XI 
APPRENTICE toolmakers and machinists 
The choice of apprentices is one of the most important 
°f all problems of selection. In most other cases, a mis 
take is discovered soon after the worker begins to apply 
himself to the work for which he has been hired. The ap 
prentice, however, is not expected to show much ability 
or skill at the outset. He is engaged as a pupil rather than 
a f a worker, and it may be months before he begins to 
give definite promise of success in his chosen trade. The 
u sual duration of an apprentice course is four years and 
apprentices are bound for the period of the course. The 
Gaining and instruction spent upon them and the equip 
ment placed at their disposal make mistakes of selection 
111 this field very costly indeed. The problem of selection, 
therefore, resolves itself into an attempt to choose, at 
the very beginning, the boy who is likely to succeed in the 
° n g run. 
Moreover, it is becoming increasingly necessary to ex- 
er cise the same degree of care in the choosing of men for 
a similar purpose. The immediate necessity for tool- 
makers and machine-tool operators has so far exceeded 
y e supply naturally resulting from apprentice schools 
.at it has been found advisable to begin intensive-train- 
ln g shops. The purpose of these shops is to take green 
and, in the course of a few weeks or months, train 
m, e m to do the more simple work of toolmaking or han- 
n g a machine tool. Where intensive training of this kind 
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