The Washington herald., 1915-03-24
~ WHAT SHALL I DO? @

erence TO men. This preference is TO
be found in some of the large depart
ment stores and life insurance COM
panies, where small armies Of women
| bookkeepers carry on the task of &C
count keeping with as much precision.
, accuracy. speed. and general satisfac-
| ton as men could possibly do II.
High marks In arithmetic, good PEN
manship, stick-to-itveness and general
, neatness and accuracy are the traits that
mark the coming bookkeeper@ II these
traits are predominant In your mental
make up. doesn't it seem as though you
should consider bookkeeping as a possible
voca ton. Doesn't it seem as though you
would be able to earn your daily bread.
| IL need be, In this voca ton better than
| in some other for which you were not
| SO well fitted, or. better still, doesn't
| il seem as though bookkeeping might
serve as good stepping stone for you
to mount to a more varied occupation?
J Few ambitious young women are nova
days kept from being bOokkeepers be-
| cause they have not the opportunity to
| learn the rudiments. for classes in bust
ness methods. of one sort or another. are
legion. Perhaps the best way to study
| for this profession Is in a regular bust
| ness school. One advantage OF several
of the big city schools is that individual
| instruction Is given and the young wom-
| an. willing and able to study diligently
and intelligently. can take the course In
much shorter time than she whose am
bition is limited. In one school where
the system Of individual instruction has
taken the place of the old-tlme class
! method OF instruction, where the course
! Is usually covered in six months. an I'M
usually able young woman was allowed
to cover thorough course In bookkeep-
| ing in six weeks.
In the large business schools the fol-
| lowing subjects are usually included In
the course of instruction: Practical book
| keeping, business arithmetic. rapid cal
culation. banking business methods. busi-
| ness penmanship. grammar, business
| practice. office duties.' spelling, and
commercial law. The cost Of instruction
! for q thorough course in bookkeeping
varies greatly. In one school where re-
markably thorough instruction Is given.
and where all who successfully graduate
are sure of being recommended to POSI-
! tons offering salaries varying from IS to
| s15 a week to begin with. the cost OF tut
| ton for six months course. including
| books and stationery. is about SIS. In
! many other schools the tuition Is much
| less. and there are various ways-in the
! evening high schools In many Of the big
cities and in the semi-endowed institu-
lions such as the Young Woman's Chris
tian Association-for a young woman to
| secure good instruction in bookkeeping
for little or nothing in the way Of tuition
fees.
AS to salaries for full-fiedged book
| keepers. in the large cities a beginner
gets from S. to SIS. working up to s15 and
SIS a week. Occasionally q remarkably
able woman bookkeeper earns as much
as so or $40 a week, though. of course.
opportunities to earn salaries like that
do not come to all remarkably able book
keepers.
What does bookkeeping lead to? This
Is question that is sometimes asked by
young women when they are considering
bookkeeping as a profession. The answer
Is, 1t may lead to executive work OF an
almost endless variety. A bookkeeper IN
a department store may. and not infre-
quently does. rise to q position as mana
ger or assistant manager or assistant
manager OF a department In the store.
with a salary many times as large as
she canned as a bookkeeper. young
woman who began at the age OF 1s as
bookkeeper In q lunchroom at S. a week
is now manager of the same lunchroom
and is paid as much in a day as she got
in a week to begin with. Bookkeepers In
large hospitals or other institutions some
times rise to better paying positions a.
managers and superintendent. A VA
week bookkeeper in q large mail-order
clothing house rose in five years TO a
So-a-week position in the advertising END
of the business.
Bookkeeping il a profitable side issue
for the young woman already trained IN
some other vocation. So II you have Al
ready chosen your lifework and want
to add to your practical ability ana TO
the size of your salary, why should you
not take course In bookkeeptns! Inc