
can  be  intelligently  decided  whether  or  not  he  should  be
taken  into  the  apprentice  course  and  trained  in  the  vocation ­
  of  a  tool  maker  or  some  other  trade.
To  take  another  illustration,  let  us  consider  an  applicant
for  the  position  of  stenographer.  Such  a  candidate  may
be  said  to  have  already  chosen  her  vocation.  However,
it  is  nevertheless  a  question  whether  her  choice  and  her
training  make  her  valuable  enough  in  that  vocation  to
justify  her  selection  by  the  employment  office.  In  order
to  decide  this  question  it  is  necessary  to  know,  first  of  all>
whether  she  has  the  necessary  education  in  the  fundamentals ­
  of  her  work.  To  determine  this,  spelling,  grammar,
and  punctuation  tests  are  given.  Besides  this,  it  is  necessary ­
  to  know  whether  she  has  had  the  necessary  training