Finding Your Life Work (1940)

well I work did you ever fish without  any bait of course you didn't every fisherman knows there's nothing about a  bear hook to attract the fish on the hook there must be some kind of bait an artificial fly a worm  a minnow or a frog to attract the fish and cause him to strike without this bait you'd come home  at the end of the day disappointed when you're searching for work you're fishing for a job what  you can't swill be determined largely by the bait you offer your personality training and experience  are your bait if you will catch little or nothing in the way of a job the fisherman uses special  baits for the game fish to get the better jobs you must also use special baits in the form of  special qualifications fewer game fish are caught than common fish there are fewer game jobs to be  caught the fisherman has the ambition to catch the game fish in the same way every person  has the ambition someday to land the big job there's beginner's luck and fishing and beginner's  luck in landing jobs but you can't count on luck getting a job depends on you and your training in  choosing your lifework there are many things to be considered first of all you must know yourself  your strong points your weaknesses your likes and dislikes let us consider first your own native  abilities tests have been developed which help you to measure your abilities our particular value are  those called aptitude tests which help you measure your abilities and special fields mechanical  aptitude tests are a sample of this type these cannot tell you exactly the occupation to choose  but they give you an idea of the type of work you can do best they also help to guide you away from  some fields in which you won't be successful each person has the ability to do just so much work  which is called his level of capacity if he tries to do more than he's really able he would be  on in his work he will also be dissatisfied if he knows he could handle a better job than the  one he has there are tests which will help you choose work which fits your level of capacity  best how simple it would be to choose your life work if taking tests were the only thing you had  to do in analyzing yourself but they are only the first step another step in analyzing yourself is  the examination of your own educational record your grades in different subjects back as far as  it can be traced if you've forgotten this your teachers will be glad to assist you in looking  it up what does your educational record show have your grades been about the same all along  the line or do they look like this up and down like the crest and trough of an ocean wave input  subjects have your grades been up in what subjects have they been down why have they been up or down  are you especially interested in certain subjects if you don't like mathematics and your grades are  low in this subject you probably won't be very successful in those fields based on mathematics  why are you interested in some subjects and not another's you must answer these questions if  you really wish to get acquainted with yourself when you get a job you will be judged in  comparison with other workers just as in school your work is graded in comparison with  that of your classmates all workers and any group are so judged one will be considered the  best in the group another the poorest with the rest arranged in between this way it may seem like  a heartless process but it is going on every day the person who is ranked first today may not be  first tomorrow unless he keeps on his toes and is alert to the changes which are constantly taking  place in every line of work therefore you should know what your rank in your class is in order  that you may strive to raise or maintain it do you belong in the upper 1/4 upper 1/2 and we hope  you are not near the bottom another very important question you must ask yourself concerns your  character you will probably agree that honesty and loyalty are two of the straw as points of  character are you honest with yourself are you honest with others are you loyal the next point  concerns your interests and accomplishments in what are you especially interested what can you do  well do you like to work with ideas or would you rather work with things list the things you like  and that you do well and study them for a possible life work we all realize that interests change  frequently but if the interest is strong and is based upon some real ability or accomplishment it  will grow in fact the more skilled you become the faster your interest will grow and so it may help  you in picking your lifework your social assets are very valuable in helping you to know yourself  do you get along well with the gang or do you have frequent fall outs do you prefer going with the  cloud or would you rather spend the day alone doing something you like to do do you do your  best work when working with other people or when working alone this is important in determining  your future work for one who likes to be alone would be unhappy in a job which required him to  work as a member of a group and to be dependent upon others the research worker is generally of  a type who prefers to work alone the successful salesman is largely dependent upon his ability  to make a pleasing impression upon those with whom he comes in contact determination to succeed  is an important factor in success when things go wrong do you say I can't if your grades fall below  your expectations do you say what's the use every subject in the school has its part and rounding  out your education you say I don't see any sense in studying something I'll never use how do you  know you'll never use it when the road ahead of you was not entirely clear do you continue  to do your best there is no place in success for a quitter are you a quitter your financial  assets must receive consideration in choosing your life work does your choice require long  and expensive training will you have the money will you need considerable money for equipment  when you have completed your training and are ready to start work will you be able to finance  yourself until you have an income from your own work many people train themselves for jobs and  then are forced to do something else for lack of finances to get started every person should  have one or more hobbies which he can do well and from which he derives pleasure and satisfaction  a hobby helps you relax after a hard day's work it may also provide a job to fall back upon in  case something happens to your regular means of earning a living many people today are working  at things which were their hobbies a few years ago may we ask what is your hobby what do you  expect to get out of your life work many would answer money money is important for the things  that it will buy at a certain amount of it is therefore necessary as important as money  however as a return for your work is the satisfaction that comes from doing an interesting  job as well as or better than others are doing it if you set such satisfaction as your goal you  may reasonably expect the financial part to take care of itself considerable time has been  given to the problem of knowing yourself it is the most difficult problem facing you but it  must be faced now let's turn to some of the questions involved in studying occupations it is  well to get clearly in mind that each one of you can do several things successfully no individual  is limited to one occupation alone you were at the point where the road has many branches any  one of the several branches will get you to your destination but many of them would lead you away  from your goal how can you find the right roads if you wish to get the most out of your study of  the occupations you must follow some definite plan first you should get a broad view of as  many occupations as possible one way you can do this is by reading there are many books and  magazines which give quite clear word pictures of various fields of work but this is not enough  you should talk to successful people in many lines sking them questions about their work the training  required where to get it and the rewards of their occupations your school again we'll be glad to  assist by arranging such conferences for you there are many movies dealing with occupations  and from time to time you're going to see some of these they will acquaint you with many types  of work in various parts of the country in making your investigation do not limit yourself to your  own locality but make your survey as broad as possible when you have completed a broad survey  choose those occupations that interests you for further study investigate the unpleasant side of  the work as well as the pleasant for every type of work has its disagreeable side no occupation  has ever satisfied the worker all the time but the pleasant things would greatly outweigh the  unpleasant if you're seriously considering that particular occupation this step will cause you  to cross some off your list because you feel that the disadvantages outweigh the advantages make  an intensive study of the remaining interesting occupations you will now want to ask some  questions concerning them what does the worker do is the occupation overcrowded what are the  starting points and lines of promotion what are the future prospects for earnings and advancement  what general and special education is required where can it be secured what will this education  cost what will it cost to get established in this occupation what are the physical requirements is  it have to be detrimental to my health would I be happy in this work many more questions will occur  to you as you study the occupations and remember you cannot know too much about the work into which  you decide to go while in school you have all about you many opportunities to improve yourself  are you making the most of them the modern school consists of many departments each contributing  its part to make possible a broad educational back around that will be valuable in your adult life  the English department offers courses which will help you to speak and write correctly courses in  literature acquaint you with the world's literary masterpieces so you can discover for yourself  the pleasure to be found and reading them the social science group provides a chance to study  the past so that you can better understand the conditions of today everyone should know more  about his government in order that he may be a more useful citizen modern developments in  transportation and communication have brought cities states and nations of the world so close  together that we are all subject to the same influences and no matter what we do for a living  we have many new problems in human relationships which must be solved a study of the social  sciences helps us understand these problems mathematics gives you training in arithmetic and  shows you how to use it in problems which come up constantly in your everyday life you must have  higher mathematics to succeed in some occupations in the study of mathematics you develop your  ability for systematic logical and accurate reasoning the sciences natural and physical have  an influence on the production of everything you eat wear or use for this reason the sciences  play a very direct part in your life and you should learn to understand and appreciate them  physical training aims with a healthy body through exercise and planned recreation if you lose your  health it is difficult and expensive to regain it the progress of the human race can be traced  through its development in music and art [Music] only a few people can become skilled musicians  and artists but all can learn to appreciate the great works of music and art most of you can  develop enough ability in these fields to get real enjoyment [Music] school libraries are  rapidly being developed along lines similar to our public libraries in them the latest  books and many fields will be found and the individual is free to read according to his  interests the commercial department offers courses in accounting shorthand and typing that  develop skills through which you may get a job in the commercial world but even if you never do  commercial work you should understand fundamental business principles and be able to apply them in  your everyday life the whole making department through its courses in cooking childcare and home  management trains girls to be good housewives courses in sewing are also valuable whether  a girl expects to keep house or head of the business world the development of good bearing  judgment is of highest importance for according to economists women do at least seventy five  percent of the nation's buying the Industrial Arts Department will help you in four main ways  first to learn about industrial design materials processes and products so that you will know more  about manufacturing in industry and their effect upon your own life strike him to learn how to buy  and use industrial products more intelligently third to help you learn the fundamental tool  processes if you never use this skill in an actual job it will always come in handy and  may be fun for you as a hobby and fourth you have a chance to try out your ability in a  number of kinds of industrial work which may guide you in the choice of one for making  your living some schools have Agriculture Department's which cover the latest developments  in farm crops animal husbandry farm management and other important matters which are a  value to the owner or operator of a farm now comes another very important part of the  discussion of your life work what is education education starts very early and continues  throughout life from birth to death education is the total of all your experiences  both real and imaginary in school and outside of school in fact life itself is education many  adults go to night school to require additional training to improve themselves for the more  experience or education you have in regard to any problem the greater your chance of solving the  problem correctly we all know that coordination of the mind and body is necessary in most of the  games we play it is just as necessary in most jobs to do your life work successfully you  must at all times have perfect coordination the importance of coordination is shown in a  study of the type of work done in over 4,000 occupations listed by the Census Bureau suppose  that these hundred figures stand for all the workers in those 4,000 occupations all most of the  workers in the country out of every hundred only 15 workers have jobs based entirely on mental  skills or which require them to work with their minds alone only 18 out of every hundred have  jobs based on manual skills in which they work mainly with their hands all these that are left  or 69 out of every hundred do work requiring at the hand and mind be trained together for perfect  coordination you will probably be one of the 69 for perfect coordination is necessary for the  dentist the typist the industrial worker the homemaker in fact for almost everyone just as  a building must be built on a carefully planned foundation so must your life be built on careful  plans little see if we can plan the foundation of a successful career for you as the first block  of your foundation you must have health without health no one can be entirely successful the  second block is character develop your character your general education is the third block of  your foundation your educational record clear the fourth block is citizenship are you a good  citizen next comes your special interests and abilities are you finding and developing them  ambition is the sparkplug of the human engine the force that makes things happen do you need  a new spark plug you may have special ability as an ambition but are you willing to work hard to  succeed there is no shortcut to success you should know yourself better than anyone else knows you  get acquainted with yourself the bigger the job the more training required are you planning to  get that training on top of this base you can place the stone of success confident that your  foundation is well laid examine your foundations and never for one moment believed anyone who may  try to tell you that you can't achieve success in this country today it's true that competition is  keen the standards by which you will be measured or high opportunity isn't likely to knock at  your door you'll have to go out and hunt it for yourself but the opportunity is there if  you're prepared to take advantage of it there are thousands of occupations awaiting the workers  who are qualified to fill them there are jobs in journalism monster presses turn out thousands of  newspapers every day a reporter today has to work hard to get the news he has to be able to write so  people will read his copy but so did reporters 50 years ago there are jobs in livestock farming and  dairy farming the farmer works long hours but so had farmers for centuries past there are jobs and  new lines of work radio and television for example she will probably never get to be a millionaire  in this field but millionaires have always been few in number somewhere in this great land there  was a chance for you to make a living and lead a happy life Americans have always made their own  opportunities it's up to you to make yours [Music]