The Employment Situation For Girls And Boys

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28481, 10 January 1958, Page 13

The Employment Situation For Girls And Boys

By

G. C. BROOKES

DISTRICT VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE OFFICER, CHRISTCHURCH.

r p > HE employment situation for girls and boys leaving school is not nearly as fluid as it was even at this time last year. There is no noticeable redaction in the number of vacancies but there has been a considerable increase in the. number of children seeking positions.

This is, of course, the result of the rise in the birth rate. Where a few years ago employers were desperately seeking and competing with each other for juveniles to fill jobs, the position while not actually reversed is that they can now in most occupations exercise some measure of selection.

There is no need for parents and their children to pahic. The best qualified girls and boys will get the best jobs, but others may have to modify their ideas somewhat and may not be able to pick and choose so freely as their older sisters and brothers were able to.

Overall there is no shortage of jobs and indeed the picture seems to indicate an expansion in many directions. But more school leavers than ever before are available to fill these jobs and some will inevitably be disappointed in not being able to walk into the . job of their first choice. Several large employing organisations have raised their standards this year. Where previously they were not fussy about an educational standard or set a fairly low one, they now find themselves in the position of being able to set a definite level of educational requirement or of raising the one previously adopted as a yardstick.

The lesson here is plain: young people should make certain that they have had an adequate preparation for work before they leave school and that they gain the highest possible educational qualifications. Employers, too, are looking more closely now at school reports. One said to me the other day: “I don’t think I'll engage that boy. His report says that he doesn’t always try in several subjects. If he’s not a trier at school he may also he lazy with me. I’ll wait for a more promising applicant.”

For the last dedade, If not longer, the employment field has presented an unbalanced picture. With reduced numbers of juveniles available no employment group was satisfied as far as the number of recruits was concerned. But the trades with apprenticeship provisions benefited at the expense of industry where there are many equally skilled jobs. Similarly, scientific and technical occupations attracted more applicants than did academic ones, such

as teaching. Again, the attraction of practical and outdoor careers led fewer than ever of those available to seek openings in clerical and sales work. Even within these groups there was imbalance. The wellknown trades took the largest share of apprentices leaving the equally important but less popular or well-known ones like boilermaking, moulding, painting, plastering and bricklaying with large numbers of vacancies.

There are signs that with increasing competition for jobs, youngsters are widening their horizons as we have been advising them to do for many years, and that the distribution of the juvenile labour force will therefore become more balanced, the “square peg in a square hole” analogy is not really a true one to apply to vocational choice or to vocational guidance. People are amazingly adaptable and most are very versatile. There are

often several square holes into which a square peg can fit and sometimes with only a little treatment it will even fit one not previously considered. Similarly the lack of interest in and actual prejudice against such worthwhile and important careers as clerical work and the retail trade is more often due to ignorance of the true nature of the work and prospects than to a feeling that the young person has not the ability for it. Girls and boys cannot expect to get a job on the basis of interest alone. Interest must be allied with ability, particularly now , that competition is keener. It is not just a question of wanting to be a nurse, or a teacher, or a I motor mechanic, but also of applying for training and .if there is more than one applicant someone does the selection. This means that some analysis must be made of the abilities required for the career and an attempt made to discover if the individual boy or girl has those abilities developed as much as possible. In any case it means also that it is important to have at least one alternative in case it is not possible to obtain the first choice.

,X, j ■_ v/'X V?, M There , are golden opportunities for youth to .progress rapidly in a career. In most jobs there, M been a low intake of young people over the last JR to'2S years while people in those occupations have been getting older. Some have already retired and many at the top of the ladder will do so soon—and all at once. - Their places must be filled and by those in a much lower age group. Young people must be prepared tor rapid promotion and qualify themselves for it My advice then is:— Make certain of your choice of a career but have an alternative. Make sure that you are well prepared for it in every way and qualified to meet competition in selection. Make every effort once you are selected to qualify tor promotion.