EMPLOYMENT PSYCHOLOGY 
pany who are making good, and on this groundwork to build 
a dependable plan of selection of recruits to be developed 
into the future supervisory force. 
Preliminary sifting of applicants for apprentice training 
is a live problem in trade and continuation schools, and also 
within the ranks of a few of the trade unions. Art schools 
and conservatories of music have their difficulties in dis- 
covering the really talented candidates. Selection for voca- 
tional training, whether on the level of trade or profession, 
is even more difficult at times than the choice of the best 
applicant to step at once into a vacant position in industry. 
It requires an estimate of the applicant’s ability to learn and 
to develop as well as of his ability to do. 
Considerations governing selection of the particular job, 
occupation, or profession to be investigated will be reviewed 
in the final pages of this chapter. But first it will be well 
to outline the plan.of this manual, which follows the steps 
involved in carrying out a research on methods of selection 
for a vocation. 
STEPS IN RESEARCH PROCEDURE 
After deciding upon the occupation for which an improved 
method of selection is to be devised, the first step is to make 
a job analysis, to ascertain the precise duties and activities 
of the occupation, just what the worker does, what tools he 
uses, and so forth. The investigator will also want to know 
what the conditions of work are, the hours, the sources of 
applicants, the relation to other jobs in the organization, the 
opportunities for promotion, and the most frequent reasons 
for leaving. 
The investigator should then in consultation with the 
responsible executives decide upon a criterion of success in 
the occupation. This is necessary in order to have some 
measure with which to compare the results of the experi- 
mental procedures in selection. 
The next step is to choose persons to serve as subjects 
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