Mountain Home bulletin. (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1888-1889, 1889-05-11
TOO MANY eooK.kEEPERs.
Competition II So Great That hut Few
Arc Well Paid.

Competition II So Great That Hut Few
Arc Well Paid.
Book keeping rs a profession IL be.
ginning, like many others, to feel the
influence of popular folly" said an
old book-keeper, in reference to the
present condition and outlook OF the
calling. Men. induced doubtless by
mistaken idea as to the commercial
opportunities offered by metropolitan
cities. keep Gocking to the great GEN.
ters of trade and industry. under the
impression that they can easily get re-
munerative situations Young men.
too, keep the commercial colleges we'll
filled, and after few terms OF study
ers. The result Is that the ranks are
filled to overfowing, and many an able
accountant is obliged to take q subor-
dinate place other than that for which
he fitted himself. This is especially
true Of the great commercial centers,
where slight depression in trade
sutiices to make itself felt in the de-.
mand and remuneration of competent
book-keepers
fore very strong. Except in the Gaze
OF the men who have proved their
worth and practically made themselves
necessity to particular houses, stick
ling for price is out Of the question.
The rank and file are glad to get what
, they can, and there are hundreds OF
book-keepers in Chicago working for
ordinary clerks wages. Most men.
however experienced, have to begin
low and work up An inexperienced
man, fresh from a commercial college,
r whore he has acquired thorough
o knowledge Of the theoretical part Of
e the work, will ordinarily command
" from $5 to Is week. After year Of
practical work he will get from $50 to
S65 a month. The average pay OF men
of long standing will not, think, run
above 800 month. OF course there
are book-keepers in the city who are
getting ~, 600, $500, CIR even more u
year, but they are the exceptions.
n satisfied that canvass of all the
stores protesting to have book-keepers
would reveal the fact that the majority
of accountants get little more pay than
the average clerk.
''There was time-and that wts
not long ago, either-when the demand
for bookkeepers was greater than the
supply. The commercial colleges, for
instance, found no difficulty in secur-
ing places for their graduates. just to
re ascertain the condition of affairs and
see what competition men in the call
~ ing now have to meet l made an ex-
pertinent during the last week ol
February. ! put in local paper an
advertisement for competent book
keeper who was willing to work for
IT, from sS to $40 a week, promotion being
-. contingent upon circumstances. A sin
,ra gle insertion OF the advertisement
ent brought me within three days 229 let
lfil- ters OF application for the position
!" Most OF the letters, which in point o
'ha m diction and penmanship were excep
W q = tionally good, were from men of prac
ks tical experience. The ages of the ap
plicants varied from eighteen to fit,
years, and the periods OF actual serv
ice as book-keepers ran from two Il
40 eight years. Only few were novice
Jul in the work This showing tells
nis story, and doubt not that it will be
ing surprise to the majority OF citizens
The inference is that there are to
many men seeking positions as book
OF on keepers and that competition ha
ruined wages.
alt must not be overlooked, how
ever, that good many OF the sc
we'd called book keepers are in nowis
log. competent An adequate course IN
mot commercial college is OF vast benet
the in the calling. but theory after all Is
-. secondary consideration. Many me
chants are dead set against collee
and men. What is needed is ability
- meet actual exigencies, and that
something that every book-keepe
does not possess A fair handwriting
-. rapidity, the ability to debit and cred
accounts and add co rectly, are il
can dispensable requisites for the calling
but after all they are compatible wit
ofes a certain degree of automatism that
any thing but desirable in an employ
san' sa. Clerks work themselves up to bettt
salaries anl hold their positions
personal efforts, good judgment, il
terest evinced in their employer
RI business success and the like, and
ook-keeper's promotion and tenure
aon, place is no less dependent upon II
. ,,,,,, faction, >, f,b;couo News