Maybe you know what you want. You're lucky if you do. But there's one thing we've learned in all our years of experience with the Man Marketing Clinic:

To make the most of your campaign to pick your job and land it -- you've got to grasp the thought behind this chapter and the next. Everything in them is simple. And all of it is obvious once you think of it. It's the thinking of it, the planting of it firmly in your mind, that counts.

How you start out in the business or professional world is likely to shape your entire future. Yet where your work life begins, and ends, is too often a matter of chance.

Anyone can go on indefinitely taking whatever comes his way and painfully trying to fit the pieces into a single pattern -- but that is certainly the hard way to do it. It takes no more physical effort to land a series of jobs that build toward a chosen goal. But it does call for planning. Still, you can save much time and effort later with a little career research now.

Finding out what it takes to do a job well is career research. Digging out all your skills and talents is career research. Finding <pg. 10> out how you think, what you like and dislike, what you can do and can't do is career research.

You may be blessed with ability, a good education, and ambition. But if you fail to plan your career you cut your chances for success considerably.

In the Man Marketing Clinic we have talked with thousands of men and woman from all walks of life and in all age groups. Many of them have changed jobs from time to time in earnest search of "something better" -- but with no clear goal and no plan. Suddenly they find the years have passed them by and still they're nowhere near the top.

Never having thought in those terms they could not relate their many experiences into a pattern that would qualify them for top positions in a specific field. Yet once they turned their thoughts to goals and plans they soon straightened out what seemed a tangled mess.

A simple but typical story may underscore the point. When Sandra Witt, a pleasant woman in her late thirties, came to the Clinic she was a sales clerk in a large department store and very unhappy about it.

"I know I can do something better," she told us. "But I don't know how to go about it. I read about your organization in Reader's Digest and I thought I might as well look into it."

"What do you want to do? Where do you think you can best fit?" we asked.

"That's what bothers me: I don't know. I've worked all my life. Sometimes I would look for something good. But I never had much money so I'd have to take the first thing that came along. Now they tell me that all my experience adds up to nothing. So I'm a clerk."

"Surely, Miss Witt, you must have had some jobs that were tied to each other, that show some continuity."

She just looked at us helplessly and shook her head.

"Well, while we continue the session would you list on a piece of paper some of the jobs you've held?" Miss Witt agreed to this.

She had indeed worked in a number of different places. Her first job had been as comparison shopper for a department store. Then she worked in the research department of an advertising <pg. 11> agency. There she did field surveys and helped tabulate the returns.

Once she worked for one of the large soap manufacturers. Her job was distributing samples to housewives and asking them why they did or did not use her company's products. On another occasion she supervised a crew of girls for a market research firm doing a field survey for a cosmetics manufacturer.

For one three-year stretch she had been with the admissions office of a large university. There she helped analyze the scores of tests on opinions and attitudes given to all freshmen and seniors. In that way the university checked the effects of education on ideas and feelings. Toward the end of that experience Sandra had two girls working under her.

And now she was a sales clerk.

Department store, advertising agency, soap company, market research firm, university -- these different types of business confused Miss Witt as they did each new employer. It all seemed a veritable hodgepodge. Yet once you looked for it there was a clear line of important research experience.

Just examine it again. Field surveys, tabulating, crew supervision, test analysis -- all rounded off with sales experience. Here was enough for a minor supervising position.

As soon as Miss Witt saw this, packaging herself for a marketing research career was easier.

The moral we draw is simple. When you aim for a goal from the first, less waste motion results. But even if you do this relatively late, confusion evaporates. Once you lay out a goal, once you begin to plan for it, you can take from all your jobs certain functional skills and weld them into a straight-line pattern.

It's a little uncanny, this matter of goals. When you work out for yourself just what you want to do now and where you want to be five or ten years from now, you become a new person. You read different things, you say different things, you think different thoughts. Your whole bearing changes, becomes more positive. Your voice becomes more buoyant. You radiate force and energy. And people respect you more when you know where you're going. Management sits up and takes notice.

All this is by no means theoretical. We have seen it happen <pg. 12> hundreds of times. Consider the case of Harvey Wilson, a shy wisp of a man hiding behind huge horn-rimmed glasses.

Mr. Wilson came to the Clinic just out of a job, and fifty-five years of age. Although he was a trained historian with a Master's degree from a leading college, he had drifted into clerical work upon graduation -- and stayed there. While he had earned minor promotions and salary increases he had never been aggressive enough to rise to office manager or some such administrative post.

Lately he had been shunted around from job to job because of his age. In his last job he had handled complaints in a small department store with three assistants under him. He found he rather liked the work. But the store went out of business and once more he was unemployed.

Now he was at the Clinic because he was worried about the age problem and didn't know where to turn. He was willing to take "any job" open to a man of his years.

We thought over his story and then we asked: "Mr. Wilson, do you think if you put your mind to it, and possibly got another job in that line, you could learn all that any man might know about complaints and adjustments in five years of work and study?"

He blinked his eyes at that, then said: "It's a tall order but I guess I could."

"Supposing you did -- and we're not saying you should -- but supposing you went along with such a goal, do you think it would change your life -- even now?"

He considered this one carefully. "Yes, I believe it would. It would give me incentive. You would never find me without a book or pamphlet, or articles on the subject in my hands. And I would talk about it every chance I'd get."

Then he added very slowly and thoughtfully, "I've always been shy and never mixed very easily with others. But somehow people always come to me with their troubles and I've enjoyed helping them. I seem to have a knack for straightening them out. Now I think of it that's why I liked my last job: I felt I was helping the Customers."

"You've just proven your interest and have already dug out an asset to go with it," we told him. "If the idea is congenial to you <pg. 13> don't you think it wise to drop everything else and concentrate on this?"

"Yes, I think you're right."

Three weeks later Mr. Wilson walked in again. When the session got under way he stood up to report his progress. (On his first visit he remained seated when he spoke, so as to be less conspicuous.)

"Now that I'm wrapped up in a goal," he said, "employers give me a full hearing. From my own experience I already knew a little about complaints and adjustments. In addition, I've been reading everything I can find on the subject. In the interviews I've had, my knowledge and interest got through to my prospective employers. They show a respect for me I hadn't won before. In two cases I was invited to come back again if I didn't get another job soon."

It took Mr. Wilson four months to land his job. Considering his age this was good. What we want to stress here, however, is not the success story -- though that counts too. We want to emphasize how the entire makeup of an elderly man changed when he finally set his sights on a goal -- even a modest one.

Since he is a scholar, Mr. Wilson put this in a more scholarly way. In a letter he wrote to us he said: "The vital thing is that at last I am aware of meaning of some kind, and that I have gained a strange power through it. Planning for my goal -- eventually to head the department -- has given me a new awareness of life. The future seems more accessible. All this has come to me with the shock of revelation, with the blinding illumination of Saul's vision on the road to Damascus."

For most of us the first conscious glimpse of new horizons may hit with a gentler impact. In either case the vistas suddenly revealed will have the special validity and force of a wholly personal discovery.

On another occasion. Richard Burton, a charming, good-looking man in his thirties, dropped into the Clinic. After sitting quietly for a while he asked if he could state his problem. He spoke in a somewhat tentative manner with a slight stammer to his voice. He was clearly unsure of himself.

Yet on the surface his was a success story. <pg. 14>

He had done well in college, had made friends easily, and had joined a law firm upon graduation. His charm, his looks, and his manner helped him win cases and eventually he became a junior partner.

But through it all he was vaguely unhappy. Lately, things had worsened. He had to force himself to work each day. His lack of enthusiasm was beginning to tell and work piled up on his desk -- undone. Both for his own sake and for the firm he felt he had to get out. For he now knew what the trouble was: he hated law. How could he get into a new field -- and what field? That was his problem.

"Do you have any idea what you'd like to do?" we asked him. "I haven't thought it through very far," he answered. "I think I might like to be an account executive, or maybe go in for selling. Or --" and he stopped.

"Or what?" we prodded.

"Well," he said hesitantly, "I've often thought of being a newspaper reporter but my father was always against it."

"You might like to know our standard procedure for choosing between different fields," we said. "First, you write on separate sheets of paper the titles of the two or three different types of work you're considering and put down everything you know about those jobs. Then you ask everyone in those fields you can button-hole just what it takes to succeed there. Be sure you have a notebook with you to record the answers.

"Follow this up with whatever reading material you can find on the subjects. Finally, jot down all the facts you've gathered on your work sheets and match up your interests and your talents against them."

"It sounds like work," he said, "but it also sounds worthwhile." He came back two weeks later. He didn't seem to realize how changed he was. There was a spring in his walk that had been noticeably lacking before. His eyes were wide awake. Just looking at him we were positive he had come to a clear-cut decision -- and we were right.

"I spoke to a court reporter I know," he said, "and he told me it takes a fellow with a wide range of general information to succeed in journalism. You must be able to converse on varied <pg. 15> topics with all kinds of people in order to draw out material for a story.

"Another reporter said a good newspaperman must have an inquiring mind that takes nothing for granted and looks for real causes and facts. He must have a flair for sensing news values. He must be able to write clearly, briefly, and accurately of events, things, and people."

"With a little thought I knew this was right up my alley. In school I got my biggest kick out of working on the school paper. I was pretty good at digging out stories and I was a whiz at asking leading questions. To top it off, writing copy always came easily to me. With my knowledge of law and sources, I figure I can get a start on the City Hall beat. So I explained the situation to the senior partner and resigned from the firm.

"I know this means a salary cut -- but I'm doing what I want to do."

Sure, Richard had done well in law. But that didn't keep him from being miserable and on the verge of failure. Not until he thought through to what he really wanted did he straighten himself out.

Writing in the June 1940 Reader's Digest, Paul de Kruif tells of asking twenty-four of the country's most distinguished doctors and microbe hunters this question: "How old were you when you decided to study medicine?" The average age at which these men had made their vocational choice was fourteen and a half years.

True, this was exceptional. But it does point up the moral.

Maybe if there is any formula for success, it is to find out at an early age all the things you do best and like best and from there on in to think and talk wherever possible about how you can get what you want. But, as Sandra Witt and Harvey Wilson showed, it's never too late to begin.

This point surely needs no further argument. Happiness and success do go closely with choosing a goal and laying out plans to reach it. Besides, most of us want to settle down and cultivate a single field where we can feel securely at home. Why then do so many continue to jump into the job market planlessly?

Personnel directors of many different firms have told us that, with the exception of technical school graduates, only one out of <pg. 16> four high school graduates and but two out of four college grads have any idea of what they want to do. Further, less than 2 per cent of those who said they knew what they wanted could give sound reasons for their choice. The story is not much better for older people.

Why?

There is but one answer. Very rarely in either school or business does anyone bother to tell us how important clear-cut objectives can be. Still less does anyone help us develop such goals and plans to reach them. In a word, subjects are widely taught, but seldom objectives.

We have asked hundreds and thousands of men and women in audiences and singly: "How many of you ever had a parent, a teacher, an employer or anyone else help you work out a plan to make the best use of your talents?" We have queried college seniors, executives, and others with favored backgrounds -- but less than 10 per cent have ever had even one such experience.

Having worked with thousands of people from seventeen to seventy years of age in the Man Marketing Clinic, in high school, college, and business we have learned that most of us need and welcome help in this direction a number of times in our lives if we are to make the most of our capacities. Given such help anyone can then work out his own goals and plans -- each on his own level.

With a well-charted goal a job hunt can be an exciting experience. Otherwise we often become confused and frightened. The longer we go without a goal the more confusing things become.

Indeed, the very number of occupations often bewilders us. Obviously, no one can possibly explore all the existing fields. Without previous training how are you to know what is the best job choice? How can you locate yourself in the complex world of business and chart the paths by which you can venture toward distant goals?

Luckily, you don't have to know about every kind of job in order to make a sound vocational choice. Since most job functions can be carried on in many fields -- that is, if you can sell at all you can probably sell automobiles or advertising space -- you just have to think first in terms of such functions.

"Okay," you say. "So far, so good. I get the angle on mapping   <pg. 17> out a career for myself then setting up plans to go with it. Suppose I even get my first job in that direction. How do I know I'll ever reach this goal of office manager, or comptroller, or whatever? It's just the breaks you get that count."

True, breaks are part of the picture. But let's see what George Saunders has to say about this.

"They tell me I'm a lucky stiff," said George the night he came to a Clinic session to renew old times. "My boss gave me a tricky problem to handle and I stumbled over the answer in two days instead of the two weeks he expected me to take. A few days later I wrote a project report that, more or less by accident, got to one of our vice-presidents and drew a compliment from him. And all this happened just about the time the assistant chief engineer was transferred to another division. So I got the job over three other fellows who've been around twice as long as I."

"It does sound like you got a few good breaks," someone said.

"Maybe I did," said George. "But I can say without bragging that I worked for those breaks. I worked for them only because I learned right here at the Clinic the power of choosing a sound goal, of knowing where I want to go and figuring out how to get there. In setting my sights on my goal I was ready for the breaks when they came."

The way psychologists explain this it makes good sense. We all have more mental power than we ever use because we usually dissipate it in many different directions. But when we channel our powers in one direction, when we know where we are going and why and set our minds to get there, every ounce of brain matter, every muscle and fiber in our bodies is set in that direction too. When a problem comes up along the way, both mind and body react to it automatically. And so, almost without knowing how we did it, we come up with a solution.

Sure, George Saunders was lucky. Being set on a goal made him lucky. It helped him prepare for the breaks that fell his way.

That's why we say, first choose a goal worthy of you, then plan to attain it. Whether you want to get ahead on the job you now have, or whether you're looking for your first job or your tenth -- this applies to you.

Set your sights on the one kind of job that suits you best. Figure <pg. 18> out how much further along the way you want to be five or ten years from now. Then plot the course you have to take accordingly. That way you too will have what it takes to cash in when the payoff comes.

What then is a sound vocational choice? And how do you go about making it?

In reading the case histories above you have already seen part of the technique in action. But let's pull it all together. First we'll outline it, then discuss each point in detail. To make a choice wisely:

1.  You find out what it takes to make good in the various fields you're considering -- the technical and personal qualities needed.

2.  You check on the advantages and disadvantages of each field from the standpoint of opportunity, future, salary, growth potential and the like.

3.  You eliminate those fields that don't appeal to you in the light of the facts you've gathered.

4.  You dig out your own assets -- your talents, education, experiences. You search for qualities that go with the job requirements you uncovered. You also put down your interests -- the things you like to do.

5.  You match what you have against what it takes. You look for the best fit.

6.  You double-check to make sure you're not being blinded by glamour. Like choosing newspaper work when you can't write, or the stage when you can't act.

7.  You consider if you can work happily in that field in years to come and make reasonable progress in it.

8.  You check the validity of your choice.

a)With someone now in that field. "This is what I think it takes to make a go of it," you might say. "Am I right?" And "I think this story illustrates this particular asset. Am I right?"

b) With friends and family. "This is what I think I have. Do you agree?" In sum, when you have considered many fields, when you <pg. 19> know what it takes to succeed in the one of your choice, when you can demonstrate that you have some of the required qualifications and can pick up others, and when you have a keen desire to work in that field, you will make a sound vocational choice.

How do you find out what different jobs call for? Talk to people -- and keep your notebook handy! There's a good reason for this. No idea is clear, no goal is clear until you put it into words. And you can't decide what you want until you have the facts spread out before you.

Allow a few pages for each field you're considering. Put down all you know about them first. Then go out and talk with people who work in those fields.

Perhaps you don't know where to begin. You may be fresh out of school and have no idea at all of what work you want to do. How can you get a clue for a workable decision?

Let's see how Raymond Grafton did it.

Ray was a young man of twenty-seven, serious, self-possessed, intent on finding his proper place. After a three-year hitch in the Army, Ray returned to college. There he majored in English, with the thought of teaching in mind. Upon graduation this idea soured; he couldn't say why.

For two years he drifted from job to job. Then, as Ray himself tells it, "One morning I woke up, looked in the mirror and told myself, 'This has gone far enough.' I decided to hold everything till I knew what I wanted."

Steered to the Man Marketing Clinic by a friend, Ray pounced eagerly on our goal-choosing process. Somewhat vague about his interests, he had little to go on.

Having done well in math and noting all the ads for accountants in the papers, he felt he should learn more about that field. If necessary, he was willing to take a couple of years more of school. His G.I. rights would cover the expense.

He also got a kick out of well-designed window displays in the big department stores of New York. "They remind me of my camouflage work in the Army," he laughed. Besides, he had taken a number of art courses in college.

In addition, he decided to research three or four other fields, more or less at random. Some Clinic "grads" carefully survey five to ten fields in order to make the best choice for themselves. <pg. 20>

Ray wasted no time. He phoned a Fifth Avenue department store, asked the display manager if he could come by for advice -- and got an appointment with the man's assistant. Armed with notebook and sharpened pencils, he set off.

To simplify matters we reproduce only the notes Ray took on window display and accounting. We give them exactly as he jotted them down -- in disjointed phrases and his own abbreviations.

Unless you take shorthand you'll soon get lost if you try to capture every word on paper. Just key phrases and abbreviations will suffice.

Here are the questions Ray asked and the answers he noted: "Just what do you do?" he asked the assistant display manager.

Together with display chief meets with buyers, advertising mgr., merchandising mgr. to see what window and interior displays needed for sales, fashion shows, other promotions. Display mgr. works out ideas for each display. We sketch them, estimate cost. If approved asst. supervises 12-man crew -- artists, carpenters, fixture boys -- in building displays. "How do you get started in this field?"

Some start as fixture boy -- glorified errand boy for display mgr. and asst. Can go in as sort of informal apprentice. Takes 1--4 yrs. become good display man depending on ability. "What education and training do you look for in beginners?"

Good gen'l. education to begin with. Some knowledge art, fashion, period furniture, merchandising, advertising, and selling -- the more the better. Special courses display work help. Can get them in Schools of Applied Design, some universities. "Can you give me an idea of the salary range?"

Dept. store display mgrs. from $4500--15,O00 depending size of store. Asst. mgr. S4,OOO--8 or 9,000. Apprentice $40--6O, and journeyman display man, $65--100 wk.

All this took longer than it takes to read. So at this point Ray thanked the assistant manager and left. Then he wangled appointments with four or five other display men, building up his notebook as he went along.

In order to fill in the overall picture Ray then looked up in the library some books and pamphlets on commercial art careers. Here are the notes he made: <pg. 21>

Expanding field. A good display man who can design and/or construct displays should find steady employment.

Three main avenues work. (1) create displays for 1 firm, usually large dept. store. (2) in display studios that make displays for manufacturers and exhibitions. (3) with companies that install in smaller stores displays furnished by nat'l mfgs. Last group more likely use inexperienced men.

Many good display people move ahead to important exec positions in advertising and sales promotion, in chain and dept. stores, in advertising agencies, and mfg. firms.

By this time Ray had pages and pages of facts on display work. Now he had to boil his notes down to workable size. He eliminated irrelevant material, combined duplications, then listed the what-it-takes qualities on one work sheet. Like this:

Qualities Needed for Display Man Ability to sketch Flair for color Salesmanship Working knowledge of:

Art
Fashion
Furniture designs
Merchandising
Advertising Tact Affability Creative imagination College education

Pros & Cons of Display Work

Pro:
Expanding field Big demand Creative -- allows full play of imagination and intelligence Many chances for moving ahead

Con:

Can't think of any

With his display work sheet ready for the next step of matching his assets against the job requirements, Ray went on to build <pg. 22> a work sheet on accounting. He made appointments with the head of a public accounting firm and with cost accountants for two different industrial firms. We reproduce only the notes from the first interview and from a career pamphlet on accounting.

"What does a public accountant do?" Ray asked the president of the firm.

Public acctg. firms called in by others for variety of work, mostly audit books. This means check accounting to see if correctly done, and sometimes check if property of firm agrees with statement figures. Also asked to work out better methods keeping records.

Practically business advisors. Advise on financial matters, especially taxation and govt. regulations. Study firm records and operations -- report to their pres. or bd. of directors.

"What personal qualities are desirable for a public accountant?"

Major one ability to get cooperation of other people, sometimes under trying conditions. Must be discreet, able inspire confidence, observant, analytical, natural liking figures, accurate, able work no supervision. "What education and training are desirable?"

Good gen'l. educ. Some Business law, finance, statistics, eco. and math. Thoro bookkeeping and acctg. theory -- can often study nites while in beginning job. In most states C.P.A. applicants must pass written exam. 45 states use questions prepared by Bd. of Examiners of Amer. Institute Accts. Copies of questions used and answers by writing: American Institute Publishing Co., 13 E. 41st St., N. Y. C.

"What is the pay range in this field?"

Young man just out of school $45--55 weekly as accounting clerk. Jr. accts range 3600--4500; semi-seniors 4500--5500; supervisors and principals in acctg. firms $6000 up. From a couple of career pamphlets Ray took these notes:

Acctg. relatively new field. Should continue expand because many firms must improve acctg. practices. New tax legislation and so much govt. regulation makes skilled accountant more and more necessary.

Relatively crowded at bottom. Schools turning out more and more every year trained bookkeeping, acctg. But still <pg. 23> big opportunity for able men. Certain acctg. firms like to take new college grads good record even without acctg. educ. and train them. Takes 3 yrs. such training. Write: Bureau of Placements of the American Institute of Accountants, 13 E. 41st St., N.Y.C., to get info.

Many top flight business execs started in acctg.

Work requires long hours. Public acct. often has to travel from home for some time. Sometimes works under heavy pressure because job deadline must be met. On the other hand work allows much use of ingenuity and resourcefulness. Boiling his notes down, Ray prepared another work sheet:

Qualities Needed for Public Accountant
Good at figures
Accurate Analytic mind
Sound knowledge
Taxes
Government regulations
Accounting theory Some knowledge
Business law
Statistics
Math
Tact
Discretion
Work under pressure
Work without supervision
Sound education

Pros and Cons of Public Accounting

Pro:
Big demand Leads to many top executive posts
Allows for initiative and ingenuity

Con: Can be a lot of travel
Crowded at bottom Low pay at beginning
Irregular hours <pg. 24>

[Jane Stringer, Dental Hygiene]

Leaving Ray for a moment, we come to Jane Stringer. [For end of Ray's story, click here] Fresh out of high school, pretty little Jane had no idea at all of what she wanted. But she fairly sizzled with ambition. So she decided to investigate ten different fields of work completely at random. We give you the notes she took on one of them, dental hygiene.

First, she called her own dentist and told him why she wanted to see him. He set aside thirty minutes for her. Here are her notes:

Big call for hygienists. But dentist with large practice usually takes only experienced girl. Still, fairly easy to get start.

After talking to a few dental hygienists she met, Jane looked up some career books in her town library. This is what she found:

Here is how Jane arranged her work sheet on dental hygiene:

Satisfied with her hygiene work sheet, Jane dove into her next investigation. And there you have it. If you have little or no idea of what you want to do, you'll just have to talk to everyone you meet.

Question your parents, friends, store clerks, businessmen, office workers, salesmen, teachers -- everyone you know or run into. Remember that choosing a field of work is not peculiar to you. Almost everyone has faced the problem and will try to help you. And most people will be glad to talk to you about their work -- because that means they're talking about themselves. <pg. 26>

As Ray Grafton told a Clinic group after he finished his surveys, "Everyone I asked for advice was exceedingly courteous and friendly and more than willing to give me some of their time. I just told them directly why I wanted to see them. I found they really respected me for what I was doing."

Keep yourself and the people you talk to on the right track. Ask pertinent questions. Ask them:

What kind of work do you do?

What are the beginning jobs in your field?

What personal qualities are desirable in it?

What education and training are needed?

What is the starting pay?

What are the chances of getting ahead?

And carry your notebook with you. It's a priceless tool at this stage. No one can possibly remember all the points of a conversation -- and these points are important to you. Write the facts down as you get them.

And remember to think and talk in terms of functions. This will help keep your goals clear and unclouded. Ask about selling -- and not about the automobile industry. If you like people, are persuasive, and can be pleasantly persistent, you can probably sell anything well -- cars or advertising space.

Or ask about skilled machinist work -- not about aviation. If you have a good feeling for tools you can probably fit well into either an auto or plane or steel plant. So talk functions.

As you go along with this process you'll be working toward your final choice. Some fields you'll discard at once because you re not interested. Others, no doubt, will appeal to you. These you can now explore further.

You can pick up information about various fields of work by visiting Chambers of Commerce, trade associations, Y.M.C.A.'s and the like where you'll find new storehouses of facts and meet more people to talk to.

You may wish to visit some factories, stores, and offices. It's easier if you have an introduction. But if you just walk in and inquire tactfully you'll find you'll be well received in most cases, and get a wealth of good material.

An observant person will learn a lot about what a job calls for in this way. We have seen a number of people land jobs with <pg. 27> firms they had previously visited. Becoming interested in the company and its work, their interest helped them get their positions. This happened to Ray Grafton.

Besides interviewing display managers, Ray roamed through many department stores studying their displays. In one swank store he saw an interior display promoting some newly imported fashions. Hit by an idea for improving this display, he looked up the display manager.

Ray told the manager what he was doing, then explained his idea. Impressed by Ray's intelligent effort and interest, the manager invited him to come back for an interview if he decided upon a display career.

One month later, when Ray completed his goal-choosing chores, he did decide on display work -- and went back to see that display manager. Today, he is the man's assistant.

Your next step is the library. Practically every school and town library has books and pamphlets describing various occupations. In fact, there are so many of them they would seem truly formidable if you turned to them first.

But now that your talking jag has helped narrow the choice down, you can find a world of useful facts in these books.

You will find it wise to ask the librarian to recommend some pamphlets and books to you. But for a start here are some titles to look up.

1. Careers, published by the Institute for Research, Chicago.
2. Kitson Careers Series, edited by H. D. Kitson.
3. Occupational Monographs, Science Research Associates, Chicago.

Each of these titles covers a whole series of pamphlets. Almost every profession and trade has one or more magazines or papers devoted exclusively to its own field. Ask the librarian for those in your fields of interest.

Make sure you transfer to your career notebook all the relevant facts you find.

We have never known anyone to go through this process thoughtfully and thoroughly without crystallizing their ideas and narrowing their choices to a workable number.

Of course, if you haven't begun from scratch, if you've started <pg. 28> with two, three or four fields you wish to choose from, the procedure is the same, but much simpler. For you know just what kind of workers or professionals you want to question and what books and pamphlets to look for.

Perhaps you already have your eye on your goal. It may be a better job in the place you now work. Still, your chance of getting it is that much greater if you learn all there is to know about it. Often you can discuss the requirements with your boss.

Look up people having similar positions in other firms. Talk with them. Then get on with your reading.

Steve Gilbert knew what he wanted. He was an assistant dispatcher for a large trucking firm but he had his heart set on becoming traffic manager. He spoke to a number of traffic managers and looked up more information in the library.

He put the results of his research in essay form. Here it is:

A man with a high school education can qualify for traffic manager, but he stands a better chance if he's taken traffic management in college. Some study of law is useful to understand rulings of the Interstate Commerce Commission. He should also have some knowledge of bookkeeping and economic geography and be good in arithmetic.

In addition to his schooling he must have broad experience. If be has been a rate clerk, tariff clerk, freight solicitor, or dispatcher, it helps. He should have a good knowledge of freight rates, transportation routes, and shipping regulations. He must have a good memory for details, and be able to make prompt and accurate decisions under pressure.

There is a wide salary range, going as high as $25,000. A good traffic manager may also become a production manager.

Clearly, with such a wealth of material, Steve, like Ray and Jane, was now ready to examine himself to see if he had the needed talents. Not until you too are sure you have all you need to know about the job or jobs you are thinking of should you turn to yourself and your assets.

Before we show you how to go about digging out your assets we want to tackle one last objection that often crops up at this point. As you've undoubtedly seen, the whole point of this process is to narrow down and narrow down until just one solitary <pg. 29> choice is left. You then concentrate on that and nothing else.

"That's not for me," many object. "I can do a lot of things. If I apply for only one of them I freeze myself out of other chances."

The hard fact is that employers prefer a man who knows exactly what he wants to do. Such a man shows more interest and works harder. And you can't show a convincing interest in something when you've got a lot of other ideas buzzing around your head.

Look at Jack Goldman who came to the Clinic on a friend's advice after he lost his job. "Can you help me get another job?" he wanted to know.

"We'll be glad to try," we said. "What sort of job do you want?"

"Anything I can find," he answered.

"That's commendable spirit," we told him, "but our experience shows that your best bet is to sit down first and decide exactly what you want to do, then look for just that one kind of work. We'll be glad to show you how to go about it."

"I can't afford to be so choosy," said young Jack. "My father's dead and my mother and two kid sisters eat on what I bring in. I've got to take the first thing that comes along." And he walked out.

Jack returned after six weeks of looking for "anything"-- and not finding it. "I guess I was wrong," he said. "How do I figure out my best job?"

"Do you have any ideas to begin with?" we asked him. "Well, a friend of mine works in a plane factory in Jersey and he makes pretty good pay. I've been thinking about it but I've got no experience. Another friend is a salesman. He does okay, too. But it keeps him away from home a lot."

"Do you know what it takes to make good in an airplane factory?"

"No, but I've always been handy and that ought to help."

"We never tell anyone what they should do," we said. "But from the experience we've had here we suggest you first find out what it takes to make a go of it on these jobs. Why don't you have a talk with your friend in the factory? Most men like to talk about their jobs anyhow and since he's your friend he'll be all the more willing. Then you can ask your other friend about selling. How does that strike you?" <pg. 30>

"It sounds okay."

"Good. When you feel you've got all the dope, think about your own experiences and your own skills, then see if what you've got matches up with what the job calls for. Then come back and we'll go into the next step."

Jack discovered that the airplane plant preferred their new men to have at least two years of high school. Also, to get ahead, he had to be able to learn simple algebra, the theories of mechanics and how to read blueprints. A skilled man must like working with tools and machinery, must be able to plan his own work, and make exact measurements of metal parts. He must be able to take things apart and put them together again. There were chances of promotion to foreman, or tool and die maker.

Since the setup looked good to him and a check of his background showed he fitted many of these specifications, Jack decided to concentrate on getting a job in an airplane plant. The group at the Clinic showed him how to work his background into a letter and helped him plan his campaign. He landed his job.

Four months later he sent us a letter.

"I've never felt better," he wrote. "I'm coming along fast and I've got my heart set on being a foreman. I didn't get it in the Clinic when you said planning for the one thing you want gives you confidence and makes a new man out of you. I know what it means now. Figuring out how to make foreman gives me something to work for. Right now I'm going to night school and boning up on algebra and mechanical drawing."

Jack's experience was far from unique. If you go to a factory or an office and ask for "any" job, how does the employer know where you fit? He's running a business, not a laboratory to find out what you do best. If you won't take the time and trouble to figure out what you like best and can do best -- why should he? When you look at it as the employer sees it maybe you can then understand the value of choosing a specific goal.

At this point you know the importance of selecting a goal and making plans to realize it. You know how it perks you up, gives you confidence. You know how to find out what it takes to do well on a given job, or in a given career. And you have your work sheets on one, two or more jobs.