shortage for some employers. For example, even where job openings are plentiful, the applicant may be reluctant to take a job because of transportation problems. In the case of married women this is an important consideration.

Where an individual applicant needs to take additional training in order to qualify for a beginning job as typist or stenographer, the cost may seem too high relative to the beginning salary and she may, therefore, decide to take a job which requires no previous training. Some firms have met this problem by offering to share the cost of business-school training if the worker remains on the job for a stated period of time.

SOME TYPICAL JOBS

The Secretarial Field

The key occupation in this group is that of secretary. The secretary attends to such matters as correspondence and records of a private or confidential character. Frequently, she has a minor executive status and serves as the representative of her employer. She relieves him of many detailed and routine duties. She may be called upon to supervise the work of other clerical employees. Every office has certain methods and requirements of its own with which a competent secretary must be completely familiar. She "learns the business," so to speak, from the executives with whom she works.

The secretary must be skilled at typing and taking dictation and must have a thorough knowledge of grammar, spelling, and punctuation since much of her work consists of correspondence. Many secretaries use shorthand or voice-recording machines instead of taking dictation "by hand." Some secretaries also compose replies to letters for their employers.

The experienced secretary is expected to understand her employer's policies and procedures and to acquire a detailed knowledge of the records maintained and used in her own office. In a large office, the actual filing and maintenance of records is usually delegated to others, often under the supervision of the secretary. It is frequently advantageous for a secretary to have some acquaintance with various types of office machines, such as adding machines, calculators, and duplicating machines, although she may seldom be expected to operate them.

The degree of skill, knowledge, and experience required and the amount of responsibility involved in a specific job depends, to a large extent, upon the relative rank of the executive for whom a secretary works. For example, the secretary-stenographer usually performs

secretarial duties for one or more junior executives. She may take dictation, type, keep records, and perform other routine office work that does not involve a great deal of responsibility. The junior secretary usually performs the same kind of duties for executives at the next higher level. She may also be responsible for the flow of clerical work in the office, interviews, arranging appointments, and routine correspondence. The private or senior secretary's duties are usually performed for a key executive. Consequently, she occupies a position of greater responsibility and has more varied work assignments than the secretary-stenographer or junior secretary. She customarily performs a number of assignments on her own initiative.

Secretaries with a special interest in a particular profession or field of activity such as medicine, law, education, or politics, can usually find opportunities in these fields. Previous experience in the field or certain specialized training may be required, however.

Stenographic Work

A stenographer must be skilled in shorthand, transcription of notes, and typing. Stenographers who take and transcribe dictation of a routine nature are sometimes called junior stenographers. They are expected to have a general knowledge of the employer's business practices, and to be able to use general business terms and expressions correctly. Usually they work under relatively close supervision.

A stenographer who knows her employer's specific policies and practices and who works under a minimum of supervision is usually called a senior stenographer. Competent and experienced senior stenographers are often chosen to fill secretarial jobs.

In addition to taking dictation and transcribing notes, many stenographers compile and type reports, answer telephones, or operate a telephone switchboard. Some operate office machines, such as adding machines, calculators, and duplicators, or perform other clerical duties. These workers are usually called clerk-stenographers, and may be either junior or senior, depending on their experience and the amount of responsibility assigned to them.

One of the lines of advancement for stenographers is through specialization in a field requiring a technical background and knowledge. Those who develop such a specialty are frequently called technical stenographers. Foreign language, legal, police, engineering, advertising, radio-script, public relations, and medical stenography are some of the fields in which many acquire specialized backgrounds. Public stenographers usually are self-employed; however, some work for firms that provide public stenographic services. Since most public stenographers serve a wide variety of business and professional

people, they must know the terminology and practices of many types of businesses and professions. Those who specialize in a particular field, such as patents or law, have usually had many years of previous experience in the field.

The court reporter is also a special kind of stenographer. In this work, great emphasis is placed upon speed and absolute accuracy. These workers record testimony, judicial opinion, and other proceedings in a court of law. They may use either shorthand or a shorthand machine.

Within the job field for stenographers, experienced shorthandmachine operators or stenotypists have a relatively high status in terms of salary and developed skills. A stenographer, secretary, or court reporter may use a shorthand machine in her work. Highly skilled operators are able to take dictation much faster with a machine than is usually possible by hand.

Typing Jobs

The typist makes copies of all kinds of written material and may cut stencils for the reproduction of much of this material. She may type material reproduced in sound on a recording machine. In addition to typing, she often performs a variety of other clerical duties, such as answering telephones, checking and proofreading copy, and filing.

Each business has its own requirements and specialities, and the duties of a typist, as well as her job title, vary accordingly. In many cases she combines specified clerical duties with typing. Such workers are generally classified as clerk-typists, but their job title in a particular firm frequently identifies the forms or documents on which they work. Among some of the jobs of this type are address-change clerks, policy writers, and cancellation clerks in insurance offices; ticketing clerks and tabular typists in banks; record clerks in hotels and restaurants; and lithography typists in printing and publishing firms. A more complete list of these jobs and descriptions of the duties is given in the Dictionary of Occupational Titles, published by the U. S. Department of Labor and available in most libraries.

Junior, or class "B," typists usually type fairly simple copy, such as routine forms from hand written or typed drafts which are relatively clear. Senior, or class "A," typists copy material in final form from "rough" or involved drafts requiring ability to understand technical terms, abbreviations, and printer's symbols and to rearrange or combine materials from various sources. They may have to plan how to type complicated statistical tables.

There are several specialized machines equipped with a keyboard similar to that of a typewriter. The typist who learns to operate such a machine, either through a special training course or on the job, can often increase her employment and advancement opportunities. Varitypists type materials for reproduction by various offset processes, using a machine with removable type faces of several different styles and sizes. A skilled varitypist designs layouts, plans complicated forms and tables, and selects suitable type faces. Automatictypewriter operators use a machine that types copies of letters or other materials from a specially prepared perforated roll similar to a playerpiano roll. One operator may attend several automatic typewriters at the same time. Telegraph or teletype operators use a machine with a typewriter keyboard to send and receive messages to and from various destinations. The operator may be required to code messages, names, addresses, or destinations, and count the number of words. in the message, as well as to perform other clerical duties. Embossingmachine operators run a machine which automatically embosses names, addresses, code numbers, and similar information on metal plates for use in duplicating and addressing machines.

Figure 2.-Typing skills are basic to most clerical occupations. This picture shows a beginner's hands on the typewriter keys. How can you tell that she is not an experienced typist?

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QUALIFICATIONS AND TRAINING

Job requirements for secretaries, stenographers, and typists vary with the size and function of the office in which the job is located, the kind of industry, and the particular requirements of the individual employer. Employers frequently demand combinations of skills and backgrounds for specific jobs. For example, in hiring a typist, the employer may specify that she know, or be willing to learn, how to operate a switchboard, keep records of a certain kind, and operate a particular office machine or cash register in addition to typing. Private secretaries are usually required to take care of certain personal matters for their employers, for example, a personal checking account, travel arrangements, and personal appointments of various kinds.

How much education is needed?

Although employer specifications differ widely, there are some requirements which are almost universal. The basic educational requirement is high-school graduation. The job applicant should possess a good knowledge of spelling, punctuation and grammar, particularly for stenographic and secretarial positions. She should be able to read rapidly and to understand and remember what she reads. Additional training beyond high school is helpful and may be specified for certain types of positions, such as legal or medical stenographer or secretary. College training may be required where the job is clearly designated as a "stepping stone" or trainee position for a higher-level professional or administrative position. Business-administration and liberal-arts graduates with typing and stenographic skills have a distinct advantage over most other applicants for positions as stenographers and secretaries.

The great majority of women employed as secretaries, stenographers, and typists in 1950 were high-school graduates. Sixty-three percent had completed 4 years of high school; and another 24 percent had at least 1 year of education beyond high school, as the following table shows: