EMPLOYMENT  PSYCHOLOGY

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organization  desires  to  make  an  analysis  of  the  various
jobs  and  positions  which  it  embraces.  This  analysis  is  to
be  made  for  the  purpose  of  facilitating  the  work  of  the
employment  office  in  selecting  the  right  man  for  the  right
place,  and  must  therefore  be  an  analysis  of  the  most
practical  kind.  What  are  the  conditions  which  such  an
analysis  must  meet?  In  the  first  place,  it  must  be  comprehensive; ­
  that  is,  it  must  include  all  the  important
factors  which  enter  in  to  make  each  job  what  it  is.  Second, ­
  it  must  be  brief;  that  is,  it  must  give  only  the  most
necessary  and  fundamental  facts  concerning  each  job.
Third,  it  must  be  made  in  standard  terms;  that  is,  in  such
a  way  that  the  various  elements  which  the  jobs  have  in
common  are  stated  in  common  terms  and  not  in  a  different
manner  each  time.  Fourth,  it  must  be  concrete;  that  is,
it  must  describe  the  job  not  in  terms  of  general  and
abstract  qualities,  but  in  terms  of  measurable  abilities,
and  in  terms  of  facts  that  have  a  concrete  and  specific
significance.
These  principles  served  as  a  guide  in  making  an  analysis
which  covered  over  eighteen  thousand  employees  and
over  nine  hundred  varieties  of  work.  In  order  to  make
this  analysis  generally  applicable,  it  will  be  described  in
terms  of  these  four  principles.
The  first  principle,  that  an  analysis  must  be  comprehensive, ­
  is  self-evident.  The  question  which  it  suggests  is:
What  can  be  considered  a  comprehensive  analysis  of  a
job?  The  following  outline  upon  which  the  analysis
mentioned  above  was  based  is  given  as  a  tentative  answer
to  this  question: