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Show Once there was a lady who got her Ph. D. but couldn't find a job, so she shot herself on the Capitol steps ...but that's another story I have a theory that the airline jets re actually time machines. They 'ansport people hundreds of miles in unutes. A passenger leaves familiar jrroundings and steps out into a fterent place with different people -id situations. Shortly after graduating from , I bought a ticket on one of tee time machines for San Francisco, hoarded the plane at Salt Lake, took y and with considerably less iscomfort than a roller coaster ride, I d myself at the San Francisco nternational Airport. The machine had done its work well. ad of being with my friends in a " surrounded by the familiar 'atch Mountains, I was drifting in a M'ng, fretful mass of strangers ""He the real ocean, the Pacific, rolled and cold beyond Land's End. , , Publishing interest f-wasldoing here? From a little ;,J"wn in a rural Utah, I had come ' "i of The Big Cities to find a job in could use my education. But tngi,sh major with little job ex- J and no desire whatever to ;,C" 7 a rather limited field of job s 'he book publishing industry lmJfal-.A typist, billing clerk, nv 'erk. receptionist. Girl Friday or y position was desirable as iny!1 Wrking in a book eagerness and some excitment, rr.p,"1 ' the San Francisco State or Z rtnt ffice on "iv first n8 Therewast0 be a meeting for ; graduates in the liberal arts ror tour and one-half hours I sat in that meeting hearing about the difficult times the other recent graduates were having. Most of the people were being told that they were "overeducated." I was tolad that, at this time, publishers were simply not hiring anyone for anything. The only advice the state employment office had was: find a job in the government at city, county, state, or national level. With a headache and deep depression, I left the San Francisco State Employment Em-ployment Office never to return. Not hiring With a list of San Francisco publishers publish-ers in my hand, I spent my second day. searching out these companies. Wehn I could actually find the company-if it hadn't changed its name or address-1 was told that they were not hiring now, or that they specialized in insurance pamphlets. One tiny publishing pub-lishing business wanted an order clerk with purely secretarial skills and experience. exper-ience. There was no chance of advancement. ad-vancement. I had rudimentary skills, negligible experience, and a desire to be more than an order clerk. That job was closed and, to my regret, so was publishing in general. Since the narrow field of my specialization was barren, I decided my meager secretarial talents would have to get me by for a while. There are numerous employment agencies in downtown San Francisco. I know; 1 ve been inside most of them. Beware of the fee agencies unless you are rich. They take at the least one-half of your first check-a minimum of anywhere Continued on page 23 By May Kuriowa Overeducation Continued from page 1 7 om $200 to $300. All the agencies have a standard ,io-page form to fill out. Only the ames of the companies are given to dvertise the guilty. They also have a indard twelve minute test to give an jplicant to see if he is able to read, .rite, and add. The interviewing ompanies are also well supplied with jjlication forms and tests. The only .fference is that the company ap-kations ap-kations may be longer and more flailed. I happen to be a member of a on-violent, non-militant, non-white linority, but with all the forms it was ecessary to fill out, I began to feel like c non-person. My name and social surity number began to be my serial lentification number. I believe one f W lost my order form because I ever heard from them after having aitedan hourto see my "personal ad-r" ad-r" who gave me a mechanical and the standard reply, "I haven't nything for you today, but I'll call if I nd something." One encounters innumerable rns when going out-of-state to a ib' Employers are hesitant about hiring non-residents because if the employee finds he does not like the area, he will move on. The employer is left with the chore of finding a replacement and possibly if the company is generous of paying another fee to an employment agency. Knowing all this, one of my "personal advisers" told me to say I'd only gone to college in Utah and that I actually lived in the city. I couldn't do it not especially because my integrity rebelled at the idea but because I can't lie convincingly. During one of my employment-seeking employment-seeking hikes downtown, I experienced another peril for a small-town girl. I suppose I revealed the usual signs of a job-hunter. That lost, discouraged look coupled with the classified ads and a city map under my arm must have marked my mission. A mild, rather nice-looking man stopped me and asked me if I was looking for a job because he was looking for help. He was opening up a soft drink shop and insisted that I walk two blocks to see the place where it would be. The place was a former bar where they had supposedly shown exclusively X-rated films in the back. I declined both the job offer and the personal overtures. Another problem connected with being a stranger in a big city is tran- wciiiy-iincc sportation. There are four ways of getting around. If you own your own car, you have the problem of finding a place to put it. San Francisco is limited as to land and you have to pay for garage space. The parking lots in the city charge exorbitant amounts. The municipal transportation system in San Francisco is very good and inexpensive (25 cents fare) if you know where the buses go, what streets they stop at, and what number bus goes to which streets. Hitchhiking is another mode of movement, but if you're a female and practical you won't do it. The last transportation system is ancient: walking. But San Francisco is a big city ouilt on hills of tiring steepnesses and declivities. I speak from personal knowledge of those hills. On one of my daily rounds of the employment agencies, I was informed that I had an interview in twenty minutes in the industrial area on the other side of town. I was told by my agency that any bus on Market Street would take me there. They were wrong. After one wrong bus and a run of five blocks to get to my interview already late, I was told by the personnel per-sonnel manager that the man who needed the typist would not even consider a non-resident. At another Continued on page 26 1 Overeducatic Continued from pat S appointment, I was studiously ignored by coughing receptionist even: was the only other person and I was standing in frontot I had started out two hourst appointed time so that ' punctual despite a possible' I had to wait fifteen mir personnel manager could lady told me she had vacation time in order to applicants. Results: they inter-office transfer whic particular position. My was memorable. I was lady was truly polite- Ste me,but the lawyer who boss was on vacahon. final O.K. Would I wait h another interview w, h . possible job of typ . ff( salary? I thought ot faces and P53" ticket on the time macb your lights sparkhng e on black velvet. Yo banker, an ,mpo 0 a minimum ot tw experience, but you r ; this year. Cood-by, Sa" I |