East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1917-01-24
Choosing An Occt1patlon

You have made up your mind to
earn your living. Never mind wheth-
er you have arrived at this decision
because you were forced to It by sheer
want Of the necessaries of life, or
whether II was because the bread and
butter allotment at home had begun
to pail on YOU and you felt longing
for jam and cake, or whether. finally,
because you were thrilled with the
idea that a business life Is calculated
to open up to you a world Of romance.
You have made your decision. The
motive, Of course, has some bearing
on the future and might enter into
consideration. but that would lead us
into being specific and in this series
Of articles il is decreed that shall
treat only in a general way Of this
very broad subject of the woman in
business. So, say, It is enough that
you have desided to strike out for
yourself
The first consideration, then. is I'm
what direction 2" Let us make two
assumptions for illustration; First.
let us assume that you have had train
ing along some specific line. II is
your cue, then, to look over the field
of possibilities, but be sure that you
approach the matter with an open
mind. Let me assure you, as en-
phatically as / may, that great deal
more than you can estimate depends
upon the attitude with which you ap-
proach this matter of choosing a ca
reer.
Determine first what sort of work
you are best fitted for: If It is the
sort of work you feel you would find
most congenial, you are fortunate. II
it isn't remember that ability counts
more and that it is easier in the be-
ginning, at any rate, to bend your in
clination to your ability than to train
ability to suit inclination In a WORD,
determine upon the thing you feei
YOU could accomplish best. the line
in which you have received training
If, however, you have had no train.
ing that is, training for any particu-
lar line of work, 1t will be necessary
for you to take account of yourself
and see what you have to offer to off.
set the lack Trained service is re-
quired nowadays, and competition,
even at that is so great that the out
look at first for the unframed seeker
for a position is discouraging. How
! ever, take heart from this There are
other things that may be taken into
| account as compensation.
A pleasing personality-that counts
for much; accuracy, that also, and
willingness and determination, and,
above all, courage. Whether you have
been brought up to the idea of earn
ing your living. or whether you have
not You will need all these things:
but, as said. they count a great deal
as against training without them.
Now, then. having taken account of
your stock in trade, send your
thoughts out scouting Line up. in
your mind, the various positions in
which persons you know about are
placed; line up the persons whose in
fuence might possibly be helpful.
Look over the want" advertisements.
but only in the most reliable newspa-
pers. Make out a list of all these
possibilities, Make as many appoint
ments as possible by letter, and take
care that your letters are business
like, yet characteristic, individual,
forceful. In an anwer to an adver-
tisement, remember that there must
be something about it that viii in
cline the receiver toward you favor
ably in preference to the mass OF 9TH
ers that are sure to come in answer
to every advertisement these days.
Thse things, l say, will count for you,
but do not weight them too heavily
on the credit side for, after all, the
main issue is ability and not even
those commendable qualities can take
its place,
Allow your instinct to have some
play in the matter and-your common
sense. No doubt, you would like tO
be a Melba or a Duse, but if you
haven't ability and, yes, great deaI
of it along their lines and you have
ability, say, in an executive way or in
the way of doing clever things with
the needle. or if you take to" cook
ing as a duck does to water, aren't you
foolish to strive for a position on the
concert stage or in the theater?
If you need the money at once you
cannot be too discriminating, but sc