264 
EMPLOYMENT PSYCHOLOGY 
the most important and practical principles which psy 
chology has to teach. 
Under the head of mental characteristics, the most 
important items are education, prerequisite experience, 
and ability in mathematics and English. Many jobs of 
the laboring kind can be done by workers without any 
education whatsoever. Others require a minimum of 
education in certain lines. For instance, an expert tool 
maker must be able to use arithmetic to a considerable 
extent, and a correspondence clerk must have a certain 
mastery of the English language. In addition to the 
general ability and level of knowledge implied by certain 
kinds and degrees of school education is the matter of 
preliminary experience. For certain types of work such 
as that of plumber, electrician, accountant, such expe 
rience is an essential, and the determination of this expe 
rience forms a very important item in choosing the right 
applicant for the right position. 
The division headed “Miscellaneous” embraces several 
very important and often neglected items. One of these 
is “Possibilities of Promotion”. The future to which a 
job leads is one of the most important and concrete ele 
ments about that job. Some jobs lead logically to other 
and better ones, so that the worker knows that, if his work 
is satisfactory, he is sure, within a reasonable time, of 
being promoted. Other jobs are only blind alleys into 
which the unwary applicant is likely to stumble and from 
which there is no escape except by an unwelcome tour de 
force, usually the man’s giving up in disgust and going 
elsewhere. This item, therefore, not only makes it possi 
ble for the employment interviewer to tell an applicant 
definitely what the possibilities of promotion are; it also 
serves as a reminder to the shop foreman that it is his duty