Career Clubs International On-line Reprint: Thompson's We Are Forty

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Thompson-We Are Forty

Career Clubs International Reprint: We Are Forty and We Did Get Jobs

Overview:

Thompsons' We Are Forty

From C.B. Thompson and M.L.Wise. We Are Forty and We Did Get Jobs.
Philadelphia, J.B. Likppincott Company. 1938

Summary:

C. B. Thompson and M. L. Wise in We Are Forty and We Did Get Jobs outline Six Steps to finding a job during hard economic times even when you are, what in the 1930's was considered, too old.

Step 1	Look your best, nothing runs you down like that run-down look
Step 2	Root out the defeatist attitude
	a.	face your fears, then do something about them.
	b.	use all your thoughts in planning a campaign to get a job.
Step 3	Find your employable characteristics
	a.	list all the jobs you have ever held.
	b.	put down all the special aptitudes that you have developed throughout your life.
Step 4	Survey all possible fields for your talents
	a.	Think of all lines of business and individuals who might make use of your abilities.
	b.	Make a list.
Step 5	Take your talent to market
	a.	Hunt for the job by reading.
	b.	Use the telephone book.
	c.	Visit employment agencies.
	d.	Dig up ideas.
Step 6	Put the employers needs before your own
	a.	Visualize the needs of the person for who you want to work. Then fill them.
	b.	Keep your troubles to yourself.

Job seekers everywhere can benefit from reading about this revolutionary program that enabled people to find employment even during the Great Depression, and has spawned numerous similar approaches to job hunting since then.

What follows are links to the text from the original 1938 edition, with a star to indicate recommended chapters (some of the others contain largely social commentary or outdated job examples). A disclaimer: Thompson's language was not very gender-neutral, something we are certain she would have changed had she published the volume today.

Ch.	Title	Page
I.	The New Way To Find Jobs	17
II.	The Birth of The Job Formula	27
III.	Jobs Trough Employment Agencies	49
IV.	Little Business and Little Towns	70
V.	Secretarial Jobs at Forty--And What It Takes	94
VI.	Demonstrating Offers Opportunity	116
VII	Acres Of Diamonds In The Home Field	133
VIII.	Letters That Answered Help Wanted Ads	152
IX.	Personal Interviews--Or Jobs At First Site	172
X.	Telephone Talks That Took	190
XI	THE NEW TECHNIQUES SUCCEEDS IN DEPARTMENT STORES	205
XII.	FRESH FIELDS FOR FORTY OR THE CURE WORKS FOR OTHERS	226
TO SUM UP		251
A DOZEN DYNAMIC DON’TS		254
EMPLOYABILITY TEST		257