As is the case in some other lines of work, companies may maintain training courses in which test-department candidates are given instruction in the essentials of the work which they are to take up. Such courses afford a splendid opportunity for men who have had only a high-school training. They are for the most part operated on the company’s time, but they may be supplemented by night courses, to which the man must devote his own time several nights a week. Many of the most successful and best known electrical engineers and electrical factory men in the United States started their practical careers in the testing departments of electrical manufacturing companies. It appears to be a relatively easy matter for a man who has had a thorough test-course training to obtain a new position with advanced responsibilities and salary. The new work may be construction or erection with some organization other than the concern with which he obtained his testing experience. Usually the testing work is so arranged that each tester spends only a few months on each class of test, so that after completing the course he is reasonably familiar with many different kinds of equipment.
Qualifications
In this work, although a man with little theoretical knowledge may be of value, no man can learn too much for his own advancement. Ability to study and read and thereby keep in touch with advances in the art is a material asset. The work is relatively light, but some lifting and pulling may be required. The loss of a leg or an arm or an eye is not necessarily a detriment. Good hearing is essential, because a man must often depend upon sound to ascertain whether or not the apparatus on test under his charge is operating properly. This branch affords splendid possibilities for high-school trained men to become conversant with electrical equipment.
Wages, Hours, and Conditions of Employment
If a man has had some previous electrical experience so much the better. The starting salary will probably be around $16 or $18 per week. A tester of some experience will probably receive from $20 to $27 per week and an experienced foreman from $35 to $47. The work is nearly always indoors, although some tests must be made outside. The trade is not generally unionized. The day is eight or nine hours.
PLAN No. 1082. COMMERCIAL OCCUPATIONS
Acknowledgment
This monograph was prepared by F. G. Nichols, Assistant Director for Commercial Education of the Federal Board for Vocational Education. Acknowledgment is made for material furnished by Mr. Wm. A. Barber, Mr. Albert G. Borden, Mr. L. B. Elliott, Mr. Leighton Forbes, Mr. J. E. Fuller, Mr. Frank L. Jones, Dr. Roy S. MacElwee, Special Agent of the Federal Board for Vocational Education, and Mr. Edward A. Woods. Acknowledgment is due to Dr. John Cummings, of the Research Division, for editorial assistance.
Introductory
Commercial occupations include certain occupations which have to do with the administrative, executive, clerical, accounting, stenographic and selling side of business. Definite courses of training for these employments have been worked out and are being offered in many high-grade schools. It must not be assumed that by a commercial course is meant merely training for bookkeeping and shorthand work. On the contrary, the range of commercial occupations open to men is very broad, as is indicated by the following partial list of such occupations: