A PRACTICAL COMBINATION OF EMPLOYMENT METHODS 347 
of the ability which these claims signify. The application 
blank and the ordinary series of questions may reveal 
what the education and experience of an individual have 
been, but they do not show how well the individual has 
made use of his opportunities or what are his actual abili 
ties at the time of the interview. A machinist, for instance, 
may state to the interviewer that he has had three years 
of experience at one place and four years at another, and 
has worked on all kinds of machine tools, from drawings 
and without supervision. These claims are good so far 
as they go, but still they do not enable the interviewer to 
conclude that the applicant is a first-rate mechanic worth 
so many cents per hour. Even if the candidate holds a 
certificate from a reputable apprentice school, his ability 
is still largely a matter of doubt; for few apprentice schools 
are able to guarantee that all their graduates are experts. 
The next step, therefore, in determining the ability of 
the applicant is to ask him the test questions prepared, 
together with the possible answers, for this very purpose. 
Questions of this kind, applying to the work of machin 
ists, gunsmiths, designers of jigs and fixtures, accountants, 
etc., are given in other chapters and in the Appendix. 
These question series can be given by the ordinary inter 
viewer who can determine approximately, by means of 
an accompanying key, whether or not the applicant is 
giving the proper answers. If the answers given are 
entirely wrong or very crude, it may be assumed that 
the applicant does not know as much as he has claimed 
to know and he may therefore be rejected. If his an 
swers are good or even fairly good, he will be interviewed 
further. 
Up to this point it is possible for the ordinary employ 
ment clerk to conduct the interview, but thereafter the