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Reprinted from the Worcester Polytechnic lnstitute’s Tech News.
Does your brother want “to study to be an engineer,
seeks your advice? If so, you will be interested m thzs l

     

Case and letter are real, so names are withheld.

Dear Bill:

“You will be graduated from
high school next June. Your father

tells me you want to be an engineer
(not. just sure what kind), and asks
me to advise you regarding your
education and summer jobs. I am
mighty glad to do this, because I
think you have the ability to go
places in engineering if you get the
right start. For many years I have
been thinking about this matter of
job preparation and noticing which
men got ahead and which didn’t and
why. I have discussed job training
with many college professors and
with successful engineers and busi-
ness men in many industries.

“To get right down to brass
tacks, l have laid out the attached
job preparation chart, which sums
up my observations and convic-
tions.

“No two men ever see things ex—
actly alike, yet I feel, Bill, that the
average engineer of long experience
will admit that this chart is at
least 80 per cent correct. Certainly
all successful businessmen and en-
gineers agree about the importance
of getting along with people and
of being: able to express yourself
successfully in writing and in
speech.

“A few engineers, and many of
the professors, might claim that
I have overstresscd the impor-
tance of picking up a lot of prac-
tical skills before graduating
from an engineering school. Yet
the longer I live the more cer—
tain I become that certain ele-
mentary skills are as fundamen—
tally useful as Ohm’s law and
the multiplication tables, because
they enter into every move the
engineer makes in actual life.

. “Don’t get the idea that you can
safely postpone some of these
things until after you get your
diploma. Did you ever hear of a
great musician who confined him»
self to the theory of music in his
early years and didn’t start thump-
ing the piano until he was twenty~

 

five? No, youth is the time to learn
to play an instrument, to skate,
swim, ride a horse, sail a boat,
dance, get along with people, or
run a typewriter. I can’t see any
good reason why you should wait
until after graduation before learn-
ing' to write a business letter,
swing' a hammer, push a file, sell a
hill of goods, or get along with a
bunch of workmen.

“Before I explain how to use the
job chart I must deliver one more
piece of, advice, based on long expe—
rience and observation. You’ve
probably read inspiring stories
about men who start young pre-
paring for one specific job. In gen-
eral, I don’t think it’s a good plan,
although there have been spectacu—
lar exceptions. I’m not under-
estimating the importance of hav-
ing a definite purpose in life, but I
feel that too—early specialization is
very dangerous. Observe the ways
of the cat, Bill. She knows more
than one way to jump. Her out—
standing talent is the ability to
land on four feet under any and
all circumstances

“To be safe you’ve got to be

versatile. How many men today
are actually in the jobs they
picked for themselves 20 or 30
years ago? How can you he sure
about what you will he doing in
1970? When that day arrives, the
job you planned may not even
exist, or the rapidly changing
world may have created a new,
and much better, opportunity for
you somewhere else. There is
always a lot of chance and un-
certainty in human affairs. Above
all things, prepare yourself to
land on your feet no matter
where you are tossed. That
means being able to do those sim-
ple everyday things that enter
into all jobs everywhere.

“I hope you get this point, he-
causc it is important. Don’t decide
right now that you are going to be
an airuconditioning engineer or a
diesel engineer. Train yourself in
the general fundamentals of me—

 

   

 

WWWMWNNWJ’fi

fifanrjficfi ddycrrrhemmi‘s

Rates: 5 cents per word-one issue; 4
per word—three issues; 10 cents additional for blind advertisements.

 
 

 
    

—two issues;

3 cents

 

  

 

 

cents per wot

 

FOR. SALE: Universal drawing arm,
table and instruments. Phone GUn-
derson 4-0825 after 6.

 

LOST: K&E slide rule. Apr. 12: brown
leather case, Jim Fitzpatrick, DA 6-
9750. 3154 80. Michigan.

 

WANTED: Small furnished apt. Any—
where in Ch 0,—pref. 50. Side. Camm

pus No. 819, r. Bourdon.

 

“KXRKA”
MOVING —- LIGHT HAULING
AT 5—9877

FOR SALE: ‘36 Pontiac 2—door sedan,

radio. heater. Excellent mechanical
condition; body fair, very serviceable,
clean. 5 good tires. $95. TUxedo 9—7759
after 6 .m.

TUTORING _ sERVlCE—For tutoring in

. Mathematics and Mechanics by expe—
rienced teacher. Retired. Cal HYde
Park 3—1459 or Apt. #2, 5614 Ingleside.

 

 

FOE SALE—Hensoldt Wetzlar 7 x 50

roof ‘ ' and- Phllco
portable a 7 .m.
HOllycourt 5-6631.

 

  

€filhiPlll§ BARBER; §lié®i§i

BAEQQNY NEIL 411D.

HAHE‘CWTS BY APPOKNTMENT @NLY
2nd chair, 9—6 :30 Mon. — Fri.

lst chair, 8—5, Mon. — Fri.
Ernest Piroi’alo, Mgr.

 

PHQNE EXT. 570

8-1 :00 Sat.
Be Prompt

” or do you know some high—school boy who
otter from a practicing engineer to his nephew.

 

 

 

  

chanical and electrical engineering.
At the same time, acquire some
skill in the simple everyday opera-
tions of all engineering and busi—
ness occupations. I repeat, start
right now learning how to talk and
write English, work with people,
sell, handle tools and machines,
write business letters, and keep
simple accounts. Then you will be
equipped to make a living with
your hands and end as far up the
line as your head, your adaptability,
your energy, and your good luck
can carry you."

Arthur [Wider
North Union, Auditorium
May 24., 25, will: 26
fluriain rlime 3:3(9
Admission $5.694}

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, Camels are $0 Mllfl than“ in e: wooll-
to-cousl‘ rest oi hundreds of men and women
who smoked Camels—one! only Camels-ios‘
so consecutive days, noted shrew opeclolisls,
mashing weekly exomiumions, mum-led

  

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of _' Whom age d Jaw/gig (gozeoi’f