Why Take Training?
While many so-called bookkeeping positions are open to men without training, it is highly desirable that a comprehensive knowledge of bookkeeping be secured, as it is only by this means that promotion can be expected. The posting clerk, or entry clerk, will always remain an unskilled laborer in competition with untrained boys and girls unless he is fortified by such a knowledge of the science of accounts as will enable him to become the head bookkeeper, the cost accountant, or the auditor. Such a man may, by additional training in evening school, qualify for the profession of accountancy and establish an independent business of his own.
Salary
Men who know accounts and possess the other desirable business qualifications can be placed in positions with a salary range of from $10 to $30 a week.
Permanency of Employment
The all-round bookkeeper in any establishment is indispensable to the business, and is rarely released when business depression calls for retrenchment in the pay roll.
Disabilities
The possession of mental faculties and one hand, with fairly good general health are all that are absolutely essential to success in this occupation from the physical standpoint. Men with two artificial hands have succeeded in this work, but the absence of both hands is such a handicap that one so afflicted should rarely undertake work that requires so much writing. It should be emphasized, however, that no difficulty is experienced in learning to write well with the remaining hand, where one has been lost, regardless of previous habits in writing.
A simple device for enabling a man to do with a stump what he would ordinarily do with his left hand is available to all who care to use it. It enables one to hold a ruler or blotter; to steady a book or sheet in place while writing is being done; and to perform all the usual functions of the left hand. When the right hand is gone the left is trained to do what the right has done before, and the right arm stump becomes the supporting or auxiliary arm.
Evening School or Part-time Instruction
Those who must get to earning at the earliest possible moment may be placed at the completion of the fundamental part of the course, continuing their study in evening school or in other types of extension classes where such are available. Or it may be possible in some localities to secure for such men half-day employment which will leave half of the day free for school work.
PLAN No. 1084. GENERAL CLERICAL WORK
Expert filing and indexing positions offer an opportunity for those whose handicap is of such a character that it is desirable for them to secure employment that will not require contact with the public.
Qualifications and Training
The qualifications for this kind of work are accuracy, carefulness, and system in doing things. Training in the various indexing and filing systems in use is essential. Text material has been prepared by the manufacturers of filing cabinets, and courses of study, including practice, are offered by many schools in different parts of the country.