Page 95 - TAGR-Companion Text

SPECIALIZED KNOWLEDGE 95
285 Spurred to action by the instantaneous success of her first "PREPARED PLAN
286 TO MARKET PERSONAL SERVICES," this energetic woman turned next to
287 the solution of a similar problem for her son who had just finished college, but
288 had been totally unable to find a market for his services. The plan she originated
289 for his use was the finest specimen of merchandising of personal services I have
290 ever seen.
291 When the plan book had been completed, it contained nearly fifty pages of
292 beautifully typed, properly organized information, telling the story of her son's
293 native ability, schooling, personal experiences, and a great variety of other
294 information too extensive for description. The plan book also contained a
295 complete description of the position her son desired, together with a marvelous
296 word picture of the exact plan he would use in filling the position.
297 The preparation of the plan book required several week's labor, during which
298 time its creator sent her son to the public library almost daily, to procure data
299 needed in selling his services to best advantage. She sent him, also to all the
300 competitors of his prospective employer, and gathered from them vital
301 information concerning their business methods which was of great value in the
302 formation of the plan he intended to use in filling the position he sought. When
303 the plan had been finished, it contained more than half a dozen very fine
304 suggestions for the use and benefit of the prospective employer. (The
305 suggestions were put into use by the company).
306 One may be inclined to ask, "Why go to all this trouble to secure a job?" The
307 answer is straight to the point, also it is dramatic because it deals with a subject
308 which assumes the proportion of a tragedy with millions of men and women
309 whose sole source of income is personal services.
310 The answer is, "DOING A THING WELL NEVER IS TROUBLE! THE
311 PLAN PREPARED BY THIS WOMAN FOR THE BENEFIT OF HER
312 SON, HELPED HIM GET THE JOB FOR WHICH HE APPLIED, AT THE
313 FIRST INTERVIEW, AT A SALARY FIXED BY HIMSELF."