VII 
CLERKS 
Clerical work of one kind or another is a necessary- 
adjunct to almost any kind of enterprise. The choice 
°f clerks is, therefore, a problem of universal interest. 
The fact that much clerical work requires a quite different 
type of worker than is required by most factory work, 
m akes the problem still more interesting. As a rule, 
office workers must have a grammar-school or high-school 
e ducation in order to meet the demands of their work. 
The time required to “break in” new clerks is commensu- 
r ately long. Even for the more routine work it usually 
takes from two weeks to two months to develop a new 
cl erk. As a consequence, mistakes in selection mean a 
correspondingly big loss to the organization. It is most 
desirable to select at the outset those applicants whose 
w °rk w iH justify this training. For the purpose of dis 
covering and standardizing tests which should accomplish 
this object, a series of experiments was conducted at 
Va rious times and under various circumstances. During 
the course of the first experiment tests were given to 
hfty-two men and women doing clerical and near-clerical 
^°rk. An aggregate number of four hundred and forty 
te sts was given. The office serving as the field for this ex 
periment was a departmental office in which large groups 
clerks were engaged on very similar work. This office 
*as chosen largely because of the fact that its manager 
had been making a careful study of his clerks and their 
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