Evening star., 1960-12-11
JOBS
Continued From First Page

Continued From First Page ,
huddled on couches or leaning |
against the walls, congratulate !
each other on the Kennedy =,
victory and praise each others
efforts in the campaign. There
are words Of sympathy for
those who lost their own races
or failed to carry their States
for the ticket. /
On q recent afternoon, q SEN
ator from one midwestern State
jokingly offered the Secretary
of Agriculture job to a defeated
Representative from another
State, who turned 1t down with
the statement that Il have my
political future to consider" /
A lieutenant governor who
was unsuccessful in his bid for
reelection exchanged gossip
with a national committee wo-
man from a neighboring State.
She was there to urge the cause
of the executive secretary Of
retiring governor. Two Southern
gentlemen leaped from the
couch to offer their seats to
the Senator, who declined it,
and then resumed a guarded !
conversation in which each tried |
to pry from the other what job
he was seeking.
Task Unrewarding
Two newspapermen wander
ing by in search Of news were
Immediately set upon with
What do you hear about
State?" Only two events inter-
rupted the steady buzz: The
arrival Of q new applicant, who
was silently and remorselessly
examined, and q summons to
one of the horde to step through
the magic doorway.
For the vast majority. the
first trip to the patronage office
in the short-run. at least
has been unrewarding. Thus far,
Mr.. O'Brien's operation has been
one of screening. rather than
hiring.
Work on the project actually
began several weeks before
election day, when H. w.
Brawley. counsel of the Senate
Post Office and Civil Service
Committee, began to assemble
a list of Federal patronage
posts. |
On the day after the elec-
ton, he had ready a directory
Of the 1900 top jobs in Gov
ernment those requiring
presidential appointment and
those on Schedule c. Tomor-
row. an expanded catalogue of
all 5000 non-civil service Jobs
will be available.
With each listing goes a
description Of the duties and
the qualifications needed by
the person filling the job.
Pleased with Quality
Applications have been
screened and candidates inter-
viewed by Mr.. O'Brien; Mr.. |
Brawley; Senator Kennedy's
brother-in-law, r. Sargent |
Schriver, and campaign aides |
Ralph DUNCAN, Dick Donohue
and Harris Wofford.
After screening, each ap-
plication is put in the folder |
containing the job description |
OF the post for which the
person is considered best |
fitted. BY now, these folders |
are bulging with applications. |
Generally speaking, Mr.. |
O'Brien and his colleagues on |
this project are pleased with
the quality of the job-seekers.
One of them conceded, how
ever, "You always get a lot of
run-of-the-mill types who are
just not qualified.
"A lot of really good people
have indicated an interest in
serving" Mr.. O'Brien said.
Many Of them are established
people. who would be giving up
a lot to come down here. Many
of them, too, are young people
who would be entirely new to
Government.
Political Work a Factor
I'm pleased by the fact that
so many of the letters recon-
mending the young people say
that they're not only capable !
individuals but are people who
see a real challenge in working
in the Kennedy administra-
tion." /
Top emphasis in selecting the
workers, the recruiters say, will |
he oivon IN Tho ;,.l;.,iI,.1-l |