CHOICE OF A CAREER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20372, 28 September 1929, Page 23 (Supplement)

CHOICE OF A CAREER.

BX JO. MOWBRAV-FIUNISS,

THE PUBLIC SERVICE.

VI. Lowell said thai " the opening of the first grammar-school was tho opening of tho first treach against monoply in Church and State; tho first row of trammels and pothooks which its little scholar blotted and blubbered across their conybooks was the preamble to tho Declaration of Independence." Education has been the precursor of open competition ill all countries that enjoy that right to-day.

Prior to 1853, when a system of examinations was instituted to test the efficiency of candidates, appointments to the Civil Servico in Great Britain wcro en-

tirely in tho gift of tho executive government and wcro obtained through influence, while tho bestowal of them was used as a means of gaining parliamentary support on behalf of tho Government. Needless to say, tho system led to all kinds of abuses.

In 1870, by 3n Ordor-in-Council, it was directed that appointments in tho Cival Service should bo filled by open competition. This system has been adopted ever since, and is to-day the regulation that governs the Public Service throughout the whole Empire. Every vacant post is open to all and sundry by a system of competitive examination, so that tho meanest born subject can rise to tho highest servico of tho State. It is the distinctive prido of tho servico that its positions aro anonymously secured.

While the system of competitive ox amination is found to work very satis

factorily, there is no doubt that the State loses somo of its most promising young citizens, to whom a rigorous written examination is anathema. The system should spur boys on to make tho very utmost of thoir class-room days, which aro finally tested, for better or worse, by an examination in so many callings of life. A Protected Occupation. Tho outstanding difference between a career in tho " service" and a career without is that in the "service" you aro hedged in by a strong wall of protection. Tho Public Service ladder has a top rung like every other service ladder, but with tliia difference: it is a very long ladder to scale, and is climbed by a slow but sure movement. Milton's words, " They also serve who only stand and wait," may be appropriately applied to Ul9 service in tho matter of advance- | m<*nt. But in these days of uncertainty the security of tho service is a great gain. The ghosts of " unemployment" and " failure in business " need never haunt tho civil servant as long as he fulfils the conditions of his job. This must add to the length of his life, to say nothing of tho peace of it. More boys and girls would enter the service if they were better acquainted with the conditions and opportunities that it offers. , .

State control has been extended to so many branches of our Empire's life and work that the servico employs almost almost eveiy kind of labour. In New Zealand the Post and Telegraph Department, tho Railway Department and the Public Works Department absorb a largo number of Doys and girls every year. But for one man who holds an administrative or professional position there are a hundred who are employed very largely in clerking, filling in forms and gathering data; purely routine work, but even in this particular the servico does not greatly differ from any other well-con ducted business. World-wide competition and expansion of Empire nave made statistical returns absolutely essential to all business, 3nd especially to the State. Yet No Shelter lor Slacking. Tho service, bmadly speaking, is suitable to tho boy v ho lacks 6elf-confidonce and push, and is of a plodding, methodical disposition. To sentenco a highspirited boy of genius and originalty to the drudgery of some departments in tho service is to put a racehorse in a mill. But " any youth who either enters or shuns the Civil Servico because he belioyes it to bo a shelter for dignified slacking and second-class brain work is making a grave mistake." Branches of the service such as the Department of Government Research or the Audit will tax the fullest powers of any man's intellect, while the special appointments ot a technical nature call for tho keenest brains from the ranks of the appropriate professions. Somo of tho highest posts in the servico of our Empire aro filled by Oxford and Cambridgo honours men, and by the best men of our own university._ In New Zealand tho Public Service is divided into threo divisions—professional, clerical and general. Tho commissioner requires a pass in the senior examination, which is equivalent to tho matriculation, for entranco into tho professional divi-1 sion, a pass in tho entrance examination for tho clerical division, and a certificate of competency in Standard IV. for entranco into tho general division. A person must be not l ess than 15 years of age and not more than 18 years for appointment to tho clerical division, and 110 person is appointed to the professional division under tho age of 17 years. The usual health certificate and testimonial as to character are. of course, essential. Tho regulations governing these examinations and the various subjects that can bo taken aro contained in the Form N. 9. (1928) and can bo procured from tho Education Department. The scale of remuneration cannot bo detailed here, but it is sufficient to sav that parents may rest, assured that all departments pay their staffs a good average wago; a wage which will more than compaio with wages for similar work outsido tho service, while every provision is made against old age. _ Some of the administrative and executive posts oner very attractive salaries. Service Abroad.

Parents should not forgot that the whole Empire is open to the boys of New Zealand for Civil Service posts. " There is probably no position within reach of youths so varied in its duties, and so attractively arauous and responsible, as that of tho Indian civil servant. In addition to an energetic, decisive character, and a keen sense of justico and fairplav, tho aspirant for tho I.C.S. needs to be of tho self-reliant type. Tho Indian services comprise the Indian Civil Service, police, forestry, public works and. Stale railways. The pay tor theso branches of tho service is high. Bovs and girls who show a good averago abilitv at school and are in other ways B uited for tho public service should be encouraged early to work haru, the entrance' examination in view. .it is the solemn duly of both school teachers and parents constantly to remind children ontrusted to their caro that school days are the all too brief preparation for life s serious business, which days, if wisely used, ensure a good occupation for life, but if wasted can nover bo recalled. Ihis well-worn axiom is ail too obvious to the adult, but to many a boy and girl tho last thing that is thought of in connection with school. Tho article next week will be on tfye ■subject of " Nursing and tho Domestic Art®."