Your Job: Getting Ahead (1969)

[Music] w businesses [Music] everywhere millions of people going to work at millions of jobs a person's job is a big thing in his life it provides the income he lives on maybe you have a job now or you're planning on getting one soon naturally then you're wondering about your future your working future you meet people young people like yourself on the way to work perhaps many are going to their first jobs researchers tell us that few of these young workers have jobs with any great responsibility and they find that almost every young worker wants to move up to a better job to get [Music] ahead what does getting ahead mean well it's different things to different people [Music] to find out what some people's idea of getting ahead is we spoke to some young workers on their lunch breaks what do you do for a living I'm radio TV repair man and where do you hope to go from there well uh and uh after a few more years of experience um I'd like to open my own shop you'll be opening your own shop in what location do you think probably in the city here someplace Gertrude what are some of your duties here at the hospital um I'm a nurse assistant I help the nurse in her duties and um do whatever I can to um assister uh do you plan to continue on here or will you be moving into some other area of work well I plan to go on to school and become an RN cuz um well I'm very interested in it and I'd like to work with children well what kind of work do you do well um I'm a stock boy in the shoe department in the store oh well with this kind of a beginning uh where do you hope to go you really mean it sure I I'd like to be in charge of the department you know manager of the store in charge of the whole department well good for you Joseph be what is your job here I saw sleeves oh do you plan to continue on here what do you look forward to doing I want get married married why not marriage can be a career goal like any other a way of getting ahead but experts tell us that after she's married there's a good chance that she'll return to work so most young workers want to get ahead in one way or another will they all succeed perhaps the best way to find out is to speak to someone older Ray have you always wanted to do this kind of work are you kidding well if you did have your choice what uh what do you think you'd like to do well if I had my choice uh what to do I would rather be a airplane mechanic or be a a automotive engineer or something like that uh even as a child you wanted to do that oh yes when I was a kid I always I always thought I would be but I just never got to do it I couldn't this never did work out this never did work out the way I thank you very much Ray it never worked out and it didn't work out for this woman either well if you had your choice what kind of work would you be doing probably pretty much the same thing only next time I'd be the boss nothing wrong with her job job but she didn't get ahead the way she wanted to why do people fail to get ahead perhaps it has something to do with the way they handle things when they're starting out like you may be when you're starting out there are some important choices to be made and if you're going to get ahead you have to make the right ones what are some of these choices to find out let's look at Bill Lawler taking a much needed break from his first job I haven't seen you around here he's had this job for a month and he's finding out more about the company he works for I'm Bill Lawler oh I'm Spencer been working here 30 years that's a long time well pay is good the work is easy I like it here I don't know much about it yet it's my first job I've watched kids like you you come you go why no chance to get ahead here the bosses are all Malone's relatives but if you want steady work this is the place there's the First Choice bill has to make does he want steady work with no advancement or does he want to get ahead though he's never given much thought to the future he has an idea of how he'd like things to work out the kind of home he wants to to live in the kind of car he wants to drive how he'd like to spend his time on the job the more Bill learns about the company the more he wonders will his present job lead to the things he wants and he decides not a change of jobs may be the answer but is it the right answer for everyone what about this man hi there hi how long have you been working here oh about a year I guess what' you do before this I was an exterminator is that right how long uh about 6 8 months I guess oh do you think if you had stayed on as an exterminator you would have gotten ahead uh yeah probably in a couple years I'd have been a crew chief you know but I couldn't wait that long I see he couldn't wait but if he had waited he might have moved ahead to something better than he has now perhaps changing jobs was a wrong choice that stood in the way of his getting ahead but what about the choice bill made half a year has passed and he has a new job he works in the mail room of a newspaper as he sorts mail Bill tries to be fast and accurate as he makes pickups he tries to be pleasant and helpful he has quickly learned to use the company's mailing machines he uses them carefully and he keeps them clean he doesn't mind making extra trips to the post office and he keeps accurate records of postage and insurance apparently the boss likes bills work and Bill himself feels good about the job he remembers before he took this job he made sure about prospects for advancement the mail room is a very good place to start in a company it'll give you a chance to learn your way around the building very well and know the different people and since we do promote from them very fast we don't uh expect anyone to stay there too long you'll know your way around and we'll know exactly where you'll fit in V with the company now it's been six months and bill has learned that he'll soon have to make another choice he'll have to choose which kind of job he'd like to move up in will it be a job in the accounting department the composing room the news department or perhaps the circulation department it's a complic ated Choice he has to balance his interests and capabilities against the opportunities that are available to him after all everyone wants to get something different out of a job go to any Employment Office ask just a few people what they want most from their jobs and they'll give you answers like these well I would like to work with people and if they had problems I would like to help them solve them well I'm good with my hands and I'd like to make things I'd like a job that lets me get around the city where I just don't sit at a desk all day all legitimate job goals but sometimes people don't have the capabilities to reach their goals take this girl I want to be an English teacher I'd like to teach the people who come here from other countries how to speak our language what kind of training do you have for then well I've just had high school but I've read a lot about it insufficient training but Bill like most people doesn't want to overreach his capabilities he simply wants to match them with the kinds of jobs available the accounting department is out Bill knows he's not good at math and the composing room too much like the job he just left a few months ago circulation looks no better Bill can't imagine himself selling or checking sales that leaves the news Department people there often do work outside the office they make phone calls speak to interesting people Bill likes that some workers here are writers others are editors still others are photographic lab men and [Music] photographers the news Department looks good and it looks as though there's a way to move into it too Ed Harris a copy boy is moving up to the sports department and his old job will be open the right Department the right job that's how Bill wants to get ahead and when he speaks to his boss about it he finds that chances are good but but Bill thinks again once he's got the job then what it'll still be the least important job in the department and though he'll have gotten ahead he won't have gotten very [Applause] far eventually he'll want to move up again become a writer photographer or editor but he can't do jobs like those with the skills he has now there's another choice to be made soon to continue getting ahead should he go to school part-time ask anyone who has gotten ahead in his work and you'll hear about study this all looks so complex how did you become interested in this well I worked for the bank for about four years and realized what a very important part computers played so I decided to find out something about them so I took a course in computer programming and here I am and how long have you been right here on this job about a year now uhhuh do you think you'll be in supervisory work very possibly if I'm good at it which I hope to be kenet looks awfully awfully technical to me how did you learn all this well I learned this Electronics on by buying books and magazine and reading about it and um trying a few circuits at home bought a few kits and put them together and that's how I learned Electronics so study makes it easier to get ahead but what kind of study a home course a tra School a night College course How Will Bill find out a good beginning might be to talk to people who already have the kinds of jobs he wants or maybe a former teacher if it's a union job he wants he might talk to a union official or maybe a Personnel man at his own company will be helpful the important thing to Bill and to use you is don't pass up the opportunity to get ahead through education looking into the lives of successful people those who have gotten ahead we find that these men and women have certain things in common successful people take and keep jobs that they can move ahead in successful people choose jobs that suit their interests and they watch for opportunities to get ahead successful people use the skills they've learned through study to get ahead you too can get ahead but you should remember people are all different job situations are all different there's no easy formula for advancement in the world of jobs the key to getting ahead is making choices and being sure that the choices you make the field the job the schooling are realistic in terms of yourself and the job you ultimately want to hold [Music] [Applause]