Thousands of men are now employed in the electrical manufacturing industries—in the shops and factories where electrical machines, devices, and equipment are made. The number of workers so engaged must, it is believed, increase materially in the future because of constant expansion in the applications of electricity. For illustration, consider the extent to which electric welding, electric-motor drives, electric heating and electric lighting are now utilized as compared with the use which obtained 10 years ago. Or again, consider the devices using electricity in the household to-day—vacuum cleaners, motor-driven washing machines, electric stoves, sadirons, and many others—as compared with the number in use a few years ago. The demands of electric communication, also, require an army of workers for the manufacture of telephone apparatus alone.
The ever-extending use of devices which utilize electrical energy means that there must be to supply them a corresponding enlargement in the manufacture of such electrical equipment as generators, switchboards, and transformers. Electrical manufacturing companies must, it would seem, expand rapidly, and for this reason the opportunities which they offer should afford excellent prospects for disabled soldiers who have had previous training in, or who have a liking for this field of endeavor.
The purpose of this monograph is to indicate briefly the opportunities presented in those occupations which are peculiar to electrical manufacturing. Electrical machinery and device factories often embrace foundries, paint shops, pattern shops, blacksmith shops, tin and press shops, and other shops, in which are performed certain processes necessary for the production of the electrical product in which that concern specializes. But in so far as the vocations are concerned, the work of the men following the occupations of these shops is not materially different from that of mechanics following the same vocations in similar shops in other industries. The general requirements of a mechanic in a machine shop are about the same whether the machine shop is part of a harvester factory or of an electrical machinery factory. Hence in this monograph will be treated only those manufacturing vocations which are wholly electrical. For convenience they have been grouped into the following classifications:
Engineering and drafting.
Coil winding and taping.
Coil impregnating and painting.
Coil placing and connecting.
Assembling.
Inspection and repair.
Testing.
By way of preface, it may be pointed out that there are certain general features of the situation which confront a disabled soldier, which should be examined carefully by him before he makes a break for a job.
Consider the Future and Plan Accordingly
The tendency of the average man is to base his actions only on conditions which confront him now. He does not think about the conditions which he may have to face ten or fifteen or twenty years hence. Before you take a job think about how it is going to work out as you grow older. What will you be doing when you are 40 or 50 years of age? It is possible to make definite plans for the future and follow them consistently and the disabled soldier should weigh very thoughtfully the opportunity for schooling and training without cost which the United States Government through the Federal Board for Vocational Education is prepared now to offer him. Statistics show that on the average a man with some theoretical training has ultimately a greater earning capacity than another man of equal ability but without such training. Every disabled soldier who for any reason has not been able to become posted in the elements of the calling which he wishes to follow, should avail himself of the chance now presented to him to get such training as he needs.
Discuss the Situation With a Federal Board Adviser
Just how and where training may be obtained without cost you may learn by talking with the vocational adviser of the Federal Board for Vocational Education. The adviser may, also, because of his experience in this special work, be able to assist you in selecting the calling for which you are best fitted, and at which you can most certainly succeed. The training need not necessarily be obtained at a technical school.