A PRACTICAL COMBINATION OF EMPLOYMENT METHODS 351 
Examples of such tests and the situations in which they 
may be given have already been discussed in the chapter 
on the vocational value of tests. When, for instance, a 
man applies for the work of assembling, work which may 
be learned by a man or woman who has had no experience 
at assembling whatsoever, it is nevertheless desirable to 
know whether the applicant possesses the necessary man 
ual dexterity, and that degree of mechanical ingenuity 
which goes far in enabling a novice to become an expert. 
The same thing applies to the work of clerks of many 
kinds, inspectors, automatic-machine operators, machine- 
tool specialists, salesmen and saleswomen, packers, and 
the unlimited number of workers who, without previous 
training, can acquire the necessary skill and experience 
in a comparatively short time. Even the untrained 
worker who applies for a position as helper or apprentice 
in which he will have to serve years as a learner, can be 
selected more intelligently by the application of the appro 
priate tests, as has been shown in the chapter on tests 
for apprentices. When an applicant’s preference is fixed 
so that he will take only the one kind of work, there is 
no course left but to reject him if his record in the tests 
is decisively below the standard. However, if his record 
is quite close to standard, it is advisable, provided there 
are no other hindrances, that the applicant be recom 
mended for a trial; for it frequently happens that genuine 
determination on the part of a worker will enable him to 
overcome very substantial initial handicaps. On the 
other hand, when the preferences of a worker are not 
absolutely fixed and he fails in the tests for a certain 
kind of work, it is well to give him some further tests 
in order to discover, if possible, another kind of work 
for which he is suited. It frequently happens that appli-