234 
EMPLOYMENT PSYCHOLOGY 
What we really do when we judge a person is to express a 
peculiar feeling of liking, indifference, or dislike. We are 
impressed either favorably or unfavorably, or we receive a 
neutral impression. Sometimes we can account for this 
impression, frequently we cannot. Often the most trivial 
fact or happening determines it. This impression we are 
likely to interpret in terms of industry, attention, and 
other personal attributes. However, as will be pointed 
out in the chapter on job analysis, general qualities of this 
kind have little significance when applied to the process of 
choosing particular individuals for particular jobs. In 
the instance given, two groups of girls were observed and 
the estimates expressed were, in general, correct. So far 
as unaided observation could judge, these two groups 
were almost on the same level. Sitting on opposite sides 
of the same room, there was very little observable differ 
ence between them. If they had been lined up before the 
employment interviewer, they would have had equal 
opportunities of being chosen for either inspection or 
gauging. And yet, there was a difference between these 
girls which divided them, after a number of trials in the 
shop, into two distinct groups. One group was best 
fitted for one kind of work, the other for another 
kind. 
Now, when we consider that this is only a single in 
stance, and that a modern industry comprises an almost 
endless variety of tasks and people, the inadequacy of the 
observational method with its general likes and dislikes, 
its loose classifications made on broad lines, becomes in 
creasingly apparent. It is not enough for an applicant to 
make a good general impression when he is applying for a 
position as accountant. He should be able to show or to 
demonstrate concretely that he has the training and