embroidery for yokes, ruffling—hem and hemstitched, faggoting.

Placement Bureau

From the first the school made some provision for placing its pupils satisfactorily in the trades for which they are trained. Originally the heads of departments attended to it, each for her own students, but as the school grew and the department work increased this method ceased to be practical. An arrangement was made, therefore, with the Alliance Employment Bureau to place the girls of the Manhattan Trade School when they were ready to leave the school or whenever they applied for help thereafter. This was a most helpful connection when the work was beginning, but it was understood that when the school reached the point in its development where the volume of business was great enough, and other conditions warranted it, a Placement Bureau should be opened in the school itself. This long-cherished idea went into operation in October, 1908, when a Placement Secretary was engaged and the school bureau was opened. This plan has already proved advantageous. In the first place a bureau so situated can, by keeping in constant touch with the departments, obtain intimate and detailed information about the character, the work, the special aptitudes, and the physique of each girl. Such data are extremely valuable in making wise placements, but are difficult of access for an outside agency. In the second place such a school bureau, open to graduates, tends to bring them occasionally to it, and thus strengthens their interest in and loyalty to the school by giving a practical reality to their connection with it.

Aims

The aims and working plans of the Placement Bureau are the following: (1) To secure suitable positions for girls leaving the school—those forced out by poverty as well as those who have really completed their courses. The problem is to get the square peg into the square hole, and it is solved by having a very intimate knowledge of each peg, and by knowing of as large a variety of holes as possible from which to choose. (2) To be a means of connection and communication between the school and the trades, on the one hand, and the school and its former pupils on the other. (3) To gather data about trade conditions that shall be helpful to the several departments, or in deciding school policies. (4) To build up a series of records that shall be of general sociological value as well as of immediate use for school purposes.

Kinds and Methods of Work

In connection with the placement itself there are four lines of activity:

1. Interviews in the office, when girls come in to apply for positions, and when employers ask for workers. Much valuable data as to the experiences of the girls who have been some time in the trade have been gathered in this way. In the case of the employer, if he is not already familiar with the school, an effort is made to induce him (or her) to go through it.

2. Trade Visits of investigation. It is the policy of the Bureau not to place a girl in any establishment until it has been visited, unless it is one already well known to the school, in which case the visit may follow instead of preceding the placement. These visits are often made upon the request of employers or in response to advertisements, if, as sometimes happens, a girl wishes to be placed and the employers already known do not need additional help.

3. "Following up." After the girls are placed it is necessary to keep track of them. In order to do this satisfactorily, blanks have been printed in two different forms, one for the employer and the other for the worker. The former asks about the quality of the girl's work (whether it is satisfactory, and if not, why not) and about her wages. The latter asks the girl to report on her work, wages, and shop conditions. By this system the Placement Secretary is able to keep in close touch with the students who have been placed, and to hear and act upon complaints from either employer or girl with a promptness that often has the result of establishing the worker in a "good" place or, occasionally, rescuing her from a poor one. Employers are almost uniformly prompt and courteous in returning the reports, and all but a very small percentage of the students are equally responsive. In cases where a girl is not heard from, the Students' Aid Secretary makes a personal visit to her home.

4. Keeping of Records. Card catalogues are kept, giving the full data obtainable in each case: (1) for girls applying for positions; (2) for girls placed; (3) for employers visited; (4) for employers applying or worth investigating, but not yet visited. All data from employers and girls which have been obtained from the blanks before mentioned or from other sources are recorded on the cards.

The Placement Bureau, in addition to its specific work, performs certain services for the general benefit of the school. Data are obtained as to the conditions of work and wage in certain trades and the length of training advisable in others. Advice from the trade is often needed in one or another of the departments, and through the Bureau's acquaintance with employers, managers, or foremen and forewomen, it is able to ascertain and report their expert opinion. It is also possible to induce some of these busy people to come and view the problem in the light of conditions at the school as well as in their own business.

General Results

Although the Placement Bureau is still in its infancy, some results may be recorded. It is already in touch with some 700 employers, about 550 having been personally visited.