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EMPLOYMENT  PSYCHOLOGY

the  most  important  and  practical  principles  which  psychology ­
  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  experience ­
  is  an  essential,  and  the  determination  of  this  experience ­
  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  elements ­
  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  possible ­
  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