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  abilities ­
  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  machinists, ­
  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  interviewer ­
  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  answers ­
  are  good  or  even  fairly  good,  he  will  be  interviewed
further.
Up  to  this  point  it  is  possible  for  the  ordinary  employment ­
  clerk  to  conduct  the  interview,  but  thereafter  the