We print this letter from Charles Stegman in full because it is one of the best we have received showing Clinic principles in action. It has the added virtue of demonstrating how a Clinic can be set up in a very informal and intimate fashion.

Dear Mr. Edlund:

Within the past three months I have seen six wonders worked. They made such a deep impression on my mind that I must tell you the story behind them. I know you will want to read them because they concern a development of yours and a plan which I would like to see you make available to all future students at Northeastern Technical College.

Just a year ago last month I completed my junior year of studies at Northeastern Tech. A summer was ahead of me, and I went out to seek suitable employment. The job market was tough. No one wanted to hire college students just for the summer. I wrote letter after letter, answered ad after ad; wrote and rewrote my letter of application, trying to make each one more appealing than the last. Still I had no luck. But I did gain a very valuable lesson from my amateurish job-finding campaign.

I found out that job seeking is a science, a science so distinctly defined in itself that it requires intensive study. Job seeking is a science with an attitude, and it cannot be picked <pg. 291> up overnight, in any college placement office, or in any college English class.

At that time I was not aware that professional instructions through your MAN MARKETING CLINIC were available free of charge in New York City, so I started out on my own to learn all I could about job seeking and its attitude. I read every book I could get my hands on that even remotely touched on job hunting and job holding. But here again, I was not lucky enough to come across your book Pick Your Job--and Land It! I composed letters of application and resumes just for practice. I found I had a great deal to learn, and I read every page with intense interest. I found authors who disagreed with each other quite vigorously on some points. When I tried to discuss my problem with friends I found out that the greater majority knew little or nothing about the technique of job hunting. That summer I was pretty much alone in getting my education in this intensely interesting and important phase of a man's life.

By the time I returned to Northeastern Tech in September 1949 to complete my senior year, I had learned three important lessons from my summer of study.

Everyone seeking a job should know very definitely what he wants to do (a defined objective) and what he must offer in return for the right opportunity. Everyone seeking a job must have a fresh and appealing approach in order to interest the employer in him above all his job-seeking competitors. Everyone seeking a job must have the right mental attitude, and must be sure that he is more willing to give than to receive.

But above these I had also learned that I still knew little of the task ahead of finding the right job for myself by the time graduation rolled around. So I read on, and day by day I formulated my job campaign which I was going to loose upon picked firms sometime in February. The fever of my interest was heightened early last October when a bulletin was posted in our College Placement Office noting that there would be only 20,000 jobs available for an expected 47,000 engineering graduates. I promised myself then that I was going to get one of those 20,000 jobs--and not just a job, but the right job for me. <pg. 292>

Al Smith used to say, when confronted by a problem, "Let's look at the record." And so I did. I did not have any Tau Beta Pi key hanging on my tie clasp. My scholarship was far from outstanding. According to many authorities, it looked as if I would have to take a back seat when some of the good job offers were handed out. To cause me further trouble, I still did not know just what I wanted to do. I was always nervous during interviews, and that, too, had to be corrected.

Then early in November 1949 Northeastern Tech did a wonderful thing when they brought you to our college to speak to the seniors about the Man Marketing Plan. I was in the audience. I absorbed every word you gave us. You had all the answers. Everything that I had been studying for the previous six months was contained in your lecture. But for me you had more than facts or figures, you had a "religion," a way of life, an attitude that was unmistakeably ideal, a positive path to a successful future. You only talked to us for one hour, Mr. Edlund, but that hour was filled with lightning, and it struck home with me. I spent another hour in the afternoon listening to you give placement guidance to students who visited you in one of the college placement interview rooms. After that hour I knew that you had developed a set of job-seeking principles which were unique in every way.

Then I set to the task of applying your principles, the same principles you set forth in your book, Pick Your Job -- and Land It! I read the book from cover to cover. Today I would call it a "Bible" for the job seeker. Then it was a revelation.

The following four months were spent in further job-hunting study, and then the month of March 1950 rolled around. The College bulletin boards started to sprout notices of approaching interviews. By that time I had developed my objective. I was fully prepared to take my first interview.

The initial representative to visit Northeastern Tech was from the General Instrument Company of Cleveland, Ohio. I signed up for the interview and then investigated General, for all the information I could obtain on it. Having gathered and carefully weighed the facts, I decided that General was the company I wanted. I prepared a portfolio which contained a complete analysis of my interests and qualifications for the job I was seeking. (This portfolio is reproduced in Chapter 4.)

Then I sat back and awaited my interview. When the time came I walked into the interview room and made my presentation <pg. 293> entation. The interviewer, Mr. Edward Trent, Educational Director at General, was overwhelmed. He was unable to conceal his approval, and I immediately experienced the gratification that consumes one after long labors have brought success. I was not the slightest bit nervous, and I put my points across in a surprisingly lucid manner. When I walked out of that interview I knew I had the job I wanted, the job I had been preparing myself for during the past year. A week after my interview the General offer arrived in my mail, but that was only an anticlimax to the experience of the interview. Now let's look at the facts which give my story its accomplishment:

1. There were thirty Northeastern Tech seniors interviewed by General; more than twenty of these men had higher scholastic averages than I, and many of those twenty were honor men.

2. The interviewer came to Northeastern Tech to hire one man; he hired two. The General Instrument Company took nineteen Cadet Engineers from thirty-nine leading colleges, and yet two of them are from Northeastern Tech.

3. The interviewer admitted that he had never seen any presentations on the college level, and yet here is a man that has been visiting colleges for the past fifteen years, averaging about forty outstanding colleges and some three hundred interviews each year.

4. When I visited the plant here in Cleveland in April, I was introduced to five of the firm's officers. Every one of them greeted me with this note of recognition, "Is this the man who prepared that fine portfolio?" The presentation so impressed the General people that it was passed around and read by every one of its officers.

5. My starting salary was above average for the 1950 wage scale to college engineering graduates.

Now I am going to relate to you briefly the five other wonders that happened to Northeastern Tech seniors in the Class of 1950.

I wish you to keep in mind that none of the following students had honor grades. They were all in the second third of their class, and yet they produced these amazing results: <pg. 294>

David S. Johns, BBA

Mr. Johns wanted a position with the General Air-Conditioners Company. He had the advantage of knowing just what he wanted to do, so this made his problem easier. Following two weeks of instruction he prepared his job program and portfolio. He went to Syracuse for his interview, and he found that the man he wanted to see was out of town. Mr. Johns left his portfolio. A week later he received his job offer in the mail from General Air-Conditioners. The amazing part is the fact that no interview ever took place, and this was at a time when interviewers were very critical and demanding of their choices. Today Mr. Johns has the right job with the right company.

Edwin F. Brandon, BME

Mr. Brandon would settle for no other company but Babcock & Wilcox, New York City. He was very pessimistic about his chances, but I was so confident of the success that the Man Marketing Plan would bring that I assured him on the spot that he had the job just as long as he was sincere and definite in his desires. He made his initial contact, and B & W replied that they were not contemplating taking any more college graduates, for their Personnel Director had made his spring tour of the colleges, and they had filled their training class. But B & W obligingly left the door open by saying that they would be glad to interview him if he happened to be in New York. Ed took two weeks of instruction in Man Marketing Principles. He went to New York with his portfolio and landed the job he wanted, and it pays an excellent salary. B & W never visits Northeastern Tech to pick its engineers each year. They go to the bigger name schools. However, they were so impressed with Mr. Brandon that they made mention that they might like to see more Northeastern Tech students.

Hamilton T. Thomas, BBA

Mr. Thomas was interested in selling in the heavy duty truck industry. The Gray Trucking Co. of Boston, a leading heavy duty truck manufacturer, was his goal. He knew, however, that truck salesmen usually came up through the ranks and were not always college educated. The job of selling himself and his promising potentials was going to be a difficult one. He set to it. After a thorough grounding in the Man <pg. 295> Marketing Principle, Tom prepared his job program and a rather unique portfolio to complete his own selling program. He went to Boston and got the job. He had actually created a job for himself. It was just like that.

Stephen Matthews, BME

Mr. Matthews was seeking a position in the Jet Propulsion Department of the General Electric Company. He prepared his portfolio and had his interview. He was competing with seventy-five seniors. Six were hired by G. E., and Mr. Matthews was one of them. He was the only one of the six who was not a Tau Beta Pi member. Now he has the job he wants, and he is happy in it.

Chester Langley, BME

Mr. Langley was quite discouraged about his job possibilities when I met him last May. He had sent out approximately twenty-five letters of application and brief, multi-graphed resumes. The response was poor. Most firms did not even reply, and he had only two weak replies granting interviews "if he happened to be in New York." Then I told Chet of the success that the application of the Man Marketing Principles could bring him. His hopes were immediately renewed, and he recognized the weaknesses of his own jobfinding campaign. Instead of randomly choosing industrial organizations to which he would send resumes, he narrowed the field to three firms. He revamped his job-seeking attitude, he studiously applied himself to the new program, and following a month of serious and studied contemplation, he found himself. Of the three firms he had chosen, he aimed his program first at only one of them. He prepared his portfolio and had his interview. He got the job. It was the job he wanted all along, but he had never stopped to think before just what industry expected of him.

Through these stories you have, no doubt, noticed that I quite frequently mentioned that the men concerned were not honor students. I stressed that not as any rebellion against the better student, but as a means of pointing out that through the application of your principles average students did receive better jobs, and they were at all times competing with the honor student. The College Placement Office files show numerous cases of students who did not get the jobs they wanted, nor any job at all. Surely they were qualified to do the job, but there was a little more to it than that. <pg. 296>

They had not developed an objective, and knew little of the approach that should be made by those seeking a good position in science and industry. They lacked confidence in their own abilities, and were unaware of their potential value to an employer. They were unaware of job opportunities in industry. Job titles confused them, and they did not know the responsibilities and qualifications needed for the positions for which they were applying. The average student literally ..... mounted his steed and galloped off in all directions at once."

Mr. Edlund, I would like to have you speak to the people of Northeastern Tech about the possibilities of instituting a Man Marketing Course as a definite part of the senior curriculum. I firmly believe that it is as necessary today as any other subject the student takes. It is every student's duty to make himself aware of the demands he will have to meet in the competitive world of today. I believe that the student will then look intelligently toward a future of progress built on initiative and not a future of security built on a stagnant existence. I believe, too, that it is the college's responsibility to provide the student with this tool to become a better American, a more progressively minded American, who will sense the evils of the false securities offered by the socialistic and communistic ideologies which are trying to bore their way into the core of our democracy.

But still I have another reason for seeing a Man Marketing Course at Northeastern Tech. There are many improvements to be made there, and through the success that your principle will bring, I know the following will happen:

Northeastern Tech will develop a more spirited and appreciative alumni organization. Their happiness in their jobs and the better jobs they will hold will reflect itself in increasing financial support to the college. This is inevitable.

Northeastern Tech will become more widely known throughout the country, because Northeastern Tech men will be getting positions that were probably unobtainable before.

Northeastern Tech will receive its just recognition and respect from our nation's business leaders who will be quick to recognize the reflection of a Northeastern Tech education in its Northeastern Tech trained employees. <pg. 297>

Northeastern Tech Alumni will bear more confidence in themselves and their work. They will be better prepared to tackle the bigger and finer jobs. They will be aggressive and show tactful initiative, all because of the fact that they were trained to develop their objectives early and were endowed with a more mature mental approach to the job of finding their rightful place in our contemporary society.

That, Mr. Edlund, is my story. I have you to thank for all of it, and I am deeply grateful. I hope you will he able to find the time to bring your message to Northeastern Tech, and that the administration there will be progressive enough to see the possibilities of the bright future your program holds.

Sincerely yours,

Charles Stegman
1910 Noble Road Cleveland, Ohio

Job Clinic Courses have been offered in high schools, colleges and professional schools. In lieu of a formal text book, Pick Your Job and Land It! has been used.

Interested school administrators and teachers may find helpful a brief account of how such courses have been conducted. The authors prepared such a description for Occupations, the Vocational Guidance Magazine. It is reproduced here.

THE MAN MARKETING CLINIC GOES TO SCHOOL

Is it possible for a majority of youth in high school to choose their vocations intelligently, to determine satisfactory goals for themselves, and to plan a definite campaign good enough to attain the goals? Can our high schools, with their limited appropriations, help a majority of their students to do this?

Certainly it cannot be done in the average high school by relying on the individual conference method alone. The usual appropriation makes it possible to work individually with only a limited number. Some type of group method must be used, if we are to reach most of the students. If the group work can be supplemented by individual conferences, so much the better.

But in a group, how can we help students to make their own plans, suited to their own individual needs? <pg. 298>

We have done it with adults for many years, in the Man Marketing Clinics. More than 50,000 men and women have come to those Clinics for help in planning satisfactory careers and promoting campaigns to realize their goals. This has been purely a hobby with us--there has never been any charge to anyone in the thirty Man Marketing Clinics. We have handled in groups complex adult problems and thousands have said that they have been greatly aided in landing the jobs they wanted.

Last year we undertook to see if these group methods could be adapted to the needs of young people in our schools. We worked with the seniors of a large public high school in Stamford, Connecticut; with two professional schools; the Tobe & Coburn School for Fashion Careers and the Packard School (a business school); and with two colleges: Bucknell University and Smith College. We worked with large classes and small ones; with homogeneous groups and groups where the interests were exceedingly diverse; with voluntary groups and compulsory classes. From it evolved teaching techniques which bring results with a small expenditure of time.

Seniors Make Job Plans. For instance, in the high school in Stamford, Connecticut, all the seniors participated--nearly six hundred. They were divided into ten classes, each group holding eight sessions. The classes were supplemented by several voluntary evening meetings where Stamford business men, labor leaders, and professional men answered questions about their fields.

Before graduation more than 90 per cent of these seniors reported definite plans for their working lives. They had decided what work they would like to be doing five years after graduation and had some reason for their choice; they had developed a plan to reach that goal, in some cases a definite campaign; they had decided on a logical starting job. So far as we could tell, the majority of their plans were in keeping with their talents and with the job opportunities.

Naturally, many of their plans and goals will change, some of them several times. But once a student has had the experience of thinking through his job problem and of formulating plans to reach a goal, he is much more likely to consider his problem carefully the next time, instead of drifting from job to job, without plan.

As graduation time approached, the class had the satisfaction of seeing many of their number secure the starting jobs which they had been discussing. Local employers reported that the students who approached them handled their job interviews with unusual intelligence. The librarian reported a greater interest in vocational books. In high schools, professional schools, and colleges, we followed the <pg. 299> same general plan. First we gave the students case histories. We told them how other young people had chosen satisfactory vocations and then had planned campaigns which landed their jobs. These were actual cases, carefully chosen because of similar backgrounds and goals.

Each student then talked with several people who were working. He asked each of them the nature of his job, the beginning jobs in his firm, the training and personal qualifications desirable for that work. If a student had a liking for one or two vocations, he questioned people in those fields. The results of these interviews were discussed in class, so that everyone might have a clearer idea of the requirements for different occupations. Their findings were augmented by reading and by visits to factories and offices.

Finding Hidden Assets. We then took some of the qualifications emphasized in these occupational studies and proved that if a student had that quality, he could demonstrate it to an employer. Again and again we demonstrated each quality, using the students' own experiences as examples. Again and again we showed that most of them had assets whose value they had not realized--hidden assets. With young people this step is especially important, as few of them have any conviction that they have something of value to offer an employer.

Next the students analyzed themselves to see the degree to which they possessed each of these qualities, and had their ratings checked by others. Some also took vocational tests. They began to see where they could fit into business or industry. They weighed their own preferences to see if they were based on sound reasoning.

The next step was to plan a campaign directed toward a specific job after graduation. Each student followed this procedure:

Decided how he could best get leads. Wrote a letter which could be sent to many firms, asking for interviews. (Though many would never use such a letter, the students needed the practice of thinking out their qualifications sufficiently to put them on paper.) Prepared a sample interview for a specific job. Planned a "follow-up" after interviews. Selected a help-wanted advertisement in a newspaper and answered it.

In addition, some of the students prepared a written record of their qualifications, to be used during an interview or afterward as a followup. It was sometimes a single sheet, sometimes a folder or portfolio. These folders usually included not only the students' school and work records, but also illustrations of their thinking and examples of their <pg. 300> work. In the high school the number who prepared such a prospectus was not large. But the students who wanted jobs which were more difficult for the beginner to land, found them well worth the effort, particularly the girls who wanted to be newspaper reporters and fashion designers and private secretaries; the boys who aspired to advertising, window display, and banking.

In the professional schools and colleges a much larger proportion of students used the portfolio. In the Tobe & Coburn School for Fashion Careers every student prepared one, many of them demonstrating the originality which is so valuable in their work.

This Clinic Gets Results. These teaching techniques can be adapted to any school group. We recently received this letter from M. Emma Eichelberger of the John Harris High School in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania:

"We have opened our Man Marketing Clinic this year with a membership of eighty-eight. This club is open to all commercial seniors. Most of these young people are interested and are determined to make a success of their job-getting campaigns. We meet each Tuesday from 2:20 to 3:05.

"In the first few meetings we explained the purpose of the Clinic and got the members started planning their campaigns and preparing material for portfolios. We are now inviting businessmen to come and consult with the group. We are choosing these men very carefully and are preparing them for their part of the work. They are intensely interested and more than willing to give their time. It is my hope that enough of them will see the necessity of opening a Clinic to take care of those who have not had the benefit of this training in school.

"We have had some excellent results from former groups. Portfolios play an important part. One of our most interesting cases is that of a boy who wanted to work in a bank. He was so sure of this that he would not go to any other place. We sent him to one of our ‘Dutch Uncles,' a leading banker in the city. After this interview the boy came back more determined than ever to work in a bank. When we received a call, we sent him. He got the job on the first interview. I asked him if he used his portfolio. He said, ‘Yes, that got me the job. The man I interviewed was so pleased with it that he showed it to all the officials, even to the president. They said they had no idea such things were taught in high school.'

The boy is quiet and retiring and he realized he would have <pg. 301> no chance to get the job without a special plan. He went to work last June and has already been promoted.

"His portfolio contained a very good set of books originated entirely by him, containing all accounts he had used in his accounting courses, journals, three ledgers, financial reports neatly typed, and an income tax report.

"One of our 'Dutch Uncles' to whom we sent four of our accounting pupils with their portfolios said: 'I was astounded at the work these young people do in high school. If there had been a position open in my office, I would have given the job to one of them without question. The portfolio told me all I would want to know about an applicant. It told me much about the character of the individual. It seemed as if each tried to outdo the other in the work he had done.' This statement was made almost a year after he had seen the portfolios.

"While these young people were honor students, none of them would have made more than an ordinary impression without the training the Man Marketing Clinic had given them."

The basic factors which have brought results are these:

1. A better attitude toward work is produced by a clearer purpose in life, a more definite goal, and a plan for reaching that goal.

2. Students make their own vocational decisions through analyzing the requirements of various jobs, analyzing their own qualifications, and fitting the two together.

3. Case histories enable students to think out their problems more clearly.

4. Certain principles can be used to check all approaches to a job, such as Offer a service instead of asking for a job Appeal to the self-interest of your prospect; show an interest in the work, the firm, or the product Be specific about the job you want, and about your qualifications

5. Young people learn more quickly through participation. Each step is based, not on theory, but on consideration of the specific case of some member of the class. Other members are asked for criticism and help. This helps students to be objective.

6. The more nearly the work can approximate a real life situation, the greater the interest. For instance, as graduation neared the seniors showed greater effort. <pg. 302>

Help in Securing Part-Time Jobs. Last autumn we worked with a voluntary group at the Stamford High School which had an even closer time with reality. They were all students who wanted part-time jobs to enable them to stay in school. Local employers had volunteered to take a certain number of students. But Christian E. Burckel, Director of Guidance, wanted to insure the success of this part-time work project by insisting on three points:

That the jobs fill a real need on the part of the employer -- he wanted no "made jobs" which didn't present a real work situation.

That students should give value received; that they must be suited to the job, must be taught what constitutes a satisfactory job, must have a good work attitude.

That students should not be "given" a job. He would recommend no student for a job; he would give him an introduction, but the student had to land his own job. And the student got the introduction only when he demonstrated that he could be a credit to his school in the interview and in the way he handled the job.

The entire course was based on the specific jobs which were open to these students. For instance, when the job of office boy was offered by an employer, the class analyzed what it thought might be expected of a good office boy as follows:

His main job is to do all the things the others don't want to do. Everyone else can boss him. He must carry out their orders with a smile.

When he is sent on an errand, he must be sure he understands what he is to do, then do it correctly, and return promptly. Maybe no one will see whether he stops to watch a ball game, but it wouldn't be the fair thing to do.

He may have to do office jobs such as sorting the mail, folding letters, stamping envelopes, or maybe filing. He must be careful and accurate, and not clumsy. Speed isn't so important as accuracy.

Sometimes an office boy isn't busy, waiting for someone else to tell him to do something. If he's smart, maybe he can figure out something to do, to help out. If he can't, he shouldn't fool around and bother people. Or he shouldn't get so lost in a book that he doesn't hear when someone wants him. <pg. 303>

With this list before them, the boys who wanted that job set out to demonstrate that they could meet those specifications. One boy said that hardly a day went by that he wasn't sent on an errand by one of the people in his apartment house; he liked doing things for people, and couldn't remember a time when he had made a mess of an errand.

Another boy said that one of his teachers always chose him for errands around the building. We suggested that he ask the teacher why he was chosen. She replied that she could count on him to do the errand correctly and then to come back to class promptly.

A third boy thought he could take responsibility because he had always done his home work promptly, without reminding.

One boy thought his good marks in school proved he didn't fool around; another believed he could prove a good attitude by the fact that he had earned his own spending money for three years. One decided he had no outstanding way of proving that he had the right attitude, but if he just showed that he realized its importance and would try very hard, that would probably be enough.

Another step was to show a genuine interest in the job or the firm in question. For instance, when three jobs were offered by a local firm, the class looked up their business, learned a little about their products, and from a directory learned the names of their officers. Each student worked out a logical but sincere answer to the question, "Why do you want to work here?" They practiced sample interviews until they learned to be at ease, to show their sincerity, and to answer questions simply but fully. They wrote letters to follow their interviews, thanking the employer for his courtesy, expressing interest in the job in question, and briefly showing how they could meet the specifications which the employer emphasized in the interview.

Three boys had answered a "Boy Wanted" advertisement. The three letters were analyzed to see which one was likely to make the best impression. In each case the boy who wrote the letter was given the first chance to criticize his own letter. It was amazing to see how their thinking had grown in these few sessions.

When a student had analyzed the elements which would help him to do a good job, when he had demonstrated that he had those qualities in sufficient amount. When he had learned to apply for the job intelligently, he was sent out to apply for the job. If he landed it, he was excused from further classes to take the job. If he was not accepted for the job, the class discussed his next step.

For instance, one boy was turned down by the employer because of apparent indifference in the interview. The class suggested that <pg. 304> he need not accept that "no" without further effort. He enacted his interview as nearly as he could recall it. The group made constructive suggestions. He practiced until he felt more at ease and could show the interest he felt, and his sincere desire to do a good job. He went back to the same employer--and landed the job!

That group disbanded after four sessions, when all the members except one had landed part-time jobs. This one wanted to do work which required special training, so she was given that opportunity. Significance of part-time jobs. These part-time jobs provided a laboratory in which to test the students' vocational leanings. One girl had always wanted to be a nurse, so she got an afternoon job as nurses assistant in a hospital. After two weeks she came back to report, "If that is what it means to be a nurse, I don't want to be one." In class we discussed her work, how a nurse's duties would vary from hers, and persuaded her to analyze the qualities necessary for nursing. She believed she didn't have the necessary patience and perseverance and sympathy. Another girl in the class decided she did have, and would like to apply for the job the first girl didn't like. Meanwhile, the first girl went into sales work and loved it. How much better to discover all this at age sixteen!

One boy got a job in a company making shades and awnings. He likes it so well he plans to make it his work and "be a boss some day." One member of the class was a problem case in school. His work was poor, his attendance irregular. He is now operating a lathe parttime and sees the value of his studies in mathematics and mechanical drawing. His school work is satisfactory and he never misses a day at either school or work.

To us the significant fact is not that these youths landed jobs, but that every one of them has made good on his job. They had learned to analyze what the employer expected of them. They had learned how a good record on the first job could help them toward permanent jobs after graduation.

There are probably no schools whose students would not profit by additional vocational counselors. Yet if a school had no appropriation at all for vocational assistance, it could still get good results by the application of these methods, in salesmanship and commercial courses, as exercises in English composition, in the home room, or in voluntary after-school clubs.

From our experience it is clear that even in the largest high school, group techniques similar to those employed in the Man Marketing Clinics will enable a single full-time counselor to help a very large majority of the students to choose their vocations intelligently, to <pg. 305> determine what they want to be doing five or ten years ahead, and to plan campaigns leading toward starting jobs.

HOW TO ORGANIZE AND CONDUCT A MAN MARKETING CLINIC

What Is a Man Marketing Clinic? It is a forum type of meeting to which individuals may go without cost for help in picking their jobs and for continuing help until they land those jobs. The clinical method is used in helping individuals to organize their vocational thinking and their job campaigns. Under the leadership of business and professional men all those at the meeting enter into the discussion of each case. Any member has the privilege of outlining to the group, preferably in writing, his experience, the type of job he wants, what he is doing to get it, and any job problem confronting him. Members of the group act as his consultants. They are encouraged to comment openly and freely on his qualifications, plans, methods. They suggest sources of leads, criticize his letters, sales presentations, and practice interviews. Emphasis is placed on frank, honest criticism.

How Did the Man Marketing Clinic Start? For many years our hobby was to help men and women apply merchandising principles in offering their services to employers. As more and more people came to us, we had either to turn them away or to find a better plan. The result was the first Man Marketing Clinic, organized in October 1935 in New York City. Soon after that the Sales Executives Club of New York became the sponsor. Since then many other Man Marketing Clinics have been established.

Who Attends Man Marketing Clinics? The Man Marketing Clinic in New York is open to anyone. It has had almost every kind of worker from sixteen to seventy years of age, from youngsters just out of school to corporation presidents, from those who have earned a few dollars a week to those who have earned fifty thousand a year. There have been salesmen, sales managers, advertising men, office workers, engineers, professional people, skilled workers, and a few unskilled workers.

Some Clinics limit their membership. For example, one Man Marketing Clinic, under the auspices of a university, is open only to graduates of any college. The Clinic technique, however, may be applied to any group of people.

Who Sponsors Man Marketing Clinics? They have been sponsored <pg. 306> by Sales Executive Clubs, Junior Chambers of Commerce, Y.M.C.A.'s, Service Clubs, Boys' Clubs, American Legion Posts, schools, universities, school alumni organizations, individuals, newspapers.

Who Pays Expenses of Man Marketing Clinics? There is little expense in running a Man Marketing Clinic. Leaders are usually business men who give their time one evening a week, or less frequently if there are several leaders. Sponsoring organizations usually arrange for meeting places.

What Has Been Accomplished in the Twenty Years of the First Man Marketing Clinic and to What Extent Is the Clinic Technique Successful? In the first Clinic alone more than sixty thousand men and women have attended during its twenty years. More than ten thousand cases have been presented and criticized constructively. In almost every case hidden assets were developed, assets the person did not realize he had or which he failed to bring out properly. Thousands have reported that the Clinic was largely responsible for their getting the jobs they wanted, often at higher salaries than they previously earned. Some had been unemployed for quite some time. From employers we learned that Clinic graduates are likely to be unusually good in their work, because they planned their careers and are doing what they want to do.

It is difficult to get the full story on Clinic achievements because some tell us of their results, others do not. But we can say that those who continue to attend the Clinic consistently and follow its principles usually get the jobs they want. Often it happens quickly; sometimes it takes a long while.

The Clinic technique has been applied successfully by nearly every kind of worker. But it should be understood that it is not the easiest way to get a job. Some are not willing to put in the time and effort needed. But those who use the Clinic techniques find that it often gives them a choice of jobs, often helps them land jobs well beyond what they have previously had, and makes success in their jobs easier. In the early days of the Clinic we thought we were helping people primarily to present or package themselves better. As time has passed, we have come to realize that the product, too, has usually been equally improved.

How Does a Man Marketing Clinic Operate? Clinic meetings are entirely informal. No forms are filled out. No one need participate in the meeting unless he wishes. A person may present his case without publicly disclosing his name or the name of his present firm. <pg. 307>

Meetings are usually intensely interesting and good fun. It is not a meeting of the jobless, for we encourage others to come: those who are employed but hope to better themselves in their own organizations or elsewhere, "graduates" who have landed jobs they wanted; and all who are interested in the Clinic's progress.

Clinic technique emphasizes three things: planning for one's life work; participation by constructively criticizing others' plans and by preparing a job campaign for one's self; persistence in intelligently putting the campaign into effect.

Usually there are newcomers each evening. If there are many cases of continuing members to be considered, it is desirable to divide the meeting into two or more sections, the first for those present for the first time, the second for those ready to apply the Clinic's principles to their own campaigns to get satisfactory jobs.

If the group is small and there are few cases to be considered, one section will do. In that case, the one meeting would combine the two sections described below, condensing introductory remarks and proceeding with the cases to be considered.

The Introductory Section for Newcomers. The leader explains the object of the Man Marketing Clinic, its plan of operation, its noncharge service. If the meeting is small, he may suggest that members introduce themselves.

The first purpose of the meeting for newcomers is inspirational. New members must be convinced that Clinic techniques will help them land the jobs they want.

Now the leader gives the group a bird's-eye view of Clinic methods, illustrating each point with examples. Most leaders find it helpful to set up the following outline on posters or a blackboard so the group can follow the main points:

Steps to Get Your Job

I. Determine What You Want to Do a. Find what the field of work requires b. Dig out your hidden assets for such work

II. Prepare Your Sales Presentations

A. Follow these principles a. Offer a service instead of asking for a job. Appeal to the self-interest of your prospect Be specific about <pg. 308> The job you want Your qualifications Your achievements Back up every statement of ability with evidence

B. The Presentation Portfolios and resumes Letters Shotgun letter Rifle approach

III. Prepare for Each Interview Plan your follow-up

IV. Turn Liabilities into Assets

V. Look to Your Future

Everyone in the group should be encouraged to ask questions. Such a meeting builds morale. One purpose of the newcomers' meeting is to encourage as many as possible to prepare complete or partial campaigns to get the jobs they want. They may start with a "shotgun" letter to get leads, or with a "rifle" approach to a specific concern, or with an analysis of their characteristics and experiences to determine a suitable vocation, or with an answer to a help-wanted advertisement. Or they may work out a rough draft for a portfolio. Encourage and stimulate all to prepare such material and bring it to the next Clinic meeting for constructive criticism. Get an idea of how many plan to submit material at the next meeting, so that meeting plans may be made.

Quick results are important to the jobless. Reading Pick Your Job -- and Land It! before working on their presentations will probably speed up the process.

Prentice-Hall, the publishers, give a special price to authorized Man Marketing Clinics. So that Clinic members may read the book without buying it, a rental plan has been devised. Any member may have a book by depositing the regular price of $4. When the book is returned the member gets back $3.75. Thus no bookkeeping is necessary. Many want to keep the book; the profit on these and the 25 cent rental provide a small fund, which in turn provides books on a scholarship basis for those without deposit money.

The Section for Continuing Members. This section meets regularly for those who have been through the introductory meeting and understand the Clinic's purpose and workings. Most will have gained ideas <pg. 309> on how to plan a real merchandising campaign. They are ready to take the first steps toward the jobs they want.

Five to seven cases can be handled effectively in a three-hour meeting. When there are more, the newcomers' section may handle two or three simple cases at the end of its session or the regular section may split into two or more groups if extra leaders are on hand. At times we have had five or six separate meetings going on at one time. It is helpful if each group has some old-timers who contribute readily and thus "prime the pump." If all cases cannot be handled, give preference to those who have attended regularly, who have come a long distance, or who are out of work.

If there are not enough written cases to fill the time, call for oral cases. Persons who have written cases deserve precedence because they have given thought to logical presentation and, having considered their own cases carefully, will profit most by the suggestions of the group.

A member reads aloud a letter, portfolio or other material. Then there is critical discussion.

Sometimes a member assimilates the suggestions so readily that he can go a head with his campaign after one session. Another may submit revisions at subsequent meetings before he feels ready to proceed. During his campaign, a member often returns to tell of results or lack of results. If his results aren't good enough, the Clinic goes to work to help him further.

Ask for progress reports from those actually using their campaigns. It is stimulating when members tell of the success of campaigns in which we have come to have a personal interest.

Some members do well in their campaigns only to fall apart during interviews. In such cases, staging practice interviews often reveals where they go wrong and strengthens their interview technique.

When members get the jobs they want, we call them "graduates." A number of them continue to drop in on the meetings, and some take a very active part and even become leaders. Often they are so busy on their jobs that we don't hear of their success until weeks later. But we urge them to inform the Clinic in person or in writing when they secure jobs. Letters telling how the Clinic has helped a member are exceedingly stimulating to the group. They can be used again and again, omitting names when desirable.

Occasionally it is good to ask those present to offer suggestions about how the meetings may be more beneficial to those who attend.

What Are the Functions of the Leader? A good leader adds im-measurably to the value of a Clinic meeting. <pg. 310> He helps members see how they can apply Clinic principles in selling their own services. We all tend to think that our cases are different. The skillful leader will convince us that, even so, we can apply the same principles.

A good leader stimulates wide participation in the discussion. A keen leader may find it hard to defer his own opinions until others have contributed. But the open discussion is likely to be of as much benefit to those who participate as to the person whose presentation is being considered. If one member can make constructive suggestions to another, his own morale improves and he is better able to apply the same principles to his own case.

The leader keeps the discussion on a merchandising plane. Don't let the Clinic become primarily a vocational guidance session or an employment committee. When a vocational problem arises, it should be approached as an advertising or merchandising man approaches a new product: analyze it to understand its assets, liabilities, market.

The leader will summarize and clarify suggestions made from the floor, emphasize important points, bring out the principles underlying suggestions so that others may profit from them.

He will avoid useless discussion and argument. If there is a disagreement among members, he may settle it by asking the group to indicate an opinion by a show of hands. This method is also effective in combating suggestions of doubtful value. It is important to maintain a good tempo, not to let the meeting drag.

He will supplement suggestions from the floor, taking care to dig for fundamentals. It is easy to allow a poorly worded letter to divert attention from the fact that fundamentally the letter shows insufficient assets to qualify the writer for the job. It is likewise easy to let an attractive portfolio blind one to the fact that it doesn't contain enough "sell" to land the job.

The leader is always alert to the need for digging out hidden assets, the specific instances which indicate a job well done. Don't hesitate to use absolute frankness if a case demands it, but tempered always by tact and kindliness.

He will continually stimulate members to make consistent and intelligent effort in carrying out their campaigns. He will help maintain hope and courage. He will encourage members to get wider coverage and to follow up good prospects properly.

Other Suggestions for Leaders. Cultivate a sympathetic and kindly approach to every case. Try to lead the thinking into the right channel. Strive for agreement and cooperation by such phrases as "Do you <pg. 311> think this letter might be improved if you did so and so?" Or "How about trying so and so?"

Don't make it a one- or two-man meeting. Use your audience. Ask for constructive criticisms. If they don't come readily, make specific requests. Ask one what he thinks of an opening paragraph; ask another whether a certain letter appeals to the best interest of the prospect. Or present a question to the audience as a whole. For example, "How many think the person is qualified for the job he is seeking?" Suppose the audience votes that he does not appear qualified. Then say something like this to the person, "All of these people think you're not qualified for the job you are seeking. They may be wrong. But you'll want to consider their opinions. Even if you are qualified for the job you're going after, you haven't been able to convince this audience, an unusually sympathetic one. If your presentation doesn't sell them, do you think it would convince an employer to invest his money in you?"

Have at your command cases to illustrate each principle as needed. Use illustrations from your own experience or from Pick Your Job -- and Land It! Also every case under consideration should be used to bring out and reiterate one or more of the principles that lie back of getting the job one wants.

Don't let members oversell themselves or represent themselves to be something they are not. It may get them interviews, even land jobs. But it will hinder their chances for the future.

There is a tendency at the Clinics to concentrate on letters to get leads. Letters are an important means of getting greater exposure to likely prospects, and their consideration is valuable. But stress should also be laid on other factors. Those who work out complete campaigns will get the most good out of the Clinic.

Who Make Good Clinic Leaders? In a Clinic leader, the first essential is a great desire to help others, a sympathetic understanding of the problems most individuals face in seeking a new connection, and a fairly comprehensive view of business and its needs. Several leaders are desirable. Men accustomed to meeting merchandising problems -- advertising men, merchandising men, business consultants, executive officers of companies -- are apt to be the men you will want to call upon as Clinic leaders. Such men are skilled in analyzing a product, presenting it adequately to logical prospects. They know how to plan a complete campaign, to define the market for a product. When such men consider an individual as a product, their merchandising experience is valuable to the person whose case is being considered. We have also had good leaders with varying backgrounds -- engineers, accountants, and, of course, personnel men. <pg. 312>

Practically no time is required of leaders outside of meeting times. Thus the best type of business leader can participate. Often leaders say the Clinic actually saves their time. The many people who come to them for jobs during the week can he directed to the Clinic, thus conserving business time and making it possible for these persons to be better served. Leaders have been unanimous in saying that they get as much out of the Clinic as the persons looking for jobs.

Fundamental Clinic Policies.

Self Help. The Clinic's purpose is to help people to help themselves. They make their own presentations, write their own letters. Since everything an applicant submits to a prospective employer is taken as an example of his ability, a presentation prepared by another is not fair to the individual nor to the prospective employer. Of course, Clinic criticisms often will be quite detailed; often oral suggestions will be worded as if they were part of a letter. The final draft may even be made up largely of suggestions from the Clinic. If the member has absorbed the suggestions and is able to construct a good presentation from his notes, they are really his and he has every right to use them. We never help a man build up his presentation beyond his capacities, but we do build up his capacities, and his presentation grows with him.

Members Make Own Decisions. The Clinic never tells a member what to do. The leader should emphasize at each meeting that the member whose case is being considered should use his own judgment in taking or not taking suggestions. Otherwise, he may come to lean on the Clinic instead of doing his own thinking. Moreover, members may be quite divided on some questions. This is wholesome. The leader should point out that this division is valuable, as it represents the probable parallel variety of opinion among employers.

No Conflict with Employment Agencies. The Clinic tackles each case as a merchandising problem. In no sense does it compete with employment agencies. It cooperates with them. After a person has used Clinic methods to build up a presentation to do a good merchandising job for him, the employment agency is better able to help him get placed favorably.

The Written Presentation. The Clinic emphasizes written presentations, for when anyone reduces his problems to writing he is forced to think them out thoroughly and constructively. Of course, some people do not express themselves well on paper. But even <pg. 313> those who just make oral presentations will benefit by writing their story first--no matter how poorly.

No Charge. The Clinic makes no charge of any kind at any time for its services.

What About Meetings and Personnel? Meetings should be held at least once a week. The Clinic loses much of its effectiveness if meetings are not held at regular weekly intervals.

If possible, meetings should be held at the same time and place each week, so members will get the habit of dropping in. It is especially valuable to have graduates return.

If meetings are held at night, say from 7-10, some members may wish to arrange for an informal supper meeting place. Leaders may take this opportunity to talk with the occasional person who is convinced he needs personal attention.

It is desirable if the leader of next week can be present this week, so he can carry on more effectively with the revised presentations.

As the Clinic grows, the percentage who do not present cases increases. But you may be sure they get plenty out of it, and the Clinic often benefits from their suggestions.

What About Local Publicity? If there are not enough people coming to the Clinic, publicity is needed. Release a story to the local paper or in the club house organ, ask members to tell others of the Clinic, mail admission cards to members or to others likely to know men who need help. It is simple to publicize the Clinic work. So many cases are packed with human interest that the stories lend themselves to retelling on the platform, before friends, and in print.

Do All the Man Marketing Clinics Do a Good Job? We believe it is impossible for a group of people to get together regularly and discuss the application of the principles and methods of improving their jobs without having good results. We know that a great many people who have absorbed Man Marketing Clinic principles and methods only from Pick Your Job -- and Land It! have written to say that it enabled them to get the jobs they wanted. We have attended Clinics which have had only the Manual and Pick Your Job -- and Land It! as guides and have found they were doing an excellent job. Some Clinics have stopped operating. As nearly as we can determine these are the reasons:

Leaders who initiated the Clinic quit and other leaders had not been developed to take their places. This indicates the importance of developing ample leadership early in the life of the Clinic. <pg. 314>

Leaders did not follow Clinic technique. They turned the meetings into lectures. Or they failed themselves to learn the principles behind successful job campaigns or to absorb enough case histories to illustrate the principles, so that Clinic members could understand. Hence people did not return to the Clinic, or those who did come were not prepared to present their cases for criticism.

The Clinic attendance fell away. If the operation is otherwise all right, this situation can often be remedied by publicity releases or by getting men who are continually turning away job seekers to refer them to the Clinic.

To the Community or Group Served. A Man Marketing Clinic fills a human need which has an important bearing on community well-being. The Clinic plan concentrates an individual's attention on collecting evidence of good work throughout his business career. He cannot accumulate his evidence unless the job is well done. By thus focusing attention on performance or rendering a service which will benefit the employer, a Man Marketing Clinic is doing its part in building up a more healthy industrial situation in this country. As the Clinic idea spreads, as more and more persons concentrate on doing a good job, we will improve pride in workmanship, develop abler executives and run business better. Which will in turn create employment for others.

It is for these reasons that business or community groups act as sponsors.

How May You Start a Man Marketing Clinic? A simple way is to gather together a small group of these interested in bettering their jobs. Meet with them regularly. Help them to help each other as outlined here.

You may start in a more ambitious way by getting the sponsorship of one or more organizations in your community.