Take, for example, the case of Phil Johnson. Phil Johnson's father owned a laundry, so
he gave his son a job, hoping the boy would work into the business. But Phil hated the
laundry, so he dawdled, loafed, did what he had to do and not a lick more. Some days
he was "absent". His father was so hurt to think he had a shiftless, ambitionless son that
he was actually ashamed before his employees.
One day Phil Johnson told his father he wanted to be a mechanic-work in a machine
shop. What? Go back to overalls? The old man was shocked. But Phil had his way. He
worked in greasy dungarees. He did much harder work than was required at the
laundry. He worked longer hours, and he whistled at his job! He took up engineering,
learned about engines, puttered with machines-and when Philip Johnson died, in 1944,
he was president of the Boeing Aircraft Company, and was making the Flying
Fortresses that helped to win the war! If he had stuck with the laundry, what would have
happened to him and the laundry-especially after his father's death? My guess is he
would have ruined the business- cracked it up and run it into the ground.
Even at the risk of starting family rows, I would like to say to young people: Don't feel
compelled to enter a business or trade just because your family wants you to do it! Don't
enter a career unless you want to do it! However, consider carefully the advice of your
parents. They have probably lived twice as long as you have. They have gained the kind
of wisdom that comes only from much experience and the passing of many years. But,
in the last analysis, you are the one who has to make the final decision. You are the one
who is going to be either happy or miserable at your work.
Now, having said this, let me give you the following suggestions-some of them
warnings-about choosing your work:
- Read and study the following five suggestions about selecting a vocational-guidance
counselor. These suggestions are right from the horse's mouth. They were made by one
of America's leading vocational-guidance experts, Professor Harry Dexter Kitson of
Columbia University.
a. "Don't go to anyone who tells you that he has a magic system that will indicate your
'vocational aptitude'. In this group are phrenologists, astrologers, 'character analysts',
handwriting experts. Their 'systems' do not work."
b. "Don't go to anyone who tells you that he can give you a test that will indicate what
occupation you should choose. Such a person violates the principle that a vocational
counselor must take into account the physical, social, and economic conditions
surrounding the counselee; and he should render his service in the light of the
occupational opportunities open to the counselee."
c. "Seek a vocational counselor who has an adequate library of information about
occupations and uses it in the counseling process."
d. "A thorough vocational-guidance service generally requires more than one interview."
e. "Never accept vocational guidance by mail."
- Keep out of business and professions that are already jam-packed and overflowing!
There are many thousands of different ways of making a living. But do young people
know this? Not unless they hire a swami to gaze into a crystal ball. The result? In one
school, two-thirds of the boys confined their choices to five occupations-five out of
twenty thousand-and four-fifths of the girls did the same. Small wonder that a few