RIGHT MEN FOR JOBS

Kaikoura Star, Volume LVI, Issue 92, 23 November 1936, Page 4

RIGHT MEN FOR JOBS

SYSTEMATIC STAFF WORK 1 ’LACEM ENTS NOT AUTOMATIC WELLINGTON. November 22. Of the large total of 13,970 permanent, casufi] or temporary placements arranged by State placement officers, the fads in a. considerable number of instances confound the belief lhat ihe, individuals concerned would have found their own jobs if the placement service had not been in opera tion. Tradesmen of all kinds have b< ■. n taken from numberless mediocre positions they had bet'n forced to accept during the recent “lean” years, and transferred to improved positions in other districts, where placement of’iiecrs had notified that there were opportunities f<>r employment. Large numbers of one-time >ki!h I lartisans who had taken up other trades too late in life to become master-crafts-men. have been induced to re-enter their original trades, with surprisingly satisfactory results for the mon them selves and lor their employers. There is nothing haphazaid about the service, and therefore ?ach placement is the result of a pre-arranged search for vacancies—positive and possibh ami the careful selection of men cap able of filling them. A Full-time Task After nearly six months of iuten,-ive study of John citizen in need of a job, or of a more congenial one I han tha.l on which he mac have been r. .irking time for sexi rtal years, the pla< i - merit olliccrs are mentally, psychologically, and from a practical point of view, competent to handle the staffing problems of every class of employer. Their records abundantly prove that the right kind of jobs have to be diligently and intelligently sought for, and they also show that in not a few cases they have been created specially for men whose outstanding ability has been brought to the notice of employers who might at some future date require, the services of such men. Selection Must Be Right Having discovered a possible vacancy thei'e must be no error of judgment in the selection of the right class of man to fill it. It is not. sufficient that he is technically fully-qualified—his industrial history must indicate that he is

’ also personally the right man. This is the stage al: which the jdaceim iit ! officer’s training and intuition are put to the test, mid if they fail him, there • is the probability that. a. dissatisfied ‘ I employer will need to be placated. Cases in Point It is probably true that in many I 1 ! cases men would have (as they did i 1 i prior to the depression) found jobs for themselves; bul it is actually a fact that in as many other instances the placement service was directly the ? medium of placing in suitable work ? men who had become hopeless of ever I ' being reinstated to the dignity of a ■ regular wage-oarner, and others who ‘ ; had for long searched in vain for any ' kind of private employment. • For instance, a process engraver Jost > I his position when trade conditions were | very depressed, and after an exhaustive search for re-engagement he*had given up hope and had turned to less satis- ' factory means of earning a livelihood-. , He enrolled at a placement service of- ! li.ee, and the wheels of enquire were set in motion on his behalf. Quite fortuitously, a placement officer happ- > cni'd to mention Io la gentleman of his i acquaintance the engraver’s plight. The . sequel was the production of samples . of the man’s work, and, as the friend happened to be interested in a print ing business, a permanent posit ion - good salary. i A farmer in n remote district in thNorth Island required the services of two young men to assist in the agri- < cultural work, milking being confine-1 . to only four cows. He had made frequent efforts to get help, and wns in despair because of the farm wonk that 1 wjas being neglected. In Wellington. ! two youths, each aged 19, had been literally “kicking their heels” on the , city streets for many weeks. The farmer applied to the placement office in his district, the news of his need was relayed to every placement office in the North Island, and finally reached the two young men, who showed that they were no shirkers by promptly taking up the offer. Notice of the need was received at 9 a.m. and at 11 the farmer had been communicated with by phone, and. after learning their qualifications, had engaged the lads, who left for the job by next day’s train. Two men enrolled at the Nelson an-1 Palmerston North placement offices respectively, had been on the unemploy - ment register for nearly five years, and as both of them were middle-aged, tin-l residing in a country area, where, life runs very uneventually. they appeared to have decided that their active industrial life had ended. Eortnnatelv for them, however, they had stated, when enrolling, that they had served their time in the iron-moulding trade, and wlien a Dominion-wide search for such tradesmen was in progress a few days ago. these men’s credentials proved entirely satisfactory to a firm in the Wellington district, and they were added to the staff in the foundry. Twenty-five years ago, a youth of I about twenty-four years of ago lost his ' occupation as a brass turner, nt which ' trade he had served his time. During i that long period, he has followed vari- 1 ous fallings, but never found an oppor- : 1 unity for reinstatement in his trade. Of late years, he has made a precarious ' living by the sale of odds and end'- - io country storekeepers, and finallv, as : a last resource, enrolled at a. placement | office. His casual mention that he had j learned the brass turning trade opened , up for him the gates through which he | h..is passed to comparative affluence, for • when the facts were related to the j head men of a Government Department - the man was sent for and finally put j to work at his trade. At the end of ! a few weeks he became an asset on the j Department’s staff of experts, his • Natural skill never having deserted ! him. An outstanding example of a place- ’ e-erit -’irec-tly due to the Dominion- i