The Times

SYBIL SHELTON Lawn-mowing: one of the oldest and steadiest jobs.

HAL H. HARRISON The U.S. Government. offers many opportunities. Here a dozen young boys study ground rules of forestry.

to computer-building

young scientists. One enthusiastic high-school student from Cedar Falls, Iowa, started work on an experimental basis. By the end of three weeks he had completely programmed a game of ticktacktoe. Soon after, he put 3,200 vacuum tubes together to play a challenging game of checkers—and won first prize at the National Science Fair. IBM's 12-week "Operation Cradle" program is now an annual event for a group of Chicago high-school seniors. This summer the company will launch an advanced scientific-training program. In other parts of the country industries sponsor "JETS" clubs (Junior Engineering Technical Society) which allow high-school students to work with professionals on everything from cyclotrons to solar furnaces and analog computers. Local governments are taking the initiative in some areas. Washington, D.C., has an Odd Jobs pool where teen-agers can find work opportunities, and the younger ones can participate in a carrier boys' delivery syndicate. Berkeley, California, has a "Workreation" program to combine paid park-and-trail maintenance with time out for sport. The Federal government, too, has launched a broad program for summer job seekers. The Civil Service Commission lists positions in eighteen Federal agencies, and jobs range from meteorological research for the Weather Bureau to petroleum engineering for the Interior Department and archaeology for the Smithsonian Institution. In other cases, schools, local service groups, and citizens' associations have spearheaded the drive to help teen-agers find work. In Hancock, Michigan, a resort area, high schools offer a 2-day course to teach youngsters the essentials of resort and tourist work. In Minneapolis, a Market Garden Program puts them on to farm-job openings, and in Cedarhurst, Long Island, PTA's from nearby towns have a "Junior Dependables" agency to track down odd jobs. ONE OF THE BEST solutions to the job problem is typified by the program in Boise, Idaho. Five years ago the YMCA joined forces with the State Employment Service, set up an employment agency in a YMCA office, and hired a telephone-answering service to handle calls. Newspapers donated space for publicity, and Boise's mayor launched the program at a well-attended breakfast party. Today the plan is a large, successful endeavor. In Waterloo, Iowa, a "summer-job committee" instructs youngsters in self-salesmanship, procedures for job application, and rules for how to hold a job. A "job clinic" reminds youth that application blanks must be neatly filled out and qualifications well described, that shoes are nearly always necessary on the job, that you don't greet your employer with a "Hi!" when you arrive. The clinic has met with great success. Public support can be a great help, but the business of job-getting is largely up to the person who needs a job. There are a number of pointers the National Committee on Employment of Youth suggests for teen-agers: 1. Begin looking early. Easter vacation is a good time. 2. Start at home with relatives and friends—such special contacts account for 90% of summer jobs landed. If you have never been away for the summer, it is best to take a job near home. 3. Know your talents, and state them specifically. An employer wants to know what you're good at and what you've done successfully before—at home, at school, or in a previous part-time job you have had. 4. Know the child labor laws in your state—your employer may not know them. They present no real barrier to summer employment. Normally, only "hazardous" work such as truck-driving, using power machinery, and operating elevators is forbidden to those under 18 during vacations. 5. Watch the want ads in your local paper -and contact local agencies—State Employment Services, school employment offices, etc., and make application with local businesses. Remember to state what you can offer them. Continued on page 19 Suburbia Today, March 1961 17