Show the man for the job by THOMAS ARKLE CLARK dean of men university of illinois IIIi ta TT n job for every man someone has said but a real man for or every job I 1 suppose I 1 give as is much advice to young men and their parents as the next nest mon man sometimes when it Is asked for and at other times proffered bratu perhaps in the latter case it Is seldom considered very seriously there Is no other subject upon which counsel Is sought more frequently than that which has to do with the choice of a job there are two opinions which are quite generally held by young people with ree reference rence to jobs tho the first Is that practically all the jobs in the world are taken or will be taken by the end of the month and that if the young fellow in question does not get out find and F after fter a job at once he will be left holding the sack this opinion has been extant since the spring I 1 graduated from college and possibly before that time the other opinion Is that there are good jobs and bad ones that some jobs in themselves offer a straight ind open road toward unquestioned success what Is a good thing for a boy to stu study dy for fathers ask me with the idea that there Is some alchemy or open sesame in the job itself and that it does not depend to any large degree upon the man when I 1 was a graduate student years ago in an eastern university I 1 cans came into contact with a considerable number of men engaged in advanced study who were no longer young they had apparently so far not done well in the teaching profession they lacked tact enthusiasm personality an understanding of human value or something of the sort that was necessary to their getting on and at much sacrifice they had given up their positions in order that they might pursue the studies necessary to the obtaining of an advanced degree what impressed roo me was that most of them bad the idea that the degree itself was the talisman that would bring them all these qualities the lack of which had meant failure for them they gave little or no thought to the development of their charac rs to the cultivation of an appealing person allty or even to the acquisition of knowledge which might in some practical i nay ay make them better teachers it wu was only what would help them up the hill toward the coveted degree that they concerned themselves with it was tea me 0 job which they kept la in mind and not the development of a real man for the job what most of us should concern ourselves with la Is not in looking out tor for a job which will offer a sure and easy approach to affluence end and distinction but in developing our minds and characters and personalities to the extent that the job will come after us there will always be a job for the man who can first prove himself the man tor for the job Q 1935 1 western n New pape union |