Choosing A Job (1971)

[Music] before we begin today the counseling offic has asked me to get some information from you how many of you have made plans for graduation okay how many of you made no plans no plans at all Ruth not really I have a summer job lined up after that I'll just wait around and see well you better not wait too long come on now hasn't anybody made any plans at all for graduation I know I want to be a secretary that's fine Linda how about you Carol well I guess I really don't know either Miss Calbert I think I want to do some kind of office work but I'm not exactly sure what well in that case maybe you should talk to one of the counselors they might be able to put you into a career education program and maybe that would help you make up your mind no Shand I see type about 3540 words a minute well when I spell the words right it's really close to the 30 and you get pretty good grades in math mhm well we're cooperating with several companies in a career education program that might be something for you is that where you go out and work after school well you do a little work just enough to give you an idea of what the job is all about actually you'd be more of an observer oh so that in one place I'd be watching what the secretaries do and then in another place I'd see if they did bookkeeping or something like that something like that you wouldn't get paid for it but you would get class credit for it does that sound like something you might be interested in yeah that sounds pretty good okay I'll tell you something my counselor told me a lot about the program but even so I was kind of nervous when I got to the first place I didn't know what to expect especially from the [Music] people good morning you must be Carol yes Carol J fine come with me please but Mrs Lewis she was the supervisor of the section I was assigned she was very nice good I'll take you up and you'll meet the girl usually there were four cler typus in Mrs Lewis's section but right now one was on vacation a couple of them were about my age and Burma and this is going to be your desk dear so make yourself at home and I'll be right back with work for you to do [Music] I didn't have too much trouble with the straight typing it was just like the classes at school but some of the handwriting I got was like secret code I wonder where they went to school I had the same problem with some of the dictation tapes even when people know what they want to say typing from tapes is always slower the format's good and the copy is clean no big erasers or anything like that but this word and that word they're both spelled wrong oh I see they are but but I know how to spell them both I don't doubt it I'm sure they're both typographical errors but it's really up to you to check your work before you turn it in well I was just trying to keep up my speed I know but if your typing is not accurate it doesn't matter whether you do one word or a 100 words a minute now does it no I guess not well don't worry filing is easy if you know the alphabet but if you let your mind wander and misfile something then somebody's really got problems this is an order from Beckman and Company but it's directed to Paul Stern so who should I file it under Beckman or Stern that's a good question let's see it running errands was kind of fun I used to think that if you worked in an office you had to be a secretary or something like that now I see what they meant in school about there being so many different kinds of office jobs hi hi Mrs Lewis said this has to go out by Messenger right away okay you knew in that department no not really I'm here on a Career Education Program oh you uh sure you can find your way back oh sure well maybe you better show me which way to turn after I get by the the accounting department all right my name's Ken what's yours Carol before long I'd caught onto the job and all the office routines they had a rule to cover everything and everything was run strictly by the clock oh they had good benefits and that's important I guess but I wasn't sure if a job like this in a big company was right for me [Music] my next assignment was different this was a small company of about 25 people number okay you try it [Applause] now good afternoon Bradley products I believe he is May ask who's calling please mhm okay Mr Corman could you wait just a moment please oh I'm sorry Mr Corman working the equipment logging calls and so on even the way you talk to people all that was easy the big difference was that here there were a lot of situations where you had to think for yourself sometimes things got a little tense Lauren plat come back from lunch not yet I'll sit here until he comes back if you don't mind but mostly they came out okay I just Tred to treat people the way I like to be treated and usually that seemed to work the main difference between a small company and a big one is that here nothing is completely cut and dry for example Barbara's the receptionist and the switchboard operator but plenty of time she does copying and mailing or helps with the typing things are a lot Freer in a small company I mean here I could kid around with the president but somehow after all those phone calls and all those visitors I began to think that dealing with the public all day was not for [Music] me in my next assignment the public was all on tapes and punch cards this company provided all kinds of Computer Services I'd worked with the key punch and the data typewriter a little in school so I felt all right at first but after that I started getting kind of lost and I didn't think I was going to get very much out of my time here anyhow I kept asking questions and after a while data processing began to make sense to me I got pretty fascinated by the whole thing okay care now take um tape 201811 you can look up the subject matter here in the White cards in new here you go Maria the tape librarian is taking night classes in programming so she can move up to a better job she told me that before long computers will replace most of the business machine operators and even file clerks she says this is where the future is in office work [Music] for most girls I know this is the future being a private secretary like Marilyn the pay is good the offices are nice and all that ad you don't get this kind of job unless you're really good fast accurate typing and shorthand are just the beginning you've got to understand your boss and his work so well that you sort of know what he's going to need almost before he does and you've got to be able to handle a lot lot of important things without being told what to do next and uh Marilyn answer this one right away tell them definitely no but uh make it sound a little bit like yes I found out that a good secretary has to be more like your boss's assistant besides doing all the routine office jobs he wants to speak with you too now if you'll tell me what time you'll be free this afternoon I'll be sure and have him return your call then round three and she has to be a real Diplomat too but she gets good raises I'll see tomor and even gets to travel sometimes all right goodbye I have a meeting 10:30 tomorrow in Cleveland uh will you get me on a flight out here tonight and make that a dinner flight if you can and give me a different hotel that last place was terrible well Mr down will be out of town until Wednesday evening Mr fer I want to do I mean I like people Okay but well I guess I found out that I just don't like having them breathing down my back all day I'm sorry oh no there's nothing to be sorry about that's why I'm here and that's why we have programs like this not did any of the other jobs seem interesting to you well don't laugh but I really like data processing it's not easy work either but I really liked it I don't know I guess it's because it's a better atmosphere or something data processing it's very interesting you should choose a field like that you know data processing is becoming more and more important than well all fields of clerical work would you like to know more about it oh I really would if you are interested in some aspect of clerical work there are actually several hundred different types of jobs in the field your teachers and counselors can help you find out about opportunities conditions and Trends where you live n [Music] [Applause] [Music]