THE OBSERVATIONAL METHOD
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which she later displayed. An electrician’s ability to
write as shown by his application blank is likely to be a
very poor sign of his ability to set up motors. At best,
the process of employment is a staged process, and the
activities which an applicant is likely to manifest under
these staged conditions are not the activities which go
to make up his truest self. And to judge him by the
irrelevant acts which he commits under these unnatural
conditions is to do him and the industry concerned a
grave injustice.
The difficulty just described is a fundamental difficulty
and one which has been universally recognized. Nevertheless,
it can be in a large measure overcome. One way in
which to mitigate it is to make it possible for the applicant
to express his true self in terms of relevant rather than
irrelevant actions. The interview and the employment
mechanism must be so arranged as to enable him to give
an actual demonstration of his ability. For instance, if a
man applies for work as a lathe hand, a lathe should be in
readiness and the man should be given a few representative
tasks under the eyes of an expert mechanic. The manner
in which he goes about these tasks—it will not be necessary
to complete them—will enable the expert to place an
estimate on the ability of the applicant. A man who claims
to be an all-round tool maker can be given a similar trial.
In fact, it is advisable to have in the immediate vicinity
of the employment office a complete equipment of representative
machines and operations which can be used for
this purpose. In this way, a large number of applicants
can be given an opportunity actually to demonstrate
their ability, and thus furnish a fairly reliable basis upon
which to make an estimate.
The probable objection to this plan is that it ties up a
