The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-07-22
GIRL GRADUATE JOB HUNTING.
phil DID MORE TRAN WEEKS
or PATIENT SEARCH.

when she Was willing 70 Take Any
thlng How Her Chance Came ct Last.
IT, IL not easy sometimes for q woman
who has been graduated from college to get
a start in New York.
Tho experiences q girl mel with In her
searcb for a job in New York may be taken
ss typical Of what the average girl gradi-
ate runs up against whom she starts out to
make her W way.
With about 500 In her purse and O bundle
OF letters from her college professors that
told OF her talent and scholarship. this
woman name To New York, rented o small
furnished room downtown, unpaoked her
trunk, and having thus estabhshed herself
turned her whole attention toward getting
sjob.
Besides having had a brilliant career at
college, Miss M possessed some literary
ability and she was anxious to get some
sort OF work along literary lines. She had
visions OF getting into some large publish
ing house to do translating from French
or German or Italian, or perhaps to do some
bool; reviewing or annotadng or something
OF that kind; or possibly she might get on
the regular staff OF a newspaper,
She went to the nearest drug store, sought
out the business directory and made a neat
list Of the names and addresses Of the vari-
GUS newspapers and magazines, which she
proceeded to call upon in turn. .
The editors received her very politely,
listened gravely to all she had to say, read
her letters Of recommendation, said: aAh,
very good indeed DO, took her name and
address, said they really had nothing at
present but would communicate with her
when an opening occurred and bowed her
out
Miss M--was not daunted. One could
not expect to jump right into a job at once.
Besides, did they not all have her name
and address on fle2 Any morning now
there might be a typewriter letter in her
mail box telling her to 60 to work.
Day after day slipped away, and still
she kept calling on editors, and still with
the same result. From each additional
one OF these conferences she would depart
q little moro sore at heart; she would go
back to her little room, get out her care
fully concealed store Of money and count
1t over. 1t was getting noticeably smaller,
and there was no present prospect Of her
being able to add to 1t. At the rate Of 81
q week, 90 for her room and food and 81
for oarfare and postage stamps, It would
last but q few weeks longer. What would,
she do then II she got nothing in the mean
time?
She had taught herself shorthand in an
tdpation Of using it in reporting, but had
had very little time or opportunity to prao-
tise 1t; she also knew how to manage a
typewriter. With these requirements she
could surely get work as a stenographer;
she had heard that educated stenographere
were rare and very much In demand.
She bethought herself Of a certain prom
inent publishing house where q stenog-
rapher's place had been offered her. She
had refused the offer before as something
quite beneath her. notice, but now the
thought Of It came Nike a light in the dark
ness. Yes, the manager was still willing
to take her; he would put her to work that
very morning at ~ q .week. A place at a
little table With q typewriter on 1t was given
to her, q st~enographer's notebook as well.
around her were several other stenog-
raphers, all with their fingers flying over
the keys at lightning speed, and the din
made by all these machines was deafening.
She looked at these other stenographers
with q sinking Of the heart; she had never
dreamed that 1t was possible to work a type
writer so fast; she wondered how long 1t
would take her to do 1t.
At this point a little, thin, wiry, business
like looking man came up to her and told
her that she was to take dictation from
him. The diotation proved to be altogether
too rapid for her, but abe Numbered on
frantically, losing words and phrases,
r,oLtno al eor4a ~ fnntaak; 1,,kt,1o ~xkk:--
cramps In her fingers N hoping against
hope that she would be able to remember
enough Of the gist Of the letters to supply
the omissions. D
Letter followed letter, all at the same
apparently breakneck speed, until about
half q notebook was filed. Then the man
rose with the remark hat he supposed that
that would be enough to keep her busy
for an hour or so, and left her with the
typewriter and the notebook. She started
in bravely to type the first letter, but her
hands trembled 80 that she kept hitting
the wrong keys and had to rub out and
patch up. The constant whirl Of noise
made by the other type%riters confused
her 80 that she scarcely knew what she
was doing, and all the time she was n~ervously
conscious Of the eye Of the "a ger watch
ing her from his desk. ..
How yer, she at last got under way; and
was beginning to get control Of the machine
when she had to come to a dead stop; she
had reached a place in her notes where she
had lost several words, and try as she might
she found it impossible to supply them.
At last she gave up in despair. She gath
cred up the loose sheets OF paper, closed
the notebook, and laid all In a neat pile
beside the typewriter; then she went over
to the managers desk, and said, timidly:
lin afraid I can't keep the position.
/ haven't enough speed, ! can't read my
notes.
He did not even look up.
All right he said, tartly, better zee
that you know what you are doing before
you take anything again. We have no
time to spend over incompetent people In
New York.
The tears started into her eyes, and she
turned away 70 hide the culver Of her lips.
She put on her hat and jacket hastily and
slipped out, glad to get away and be free
again.
But this feeling Of independence could
not last long. More and more she fstt
herself pursued by the haunting fear that
she would be left without any money to
pay for her oom and her rs cent dinner
and the rolls and coffee that served for
breakfast and lunch. She began to la