The Washington herald., 1915-02-18
GRAY HAIRS SEEKING JOB
BY ORIsON SWEET MARDEN

| When i see gray-haired men with
stopped shoulders. with several days
growth Of beard on their faces and cloth
ing covered with grease spots. slouching
about the streets looking for a job. l feel
tempted to cry out to them: 1T is no
use. No one will employ you. You will
never get a job while you look like that"
An employer wants an employee with red
blood in him. man full of vigor. force
| fire. and enthusiasm. and with a lot of
staying power. resourceful man. a man
of vigorous Thought. for he knows that
only such one can produce. create.
While considering an applicant for a
Job he is all eyes and ears. His percep-
tive faculties. his judgment. his powers
of discrimination. all are alert and busy
measuring. weighing. estimating appear
ance. his eye, his clothing.
The applicant is tagged all over with
earmarks, which are pleading either for
or against him.
No matter how good your recommended
tons. or how fit you may be for the job
you seek. your prospective employer
wants to know how much good stuff, how
much energy, how much work there is
left in you. He doesn't want to hire a
man who will be played out in a little
while.
If your appearance. your conversation.
and especially your mental attitude
mark that your mental attitude-indicate
that you have reached the point of d.
minshing returns. that you are on the
decline, you won't get the job.
Every employer is looking for bar
gain in an employee. He wants somebody
who has got a lot of good stuff in him.
one who is not thinking solely of how
much the position he is looking for will
benefit him and how it will provide a
place for him to die in. Conversation.
bearing. and appearance tell him lot
about you. and you may be sure that If
you have all the qualifications he is look
ing for in a man. and yet do not win out.
he must have pretty good reason other
than your age for turning you down
Now. il ! were fifty or more and look
ing for a job. the first thing I would do
would be to make myself as young and
brisk looking as l possibly could. II L
had long gray beard. | would shave
it off. i would have my hair cut close.
I would remove every evidence of my age
that / could. / would make myself as
clean physically soap and water could
do the job. I should be extremely careful
to be neatly and becOmingly dressed. If
my clothes were old and worn. and
could not replace them ] would, at least.
brush them and make them as present
able as possible.
After having done everything ! could
10 Hldht SOou piiS SlCdl appearance, d
favorable impression SO far as my per
son and clothes were concerned. | should
brace up mentally.
Every employer knows there are scores
of reasons why thousands of able men.
men of great possibilities do not win out
before fifty. Change of location. the drift
of business in another direction. changes
of fashion. in the tariff, illness of him
self in his family. an invalid wife.
crippled Children-any one of these things
shatter many a mans chances. ruin his
fortunes.
There are many men ir this country
today homeless and seeking jobs who
have more ability. have worked harder.
strnen more persistently. and have more
character than others who have been
uccessful-financially. They have not
been able to control conditions, but they
can control their mental attitude. and
they must if they ever hope to get on
their feet again.
The great difficulty with most men who |
have arrived at middle life without hav-
ing achieved something worth while is |,
the depressed discouraged influence of |
their mental attitude. | have talked with |
many of these men of fifty or more who !
have tried to get positions and failed. |
The reason is plain. They sought work in
a half hearted discouraged manner. in a
way to show an employer that they had
no faith in themselves. They lacked
VIM courage. that superb self-confidence. |
which inspired confidence in the employer
and enables a man to win out at any
age.