BUSINESS LIFE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13647, 15 January 1908, Page 9

BUSINESS LIFE.

SHORTHAND AND SUCCESS.

Just a word of advice to ■ the young men and women studying shorthand. Learn it thoroughly—not just so you can take a few ordinary letters in the phraseology _ to. which you are accustomed, and transcribe them at once, more or less correctly, but so that you can take a book full of notes, and weeks after read it off as readily as you would a printed page. The only shorthand that will tit you to fill one of the high-priced positions we are all looking for is the shorthand that is unvarying in outline and absolutely correct. "It takes too long," you say. Yes, it does take much longer . time than to acquire a smattering; but it will pay you in the long run. Don't bo tempted to take a position before you are able to till it, by stories of how other people have learned shorthand in two or three mora, It can't be done. Speed on the typewriter will come with practice, but your shorthand must be built on a good, firm foundation that can only be laid by, patiently learning every curve and word sign. SENTENCE SERMONS. Better believe yourself a dunce and work away than a genius and be idle. Poverty is the soap that protects us from filthy lucre. "-. " .< ;> Lots of peoole could be clever if only they had "better memories. Only the narrow mind insists on moulding all others to its own pattern. Many a good man has been lost to a great cause through his deferment to t.ie prejudices of others. There are hundreds of successful people for one that is contented. A constant struggle, a ceaseless battle to bring success from inhospitable surroundings is the price of all great achievements. The truth is mighty and will prevail ; but some men would hate to have it told about them. Do not have heated arguments in general companv. When too much feeling is aroused there is seldom any good result Do not be too lavish in your praise of various members of your own family, when speaking to strangers; the person to whom you are speaking may know some fault that you do not. THE EYE OF THE BOSS. The watchful eye of the boss is on employees far more than they think. It is a fact that firms are anxious that their promising young men shall turn out well, quite as much as that voung men are desirous of making progress. No good employer is ever glad to see one of his men fail. A well-earned promotion means a strengthening of the house for which he works, and the man who pays the salary is loth to let him go. One of the greatest troubles big firms have to deal with in the rapid advancement of their young men is that they cannot grow with their jobs. They will "come along fine" up to a certain stage. Then they cense to grow. It is a fact that to promote some young men is to destroy their usefulness. Then there are others who will work well on a smatt salary, but if they make good money it takes too much of their time and thought to spend it. Prosperity ruins some of them. There are others who, when they reach a certain stage of usefulness, get an exaggerated idea of their indispensability to the firm. Another method is common among the large concerns.' A young man who shows brilliancy often is given a minor position, and held there for months. If he proves to be a "sticker" he is not forgotten. Some tine clay will see a sudden promotion for him" If he fails to fight his battles farther down the scale, he is either culled out with the masses, or left , to his own ends, and finally, resigns.