Circus Among Vocations Put To Guidance Officer

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30154, 11 June 1963, Page 2

Circus Among Vocations Put To Guidance Officer

In the six years since she took up vocational guidance work, Miss M. Mussen, who is now senior woman officer at the Christchurch Vocational Guidance Centre, has been asked for information on many and varied careers.

‘•Every now and then a girl pops up who wants to be a motor mechanic,” she said yesterday. One of the most unusual requests she had was from a girl wjio asked how to become an acrobat in a circus.

“We never try to squash anyone's ideas. We discuss everyinng in all sincerity with them; but we do try to arm for realism," Miss Mussen said. Authentic information was grt from a circus, and delivered to the girl who wanted to be an acrobat •‘But we also discussed a course in physical education will her,” she said. Finally the girl realised tiuat rt was just a job with physical activity she wanted, and that the circus, for one not born to the life, might be hard to adjust to. Would-be motor-mechanics usually give up the idea when the long period of apprenticeship required is explained to them.

Nursing and teaching are the ‘‘staple careers" about which most inquiries are made.

‘‘Many girls cannot think of any career other than these two, until their outlook widens.” Miss Mussen said. She finds that many of these inquirers were born to be nurses and teachers, but sometimes the first inquiry is a starting point for finding out about less well-known careers.

■ ‘'Ey studying school rei cords, home life, interests • and hobbies, and by discus- ! sion, we can help instill self-

knowledge, so that girls can face up to their weaknesses and build on their strongpoints.” Miss Mussen said. She would that a girl should not postpone asking for advice from her school careers adviser, or a vocational guidance officer, until she is about to leave school. “Then it becomes more a matter of finding a job for a

livelihood, than being fitted for, and setting out on a career.” she said.

"We are often thought of as job finders; but that is the task of an employment agency. We deal with the whole individual, and try to direct people into careers where they will find satisfaction and fulfilment.”

It was in their first year at post-primary school that young people should begin to make theiir first inquiries to find out about passible careers, she said.

There are no "glamour jobs,” according to Miss Mussen, who has found many girls look upon being models, air-hostesses, actresses and secretaries to business magnates as glamorous employment. Behind each Lies much hard work, she advises. Miss Mussen is strongly in favour of enabling girls to see “careers in action,” by arranging parties to visit and investigate various fields of employment at first hand. This has been found to be especially valuable in less well-known fields such as research work.

In Lower Hutt, girls who wanted to become teachers had been enabled to “sit in” on some school classes, and observe teachers at work. Miss Mussen hopes it might be possible to arrange sometihng similar in Christchurch. "Girls must see all possible careers through their own eyes, not just the eyes of other teachers, or vocational guidance officers,” she said.

Before her recent promotion and transfer to Christchurch. Miss Mussen spent six years at the Lower Hutt centre. Before that she was for 17 years with the Correspondence School and latterly in charge of the section devoted to children who are physically, mentally and socially handicapped.

£155 From Stall.—A street stall ran by the Kalapoi subcentre of the Red Cross Society recently raised £l5B 3s Sd, a record amount, said the president of the subcentre (Mrs C. Palmer).