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THE FORT WAYNE JOURNAL-GAZETTE

Publishing Information

John Doe Gets His Job Through the Indiana State Employment Service
Robert D. Adams

Oct. 3, 1937

1. How does John or Jane Doe go about getting a job in Fort Wayne?

2. One of his best bets will be to get in touch with the Indiana State Employment service if he or she is not already registered and included in the files of that far-reaching organization, an affiliate of the United States Employment Service.

3. But first of all, just what is the employment service? Is it a relief agency fro the government?

4. Definitely not, officials of the organization stressed in an interview with this reporter.

5. "The Federal-State Employment service started functioning in 1933, at a time when government relief agencies were conceived, giving many people the erroneous impression that the organization was a temporary agency designed only to aid the country out of the depression," Walter S. Foster, manager of the Fort Wayne office, stated.

6. The employment service is a permanent institution of the government designed for the benefit of both the employer and the man looking for a job.

7. "Many people are under the impression that in order to get a job through this office the applicant must be on relief, but a look through our active files, containing 6,941 names of applicants, would show that it doesn't matter if people are on relief or not. It also makes no difference if man or woman is employed. Perhaps they are looking for a better job. We have been able to place many persons in this category who were looking for work for which they thought themselves better qualified."

8. In a word, the stick in trade of the Fort Wayne office at the Indiana State Employment service is the vast labor reserve that is found in its active files. It serves as a clearing house for labor, and when a employer makes a request for a specific type of man for a certain job, the employment office is concerned only with the man in its files who has the ability and can meet the requirements of that job.

9. "But, get this," Mr. Foster said, "we do not do the hiring of the men and women whom we call at the request of the employer. After a thorough check of our files we select the ones who appear most likely to meet the requirement s and send them to the employer. He has the prerogative of accepting or rejecting them for the position."

10. A look into the files of the employment office has its files broken down into 600 classifications, which means that persons are available here for that many different kinds of jobs. This doesn't compare, however, with the occupational code book of the United States Employment service which lists about 9,000 different kinds of jobs.

11. Another valuable asset to the employer and also the applicant is that all the jobs listed in the occupational code book are available to the local office through the inter-city and inter-state clearance system of the United States Employment service.So, if a chemist with metallurgical training is needed by a Fort Wayne employer, and it happens that none is included in the local files at the present time, duplicate application cards are sent from other agencies in the United States and the employer may take his pick from those.

12. The same procedure holds true for a local applicant if a request for clearance is received from outside Fort Wayne. His application will be sent out and he will receive consideration from the outside employer.

13. The majority of clearance orders now are for skilled tradesman, such as tool and die makers, first class machinists, and production machine operators, but requests have even been known to ask for a corporation lawyer to fill a $10,000 a year job.

14. Filling large orders in a short time is one of the specialties of the employment office here. When the North Indiana Public Service company asked for a large number of "mechanically minded" men whom they could train to adjust gas ranges in the city for the switch-over to natural gas, it was not task for the employment office to send over a group of applicants to be considered by the gas company.

15. A little "tougher" was the assignment of a large industrial plant here for a complete night force, including skilled machinists of all types, this to be filled in 24 hours. Twenty-four hours later the night force had been organized through the files of the employment office, and the men were working.

16. But leaving the men and getting over to the women's division of the employment office, which is in charge of Miss Pearl Wilson, senior interviewer, we find that one entire side of the H-shaped quarters is devoted to the feminine sex.

17. The same procedure holds true for women applicants as for the men with the exception that at the present time the shortage is greater, it is pointed out.A distinct shortage exists in the field of women workers, especially in the commercial class which includes trained secretaries, bookkeepers, comptometer operators, sales women, etc.And domestic workers--just try and get one. The employment office here last week took 157 orders for housemaids, housekeepers and service workers, and it was almost an impossibility to fill any of the orders. The fact is attributed to the increased demand by the factories for female workers, and the preference of women to do industrial work because of higher wages.

18. This same shortage is found in the men's division in all skilled lines. Two years ago there were a hundred men for each skilled job. Today almost the reverse is the case, records show. Mechanical engineers, electrical and chemical engineers, draftsmen, time study men, production managers, sheet metal layout men, machinists, tool and die makers, production machine operators, accountants, male stenographers, high grade salesman and the like are at a premium.

19. But a person who has all the qualifications in the world finds a hard time getting a job if his or her "attitude" is off color, interviews at the local office say.

20. Each interview is charged as a part of his or her job to be considerate, helpful and courteous in the dealing with the applicant, and at the same time the applicants are expected to be honest and frank in filling out their cards. These cards are all-important since selection is made through them.

21. And here's a tip for applicants. It was found in digging for this story that the interviewers have an aversion for male applicants who are unshaven, and girls who snap their gum, wear brilliant nail polish, or who are heavily "mascared."

22. And here are some of the negative adjectives they can use in your description, based on your interview: sluggish, fidgety, disinclined, torpid, sulky, indifferent, pompous, bombastic, flippant, flaccid, weak, slovenly, superficial, bungling or offensive. These are but a few from the list at the hand of the interviewer to describe the applicants.

23. On the other hand we find the positive adjectives to include those who are most likely to be referred to employers. A few of these are: strong, vigorous, neat, natty, able, energetic, apt, proficient, shrewd, educated, accomplished, resourceful, perceiving, sociable, sober, thoughtful, enterprising, prudent, acute, candid, impressive, congenial, willing and earnest."As a labor clearing house, we can refer to employers only those applicants who meet certain specifications," Mr. Foster said. "But registering with the employment service should be the first thing a person out of work thinks of and not the last."