Employment Bureau Offers Undergraduates Assistance in Choosing Vocations--Information Ready About All Jobs

The following article was written for the Crimson by A. L. Putnam '20, Consultant on Careers at Harvard University, in connection with a short letter which his office circulated among all the members of the Freshman and Sophomore classes yesterday morning. Mr. Putnam here explains the functions of his department.

I have a friend who sells life insurance. He is not successful because he uses a canned sales talk. When he has settled himself in a prospect's office he fixates a spot on the wall, and begins as follows: "There comes a time in the life of every man when it is necessary to consider . . . ." And so on, and on. However, the thought is right in regard to a career, except that there probably come several times, and the most important ones are during the four years which one spends at college.

This office was established purely for the purpose of helping the undergraduate to see the relationships between his rather theoretical work at Harvard, the life which he led before he came here, and the life which he will lead after he graduates, and to select a career in which he may be successful and content. In order to do that somewhat effectively, James Mack Swigert '30. Donald Freeman Brown '30, and I, have collected a wealth of information about what men do, how they do it, and how they reached the positions in which they do it. We have also a small, well-selected library of books about a great variety of occupations. In addition, we have established contacts with nearly 1000 successful people living near Boston, who are willing to help undergraduates to know in detail of what their work consists. Students should look upon the office as a source of information upon a wide range of careers, and the methods of preparing for them.

When the time comes to answer such questions as how shall I make up my mind what I want to be, how can I best use my time to become that person, and more specifically, how shall I spend this coming summer, the Consultant's office in Wadsworth House is the place to go.