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EMPLOYMENT  PSYCHOLOGY

are  the  foundations  upon  which  any  more  thoroughgoing
analysis  must  be  built.  Moreover,  it  includes  certain
other  items  which  are  not  usually  considered  part  of  a
job  analysis  but  which  are  nevertheless  genuine  parts  of  a
job  and  of  the  utmost  importance.  Notable  among  the
latter  is  the  item  of  earnings.  Earnings  are,  from  the
applicant’s  point  of  view,  the  one  most  important  feature
of  any  job,  and  it  is  absolutely  essential  that  the  employment ­
  office,  in  trying  to  fit  certain  applicants  to
certain  jobs,  be  in  a  position  to  state  exactly  what  the
initial  and  possible  earnings  for  each  job  are.  Many  an
applicant  has  quit  work  at  the  end  of  the  first  week  because ­
  the  employment  office  intimated  that  he  would
receive  one  rate  and  the  job  to  which  he  was  sent  paid  him
another.
The  outline  is  divided  into  three  general  sections;
(1)  physical  characteristics,  (2)  mental  characteristics,  and
(3)  miscellaneous  characteristics.  Under  physical  characteristics ­
  are  included  such  items  as  those  relating  to
heat,  cleanliness,  strenuousness,  and  other  physical
features,  some  of  which  may  seem,  at  first  glance,  quite
irrelevant  to  a  job  analysis.  However,  from  a  psychological ­
  point  of  view,  from  a  medical  point  of  view,  and  from  a
common  sense  and  business  point  of  view,  these  facts  are
essential  phases  of  a  job  and  are  of  the  utmost  importance.
The  importance  of  physical  fitness  has  been  increasingly
realized  during  the  past  few  years,  as  is  well  shown  by  the
large  and  growing  number  of  industries  giving  physical
examinations.  So  far,  however,  physical  examinations
have  been  aimed  more  particularly  at  preventing  those
with  serious  defects  or  contagious  diseases  from  getting
into  the  shops.  Not  much  attention  has  been  paid  to  the
kind  of  work  to  which  those  men  who  passed  the  physical