Tim ignored this. "Would you say, sir, that you want a fellow who's a sell-starter, who can sell services instead of a bill of goods, who's resourceful and persistent?" he asked.

"You bet."

"Then do you mind if I tell you a little story? It won't take more than four or five minutes."

"Shoot."

"A little boy of twelve told his father he'd like a dinghy sailboat. 'That will cost about $200,' his father said, 'but if you earn $25 of it I'll give you the rest.'

"The next day the boy canvassed all his neighbors, told them their dogs and cats needed fresh meat and that he could deliver horse meat to them every Tuesday and Friday. Most of the neighbors liked the idea. So he asked a dealer on the Post Road how much he would pay him to deliver meat regularly to these new customers he had drummed up. 'A nickel a pound,' the dealer said.

"The boy used his bicycle for deliveries and built a good route. Then he put a couple of other youngsters to work. He kept this up for three years and never failed to make a delivery. He paid <pg. 32> for his dinghy himself, and a couple of years later for a Lightning that cost him $900.

"Now," Tim went on, "you know the boy only through this story. But wouldn't you say he has initiative and knows how to sell a service? That he is reliable and hard working? And that he's definitely a self-starter?"

The sales manager nodded.

"Well, I was that little boy."

The sales manager looked at Tim hard, then grinned and said, "Okay, I'm interested. What else have you done?"

"My second year in college I worked part time in a department store. And last summer I sold vacuum cleaners door-to-door. I was pretty good at it, too."

"I'm sold," said the sales manager. "You've got the job."

Timothy Regan smiled widely when he told his story to an appreciative audience at the Man Marketing Clinic. But then he drew some serious morals from it. "My story shows," he said, "the terrific driving force you get when you have a goal. When I was twelve I wanted that dinghy real bad. Now that I'm twenty-two I wanted this selling job more than anything else in the world.

"What with no experience, I knew I was up against a tough proposition. But I took in all you said here about finding out what a job takes and digging out your own assets.

"I spoke to some salesmen I know. That's how I came up with those angles on self-starting, selling services, and persistence. I wondered how I could show I had those qualities. Then I remembered how I earned my sailboat -- and I knew I could fit it into the picture. I got the idea of telling it like a story because my father always used to tell it that way. That's all there was to it."

Don't be fooled by Tim's "that's all there was to it." We can all dig out hidden assets -- but it's the hardest part of the land-your-job process.

Probably at no other time do we face so urgent a need to understand ourselves as when we're working out a long-range career goal. We all recognize that a salesman must know his prod- uct thoroughly if he is to chalk up any sizable commissions. Yet few of us see the need for self-knowledge when we market ourselves. But we can't get ahead as fast without it. <pg. 33>

That's why we want you to sit back and take a penetrating look at yourself -- and we don't mean in a mirror. We want you to look deep into your heart and mind and find there what you want to do and what you can do. You have before you -- or you should have -- those lists of what it takes to succeed in the fields you are considering. Now you want to find out how many of those qualities you actually have, and put those on paper too.

"Can I really judge my own abilities?" you may wonder. You can when you use the method built upon Clinic experience. This stresses fact, rather than subjective opinion. You don't assert what you have -- you prove it!

You prove it by illustrations that show your skills in action. It means little to say: "I have an analytical mind." But if you can tell an employer: "I was high man in my class in statistical infer- ence," that shows you have a gift for analyzing facts.

Illustrations, illustrations, and more illustrations -- only these will show your mind at work. What problems have you met in your life? How did you handle them? What were the results? Ransack your memory for pointed incidents. That's how Tim did it; that's how you can do it.

Beware of one innocent-looking trap. Certain qualities -- like honesty, hard work, reliability -- are needed for all jobs. And it's easy enough for you to show you have those, then stop your self-study with the idea you've proven your ability. But you have barely begun.

As any prospector can tell you, you'll never get rich by simply picking up nuggets lying on the surface. Sooner or later you'll have to dig hard and deep to tap the rich gold veins that run far underground. In the same way you've got to go well beneath the surface when you're digging out your assets.

We repeat, this is hard, very hard. But the sharpened insight and broader outlook you gain will serve you well. And you will be highly gratified to learn you have much more to offer than you ever dreamed.

We can't all be geniuses but we can all do something well. We have all faced some problems -- at work, in school, or elsewhere -- and can show what we did about them. We all have some deeply hidden assets. In fact, we probably use them often but <pg. 34> never realize we're doing so. For no one ever taught us to think in those terms.

Take Ruth Sloan. She tore into the Clinic one evening clutch- ing a help-wanted ad and a copy of her answer. She felt she had all the qualifications called for and that she had shown them in her letter. Still, she hadn't been called in for an interview and she was a little mad about it.

"What do they expect these days?" she asked rhetorically. The advertisement asked for a girl who had been in charge of a general ledger for a year or more; who had handled accounts payable, accounts receivable, or similar accounting records; and who was a graduate of an accepted school of accounting.

Ruth wrote that she had been in charge of the general ledger for Munroe, Jarvis and Company for a year and a half. She outlined her duties there. She said she had worked on accounts payable and payroll for the Forbes Press, Inc. Then she named the well-known school where she had gotten her accounting training.

"Why didn't I get an interview?" she asked.

We asked her in turn: How many do you think answered this ad?"

"I don't know," she said, "maybe 40 or 50."

"Let's say 40. How many of these do you suppose had as much experience as you on general ledger and also went to a good school?"

"Probably all," she replied, "or they wouldn't have answered the ad."

"Then if they all stated their experiences and outlined their duties as you did don't you think the employer had to more or less pull a name out of a hat? That his choice was a matter of luck?"

"I guess you're right," Ruth said.

"The next time you answer an ad why don't you concentrate on being different from the others? Show what you have to offer by example of your own work."

With a little prodding, several good illustrations came to light. When Ruth started on the general ledger for Munroe, Jarvis and Company, her boss told her they needed their statements by <pg. 35> the 18th of each month but had been getting them around the 25th. He asked her to work on the problem. At the end of three weeks she made seven minor suggestions; four were adopted. These four picked up only a couple of hours, but her boss was pleased and Ruth kept at it.

She noticed that the bank she went to used machine account- ing. Every night the proved totals from each department went into the general ledger. This eliminated the end-of-the-month totaling hand accounting necessitated.

"Why can't we switch to machine accounting?" Ruth asked her boss.

"We've already arranged to buy several machines," he told her. Because of her interest he invited her to sit in on the discussions of the new methods. She worked on some of the simpler procedures and designed some simple forms tying into the general ledger. And soon they were getting their statements out regularly by the 18th of each month.

Clearly, Ruth was a girl sincerely interested in her work. She was highly constructive, had initiative, and worked well with others. But she never thought twice about the talents this story demonstrated. As far as her application letter went, she was just another bookkeeper. Yet there she was, sitting on very special and prized assets -- but she never thought of them in this light.

Once she saw she had something of real value to offer, she found a way of getting it across briefly. One short paragraph did the trick.

"Munroe and Jarvis adopted four of my work-saving suggestions," she wrote. "They then asked me to sit in on a conference to improve work procedures. After a little study I designed some forms that simplified work on the general ledger, saving the firm both time and money.

Needless to add, when Ruth incorporated this paragraph in her future letters she was called in for a number of interviews and quickly landed the kind of job she wanted.

Whether you are seventeen or seventy you have done many things. You have faculties useful to business -- each on your own level. And like Ruth and Tim you have hidden assets, assets you do not realize you possess or whose value you do not now appreciate. We have never met anyone who didn't have them. <pg. 36>

But such assets will do you little good until you unearth them, bring them into the open and plan how to use them. The best way to get at them is to start with your career work sheets.

Under each job heading you have listed the skills and qualities called for. Now you want to write down in parallel columns all the evidence you can find to show how many of these qualifica tions you have. You do this with illustrations that show your mind at work.

Ranging back over your life and searching your memory for such examples forces you to dig deeper and enables you to analyze the results more intelligently. Even more, it gives you a tremendous uplift in morale. Moreover, you learn to talk about yourself in terms of accomplishments -- and to back up each statement with facts.

You may have no business experience at all and feel you have nothing to sell, nothing to dig out. You couldn't be more mistaken! Let's see how a group of high school students uncovered aptitudes they hadn't been conscious of having.

Some years back we conducted a number of sessions on choosing career goals for the seniors of Stamford High School. Our pupils patiently worked up their lists of requirements for various careers. Now they had to prove they could meet those requirements with true stories that revealed their abilities in action.

At first they were dismayed. High school students had no experience to offer, they protested. But once they understood what was wanted, once they saw how almost any real life experience could be turned to practical use, the task became easier.

One girl displayed her imagination and creative ability by the clothes she had designed for herself and some friends.

A boy demonstrated both mechanical aptitude and patience by pointing to a model engine he had built to exact scale and accurate in every detail.

Another student revealed initiative and organizing ability in the way he had successfully organized a fund-raising campaign for his club.

And others used specific examples of school work to prove ability to think, accuracy in detail, writing skills, and the like.

Nor were these merely classroom exercises. Many of these stu- dents who were not going to college went out and got jobs on <pg. 37> the strength of this approach. Margaret Norton, for instance.

Margaret wanted a job as sales clerk. Following the method outlined in class, she talked with some store owners and with three of her friends who had such jobs, two of them in "dime stores," one in a department store. She also discussed with her mother and some family friends the service they got in such stores. As a result, she made this list of the requirements for the job and of her ability to meet them:

Desirable Qualifications for a Sales Clerk:

She should always have her eye out for customers, in order to wait on them promptly. This is especially important when one clerk must serve more than one counter. Ability to get along well with people. Neatness in keeping stock. Quickness and accuracy in making change and filling out sales slips.

How Can I Show I Have Them?

Hard to prove I have this. But it will help to show I recognize this problem. I was elected to several offices in school. My room, and my school notebook always neat and orderly. Good marks in math. Was one of first to finish exams.

From the customer's angle, Margaret felt the first point was most important. So she concentrated on that in a letter to the variety stores in her own and neighboring towns -- and won three offers for jobs. She took the one that was closest to her home.

This story shows your examples need not be dramatic to be effective. Indeed. Margaret's new employer was so impressed by what she had done that he kept an eye on her and soon gave her a raise in salary.

You may be convinced you have desirable qualifications for a given career and yet be unable to dredge up any illustrations  <pg. 38> from the past that will highlight them. In such cases you can bring them out in your written or oral application for a job. As Shirley Green did.

In 1940 Shirley was a college junior who planned to become a fashion copywriter. She had no technical training. Nor had she ever earned a penny in her life. But she realized that if she were to become a good copywriter she should meet customers face to face and get their reactions to different fashions. So she sent the following letter to twelve New York department stores.

Your College Shop clothes have zip and casual smartness. They go to classes, sorority teas, prom weekends, and juke box joints with assurance. What is more, they meet the approval of Dad, The Man Who Pays.

The college girl, from top-knot to saddle shoes, has been under my X-ray eyes for two years. I know what she wants and how much she pays for it.

I can take Mary Jane and her uncertain mama and please them both. I won't show frothy tulle confections to the shiny-nosed girl with basketball fingers. From staglines' delight to the sheltered chicks, I'll take them and make them "sales slips" in your College Shop this summer.

I will be available for an interview at any time you suggest after January 10th.

In exactly 130 words Shirley demonstrated not only that she knew how sales are made, but also that she already had many essential qualifications for her chosen career of fashion copywriting. Although openings in the department she specified were then very scarce, each of the twelve stores invited her in for an interview. For they wouldn't risk losing such promising material.

"But that's not me," you complain. "I was just an ordinary kid. I had no paper route, sold no horse meat. I never made the school paper or the debating team. And no sooner did I get out of school than they grabbed me for the Army."

Now that sounds like you're talking about Sergeant James. When we picked him up one evening as he was thumbing his way home to Stamford, Connecticut, he was truly a weary and discouraged young man. Discharged from the Army just a few weeks before, the doctors had advised him to work out of doors for a couple of years. Thinking this over, he decided to become <pg. 39> a driver-salesman. By this time he had called on more than twenty companies where he had heard of possible openings. In each case he was turned down for lack of experience. He figured he was sunk.

We told him about the Man Marketing Clinic and what it did and suggested that he think along Clinic lines.

Then we asked him, "Which firm that you visited appealed to you most?"

"The Harris Laundry," James replied. "But Mr. Harris said he wanted men who knew something about the work."

"What do you think Mr. Harris is looking for when he hires a driver-salesman?"

"I suppose he wants a man who can keep the customers happy and build up new business."

"Do you think you can do that?"

"In the Air Corps I had seventy men working under me handling ammunition," said the ex-sergeant. "Often we worked twelve to sixteen hours a day. I kept that gang going, settled their gripes, earned their friendship and respect. In recommending me for top sergeant, my commanding officer praised my ability to keep my men working cheerfully under the most difficult conditions."

"That's excellent evidence of your ability to gain good will," we said. "You should certainly be able to get new customers and keep the old ones happy."

"Several times I was commended because I pitched in and helped in an emergency," James went on to say. Every employer who is trying hard to give good service is interested in someone who can demonstrate such an attitude.

"Do you think if you follow this line of attack you can ferret out many more illustrations from your experiences in the army -- and perhaps in school -- that will prove your worth as a routeman?" we asked him.

"I sure do," said James. "In fact, when I get all my thoughts on the line, I'm gonna go right back to those firms that turned me down."

"Good!" we exclaimed. "The repeat call in itself will show your perseverance -- and that's very much needed in a salesman." Then we gave him our address and asked him to let us know how he made out. <pg. 40>

But before we dropped him off we left him with one more thought. "In the Clinic we have found it pays to plan far beyond the present job," we told him. "If you want to get ahead in the business world you've always got to ask yourself: Where do I want to be five years from now?"

And with that we wished him good luck and said goodbye.

One week later James phoned us. "I got the job!" he cried. He had carefully thought through his Army experiences and had put together a number of things that pointed to his ability to present a service clearly and win the confidence of prospective customers. His examples were so convincing that he was hired on his first repeat call -- the Harris Laundry.

"And I didn't forget what you said about the years ahead," he added. "I spoke to my new boss frankly about this. He told me that a man who can successfully direct a large group of route salesmen makes a substantial income. Such a job sounds real good to me. And that's the spot I'm heading for."

James quite plainly has the ability to inspire and lead others. And because he can see the road ahead, his starting job takes on that much more interest.

In the various Man Marketing Clinics, thousands of other ex- service men and women have learned to turn their military life to practical advantage. In essence, the service gave them one more dimension of experience from which to draw illustrations of ability. They simply have to strip the uniform from those illustrations and dress them in civilian clothes.

If you're an older woman who has never worked before, you can translate into business terms your interests and home expe- riences, your club or community work. When you come to analyze such activities as child care, home management, fund raising, and club work in the light of your career work sheets you will be amazed at the way they illuminate many useful skills. Any number of professional hostesses, for example, have qualified for their jobs with no more experience than running a large home expertly.

[Mrs. Donovan, Advertising Copywriter]

Or look at Mrs. Donovan's story. When her husband died, leav- ing her with five children to support, she tried first to get on the staff of one of the women's magazines since she had written several magazine articles in the past. She spent a month following <pg. 41> up leads in this field but the chances were few and she got nowhere.

After discussing her problem at the Man Marketing Clinic, Mrs. Donovan decided to try the advertising field. Being anxious to find work quickly, she started making the rounds without stopping to analyze her background. Not unexpectedly, she ran up against the "no experience" hurdle.

Besides, many firms shied away from the five children aspect. They felt this would cause too many work interruptions.

Back she came to the Clinic. This time she really studied the problem.

Thinking about her life with her family she hit upon a vital point. No copywriter, no matter how experienced, was likely to have as intimate a knowledge of mothers' and children's needs as she, who for years had been caring for her five children. Her strength was a fresher view point plus greater actual knowledge of what went on in the home.

Thus she made virtues of what appeared to be great weaknesses: her inexperience and her five children. This approach, coupled with her demonstrable ability to write, now enabled her to land a good position as a copywriter.

Mrs. Donovan's story reminds us of young Bill Russell. Bill writes poetry. While he had sold a few poems, this provided him with more spiritual nourishment than it did food. So he embarked on a job hunt -- his first.

Spotting an ad for an assistant editor for a house organ, Bill phoned the number listed and made an appointment for the following day. He walked into the office the next day for an interview with an editor who, as Bill put it, "was trying hard to be the choleric but lovable type you see in the movies.

"Sit down," the editor barked, "and tell me what writing you've done."

"I write poetry," Bill said, "and have sold --"

"Poetry!" the editor exploded. "I'm not putting out a damned literary magazine."

"I know," Bill agreed soothingly. "But I have a few copies of company magazines with me. I've been reading them. They all use the same tired phrases and print the same dull stories. Did <pg. 42> you know that a market research survey showed that few workers bother to read them?"

"You've got something there," the editor muttered.

Now Bill drove home his point. "A good poet," he said, "has an ear for the fresh word, an eye for the dramatic. His writing is lean and sinewy and can pep up a house organ considerably."

The editor capitulated. "You can give it a try," he said. "Here are some rewrite jobs. Put some punch in them -- and the job is yours.

Bill rolled up his sleeves, ripped into the copy, handed back two fast-reading stories -- and moved into the job.

Observe how Bill -- just as Mrs. Donovan did -- transformed a seeming weakness into a job-clinching factor. Most businessmen would deem poetry writing a completely impractical pursuit. By thinking it through, Bill linked it cleverly to the requirements of the job. Similarly, almost any positive activity you've engaged in can be translated into business values -- if you think about it enough.

But suppose your life has been unexceptional; suppose your school work has been none too good; suppose you never worked part time or in the summer; suppose you did nothing special in the armed forces; and suppose there is no one who can speak well of your abilities. We don't believe there is anyone like this, but suppose you feel that way about yourself.

Does that leave you stranded high and dry? Not at all. You can still demonstrate something of importance to a prospective employer. You can show a keen interest in the job you're seeking.

Many employers don't even look for experience in filling their lower level jobs. They often prefer to take beginners and train them in their way of doing things before they have other ways to unlearn. But any employer always appreciates interest, en- thusiasm, and ambition.

John Sacco, one of the Stamford High School seniors we worked with, was to be interviewed for an office job with Cosmopolitan magazine. He felt he had little to offer except interest. So he decided to concentrate on that.

He asked thirty people what magazines they read. Some said <pg. 43> Cosmopolitan. He asked those what articles they liked most in recent issues, what ads they remembered, and why.

When he went in for his interview he described what he had done and showed the notes he had taken. The interviewer was delighted at John's interest, initiative and intelligence -- and hired him then and there.

Summing up, if you are preparing for your first job you will pick illustrations showing the qualities you want to spotlight from your school activities, your part time or summer jobs, your Army experience, your home life, your club and community activities. And you will be alert for any chance to display your interest in the job you want.

To help turn up hidden assets, ask yourself questions like those that follow. Think hard about your answers. And don't stop with "yes" at any point. Follow through with evidence.

What tasks have you finished that were really hard for you to do? What things have you done that won favorable comment from others? Which of those gave you the biggest pride of accomplishment?

Are you active in your community life? Have you ever organ- ized or led a club or group of any kind? Do you have any hobbies? Can you tie them in to your career requirements?

In what subjects did you get your best grades? Did you win any special honors in school or in college? What school activities did you engage in? Can you show how these might be useful in business? Did you belong to any fraternities, sororities, or clubs? If so, were you elected to any office? Did you work your way through college? How? Did you win any military commenda- tions? How?

Have you ever earned any money? How? Can you take orders without resentment? Can you accept criticism readily? Are you a good mixer? Are you hard working? You can add many more questions on your own.

Offhand, it might seem you could quite easily bring out your qualifications for a specific job or career if you have already had a fair amount of business or professional experience. Every job you've held, each task you've performed has unveiled new and unsuspected talents. You've shown unusual cooperation or speed <pg. 44> in learning, or you've solved difficult problems, or you've improved methods and quality of work.

But strangely, men and women of sound experience often seem blind to their own accomplishments. This is just as true of the executive as of the office boy.

Perhaps when you are too close to your work, when your duties have become too familiar, you tend to overlook the special qualities you bring to your job. But once you direct your mind to it and explore your work history purposefully, you should strike pay dirt time and again. Kenneth Hammer did just that.

Kenneth was a likeable young chap of twenty-six who majored in marketing in college. When he came to the Clinic he was looking for a position as junior executive with a large department store. He based his ability to handle the work mainly on a year's selling experience in a well-known store where he had done a creditable job. This got him plenty of offers for selling jobs -- but not for the junior executive post he wanted.

The trouble was easily diagnosed. He was not displaying any of the special assets an executive position demanded.

First we discussed the career requirements. A former merchandising man who was present at the Clinic that night pointed out that the lifeblood of a department store is showmanship. If Kenneth could show he had this ability, he'd have something of value to sell. With this as a clue, he came up with these experiences:

1. He had earned his way through college by working in a men's furnishing store that catered to the college students. One of the store's long-standing problems was the number of brands they had to carry to meet the demand.

For example, they carried eight brands of socks and were often asked for others. Ken estimated how much they would save if they could carry just two or three brands, then planned a promotion to put the idea across.

He looked up eight of the most prominent men in college and unfolded a plan whereby the store would keep them in socks for several months -- provide the socks free, wash them, and mend them. All they need do in return was to stop in at the store at regular intervals for their fresh supply and agree to the use of <pg. 45> their names. The brands would be rotated so that each student had his turn at each of the brands.

The resulting contest to see which brand wore the longest gained much publicity in both school and town publications. The whole college talked about the window display showing the big hole in the toe of Dick Hannigan's last week's sock and the spot in the back where Speed Porter's shoe wore through a hole at the Junior Prom.

Everyone in town came to see the display. After the contest the store stocked only the three winning brands, and kept a display record of this famous test on socks to show customers who asked for other brands.

2. Through three summer vacations Kenneth had clerked in a small drygoods store in a resort town. The bulk of their trade was with boys and girls from nearby summer camps.

Kenneth moved a fair-sized stock of sport sweaters by naming them for various colleges, according to their colors. He featured the sweaters in the window display with pictures of counsel- ors from the surrounding camps who came from the colleges represented.

The store trebled its sweater sales.

Ken had looked upon these college experiences as "small time stuff." Hence he completely forgot about them when applying for a "big city" executive position.

But once he saw how they indicated an unquestioned flair for showmanship, he worked them into his job campaign. This got him the job he wanted -- and at a better salary than he had expected.

We are all likely to miss things about ourselves that seem self-evident upon analysis. But we can all discover our hidden assets once we go at it systematically.

Quite often the time-honored method of listing our jobs chronologically tends to push our abilities more deeply underground. Concentrating on when and where we worked tends to makes us overlook how we worked.

Richard Aranow was a good advertising space salesman who wanted to make a new connection. He sent out a number of letters filled with such fascinating tidbits as this: <pg. 46>

"From 1946 to 1948 I sold space for a local paper. For three years after that I was on the advertising staff of a national publication." And so on to the close. The results were nil.

And why shouldn't they be? So he worked on an advertising staff -- but so does every space salesman. How much did he sell? What unusual methods did he use? Did he analyze his prospect's problems and show how use of the medium would solve them? That's what his prospective employer wants to know.

"Prove you're good--with specific illustrations," we told Richard. He saw the light and composed a very different sort of letter. Here is an excerpt:

As advertising solicitor for a national publication I led the sales force. The billing of my territory increased from $40,000 to $175,000 in three years, more than four times as great, whereas the total billing of the publication only doubled.

This letter pulled a number of good leads, as might be expected. For by stressing results, Richard let his talents stand out for all to see.

You can do the same sort of job on yourself. But don't expect to dig up much with just a hasty once-over. You've got to give it thought and time. Work over questions like these:

Have you ever won favorable comment from your chief or fellow workers?

In what ways have you handled your job better than it was handled before?

How have you saved money for your employer?

How have you helped your employer do more business?

How have you helped other employees to be more productive?

Did you originate any new systems?

Were you ever given a special problem to solve? How did you meet it?

Make your answers specific. Search out illustrations that show your ability to meet the requirements of the job you're after. By the same token, you can use illustrations of your work to show your present boss you merit the promotion or salary increase you're angling for. Marshal all the evidence you can to point up your assets. Beginner or experienced, you cannot possibly go through this <pg. 47> process faithfully without gaining gratifying results. When you feel you've rooted out as many of your long buried assets as you can on your own, and they lie glowing and shining in the sunlight, you can then enlist the aid of your friends, family, and others who know you well.

If you are not long out of school, you can turn to the teachers who know the quality of your school work. And speak to some businessmen, too.

If you have business experience you can approach your employers or fellow workers who know you best. The better job you do on yourself the more help you will get from those you go to for counsel.

Show them the list of personal assets you feel you've uncovered. Show them the illustrations you used to unearth them. Then ask for their comments, their interpretations.

"Does this example really demonstrate the quality I said it does?" you should ask in doubtful cases. This will help keep your analysis objective.

But young or old, you may wish to consult a professional vocational counselor. Most of these counselors use a battery of tests designed to measure your aptitudes and interests. To be of value such tests must be sufficiently comprehensive, expertly administered, and their results properly interpreted.

These results are not infallible. However, if you take such tests after your own intensive study of the problem, they can confirm your own findings and sometimes open new doors for you. Use them mainly as guides, as checks on your own thinking. And make sure that any aptitude tests you take are interpreted by those skilled in the field.

With this in view, it is wise to inquire at your college or elsewhere as to the standing of particular counselors. Or better still, ask to see the kind of reports they issue. If, upon reading several, you feel they give the kind of data that will be helpful to you, then the tests should prove worthwhile.

You can also ask the counselor if he is a member of the National Vocational Guidance Association. This insures at least a minimum of professional training and interpretive skill.

In any case, the most important interpretation is your own. You should satisfy yourself on each result. <pg. 48>

For example, if a test indicates you own a creative imagination, search for supporting evidence. It is highly unlikely you could have such a quality and not have used it at some time in your life. This means you should be able to dig up illustrations that substantiate the test finding. Used in this manner, aptitude tests can help you understand yourself better and make fuller use of your talents.

Aptitude tests are often valuable in warning you off certain types of work. But a word of caution is called for:

Don't let it throw you should a test fail to reveal a needed aptitude for some long-cherished goal. For while the absence of certain specialized attributes or physical qualities may well rule out certain careers, even such disadvantages can be and have been overcome.

We all know the story of Demosthenes who trained himself to become a gifted orator despite a stammer that handicapped him. Or, to give a more modern example, consider Hank Greenberg.

He was a big, fumbling, awkward kid. When the big league scouts watched his clumsy maneuvers on the field they shook their heads. "He'll never make it," they said. "He's not a natural-born athlete."

But Hank drove himself relentlessly. And by sheer force of will he made himself one of the great stars of baseball.

A similar case was Eddie Stanky. With his flat feet and mediocre skills, no one could see him as a baseball player. Except Stanky himself. He chose his goal, then reached it by sheer drive -- and hard work.

Obviously, such cases of compensation call for grim determination. If you haven't got that characteristic stick to something closer to your more clearly developed talents.

One point cannot be disputed. Only you can make a wise career choice for yourself. Not the authors of this book, nor anyone you talk to or consult. We and others can help you, guide you, give you tools to work with. But only you can dig way down to the deepest reaches of your heart and mind to find what may be hidden there.

Now let's see where we stand. You have analyzed various fields to see what it takes to do well in them. You have listed those <pg. 49> requirements on your career work sheets. You have hunted through your life experiences to see how many of these qualifications you have -- and can prove you have by examples. In doing all this you may have already whittled your choices down to one.

On the other hand, you may still find it hard to decide between the last two or three possibilities that remain. Careful consideration of the advantages and disadvantages of each field will usually settle the matter.

Since this is better demonstrated than described, let us see how Vincent Di Lorenzo did it.

A high-ranking graduate of Massachusetts Polytechnic Institute, Vincent was torn between two widely separate fields -- television control engineering and sales engineering in heavy industrial equipment. He got together all he needed to know about both fields on separate work sheets. Then he checked off each job requirement against his assets and education on master work sheets as follows:

Another sheet he headed:

As far as Vincent could judge from careful study of his work sheets, he could be equally successful in either field. Besides, while he had a passion for engineering, he had enjoyed his selling experience tremendously. How to decide?

Here, Vincent made use of the pros and cons he had faithfully recorded on his original what-the-job-requires work sheets. On a third master sheet, he listed the advantages and disadvantages of each field. Like this:

Spelling out the pros and cons in this way decided the issue. As he checked each parallel column carefully, Vincent felt the television field was more exciting and provided a greater challenge to his technical ingenuity. In his view, this, plus the team spirit involved, more than balanced the greater income potential of sales engineering.

In most cases, just matching assets against job requirements will narrow the field to one. Otherwise, balancing the pros and cons will do it. Only you can tell how important each point in your checklist might be to you. Only you can make the final choice.

We have never yet known one person to go through all the steps detailed in this chapter and the previous one without hitting upon a clear and definite goal worthy of his abilities.

Should you be the rule-proving exception, should even your pro and con work sheet fail to break the deadlock, only one course remains. Toss a coin! For the importance of narrowing your thinking down to one clear goal justifies even so arbitrary a choice.

Now that you're down to one choice it pays to give it a last run <pg. 53> through. Make one more check between the job requirements and your abilities. You probably won't have all the desirable qualifications for a specific career, but you must have a reasonable number of them or be fairly sure you can acquire them. Otherwise you should reconsider your choice.

But too many people give up their ambitions without really trying -- just because they face difficult obstacles. If you have a burning ambition and have some qualifications to go with it, why not give it a try? You may surprise yourself and all those who say "it can't be done."

But if when all the evidence is in it seems clear you can't make a go of it -- drop it!

Why kid yourself along? You're only chasing rainbows if you aim for something for which you do not have the essential back ground. If you have no genuine talent to match some star-ridden desire, forget your dreams and settle down to whatever goal is sound for you. That, of course, doesn't mean you should limit your ambitions unduly.

Indeed, far too many people make the costly mistake of setting some arbitrary boundary for themselves beyond which they fear they will be lost or out of their depths. How can you know what your safe depths are or the limits of your powers until you have developed and tested them? How can you be sure that a goal you gave up as hopeless a year ago or more won't now yield to your newly matured abilities and thinking?

In business, as in all of life, neither the determined pursuit of an entirely impractical ideal nor the timid acceptance of what you now have can long, or deeply, satisfy the average man. Reach for the stars -- but keep a firm hold on reality.

When you have finally made the most intelligent choice possible it should not imply that your goals remain fixed. As you start to move ahead, new fields will stretch out on all sides. You should be ready and willing to change your vocational thinking if new experiences or circumstances make such change desirable.

As you analyzed your career choices and then yourself, you were creating a product to be sold on the job market. When a shrewd businessman creates a product he never entirely freezes the design. Changes in market conditions, available equipment, <pg. 54> materials, or competitive products may force a redesign. So in shaping your career keep your goals and plans flexible and change or modify them whenever necessary.

We recall George Brill who came to us for help in deciding whether to change his career. Although he had a good job in the manufacturing end of one of our great companies, he was unhappy there. But he couldn't quite place his finger on the cause of his dissatisfaction.

Analysis disclosed the basis of his unrest. The prize posts in the manufacturing side of his firm were all held by graduate engineers. Without an engineering degree he could hardly hope to get very much further than his present position. So he made the wise decision to change to a line where he would suffer no such handicap.

Of course, you don't have to change fields in such a case if you don't want to. You might decide to take up the educational slack instead. Just be sure you know what the score is before you move ahead.

And now for the $64 question. As we told Sergeant James, you have not completed your goal-choosing chore until you ask yourself, "Where do I want to be, and what do I want to be doing five or ten years from now?"

Looking ahead to the future makes the work you do today much more meaningful. Instead of being dulled by day-to-day routine you're on the alert to see how each new thing you do can fit into your plans. When you know where you're going you research the job of the future so that you know what skills you must build. You have direction -- and that makes you work better now.

Keep your notebook going. Jot down new illustrations that spot- light your growth toward the goal you're aiming for. Then, when the right time comes, you can readily prove your worth.

But in looking ahead do not neglect the intermediate steps. For it is far too easy to give up if the road ahead seems to stretch out without end.

Aim for a place in your firm which is a stepping stone, a point of contact between where you are and where you want to be. Let's say you're just out of college and have your first job as personnel clerk for a multi-plant corporation. You're young, full of ambition, <pg. 55> and dreaming of the day you'll be personnel director of this vast organization. Stop daydreaming -- and plan!

Find out all you'll have to know to reach the top. Look for the necessary stepping stones. Perhaps you'll first plan to become an employment interviewer. Then you may set your sights on wage and salary administration, or labor relations assistant. That's how you build your bridge to the future.

At this point you've already come a long way. You know the value and power of settling on one goal and planning how to reach it.

You have learned what you need to succeed in various jobs.

You have a surer knowledge of your abilities and your accomplishments.

You have gained new confidence by bringing into the open many assets you were never aware of having.

You have matched what you have against the requirements of a number of careers and you have finally picked the field you want.

And you have laid your plans for the future as well.

But you have done much more than this. In learning about yourself and your career you have built a solid foundation for your job campaign. You have the kind of live and vivid material that makes letters, resumes, and portfolios sparkle -- and sell.