How To Get Employment

ECURING employment is a matter of salesmanship. It is based upon the
same fundamental principles that underlie all salesmanship. There must be
a desire, want, or need upon the part of the employer that can be satisfied by
hiring an employee. If the desire is not already present, it becomes
necessary to arouse it. When the employer feels this need, or it is brought to his
attention, or is built up by showing him the advantages thus to be gained, it then
becomes necessary to convince him that the one making application for the position
can do the work in a satisfactory manner. When he becomes convinced of this,
employment is certain.

Getting employment is selling one’s abilities. These abilities, the impression made
upon the prospective employer, and the success in every other department of life
depend upon the habit-systems that have been formed. If there has been notable
failure to secure employment, the remedy is not in something mysterious, but in the
formation of new habit-systems that are conducive to getting employment, and to
getting better employment. But to change the life markedly in this or in any other
respect, not only must the objective behavior be altered, but new thought-cell habits
must be formed.

Thought-Cell Habits
Determine Both the
Fortune and the Specific
Nature of All Events that
Enter the Life

–The planets in the birth chart merely map the volume of energy of each of the ten
types of thought-cells and the trend of their desires derived from experiences in lower
forms of life. The departments of life with which they were formed and relative to
which they tend to express are indicated by the houses a planet rules. But in lower
than human forms of life, while there were experiences of the Mercury type
involving the use of intelligence, there were no experiences with bookkeeping or as a
telephone operator. There undoubtedly were experiences with offspring, ruled by the
fifth house, but none with stage and screen which also are ruled by the fifth house.

Inother words, the desires and therefore the activities of the thought-cells at birth, even
though harmonious or discordant, characteristic of the planet mapping them, and
associated with definite departments of life were undifferentiated in so far as desiring
events which are exclusively probable to human beings.

The activities of these thought-cells are chiefly responsible for each event entering
the life. They not only influence the thoughts and the behavior, but work from the
inner plane to bring into the life such events as they desire. But other than always
desiring and expressing the characteristics of the planet mapping them, and always
desiring the events of, and expressing through, one of the various departments of life
the houses of which the planet rules, what they desire is mostly determined by the
manner in which they have been conditioned by the environment since human birth,
that is, by the habit-systems they have acquired after the infant was born.

And these habit-systems, whatever they may be, are subject to alterations, just as the
behavior and thought habit-systems of the individual can be changed. The energy of
a highly active group of thought-cells cannot be repressed. The attempt at repression
merely causes it to utilize its energy working from the inner plane to bring the event it
desires into the life. Nor can the thought-cell activity mapped by one planet be made
to express through thoughts, behavior or events attracted characteristic of some other
planet. The problem is, therefore, to form habit-systems of thought and behavior that
will permit each powerful group of thought-cells to express its characteristic energy
beneficially.

SUN: These thought-cells desire that the individual should have significance. In the
effort to attain significance they may cause him to disparage others, to be dictative, to
boast, to be a show-off, to do anti-social acts to attract attention, to develop an
inferiority complex or a superiority complex, to refuse to speak or work before the
public because of fear he will not live up to an exalted opinion of himself, or they may
cause him to have difficulty with authority. Instead of these expressions the
individual should set about resolutely and intelligently to acquire and use some
knowledge or ability that he can employ in the community where he lives, or expects
to live, that will secure the esteem of others, or at least through benefitting the
community, increase his own opinion of himself. He should acquire the habit-system
of doing something beneficial to society in which he can take pride, be firm in its
accomplishment, and feel joy in the self-approval engendered.

MOON: These thought-cells desire that the individual should have home and
offspring. They may cause him to be so interested in the private lives of others as to
be a gossip, or they may express through the effort to gain notoriety, through
incessant change, or through changing moods and mental instability. Instead of these
expressions the individual should cultivate domesticity and develop a habit-system
in which he is active, and experiences delight, in music and in contributing to the
comfort of his family or to the welfare of the old or young who are helpless.

MERCURY: These thought-cells desire intellectual activity. They may find
expression in nervousness and restlessness, or through an incessant flow of thoughts
or words which accomplish nothing. Instead, the habit-system should be cultivated
of finding pleasure in concentrating on whatever situation is present, or analyzing
carefully all its factors, and of thinking it through with the object of ascertaining how
best it may be handled.

VENUS: These thought-cells desire affection, companionship, and the beautiful.
They may find expression through licentiousness, through pliancy, through love of
ease, or through unwise or unrestrained emotion. Instead of these expressions, the
habit-system should be cultivated of getting pleasure from healthful social contacts,
musical entertainments, appreciation of the artistic, mirth, and wisely directed
affection.

MARS: These thought-cells desire aggressive action. They may express through
anger, harshness, irritation, quarrelsomeness, haste, undue expenditure of energy,
lust, or destructiveness. Instead of these expressions, the habit-system should be
cultivated of taking pleasure in building something. Initiative and courage may be
used to repair a human body, to build a business, or to construct a machine.

JUPITER: These thought-cells desire joviality and abundance. They may express
through extravagance, sportiveness, conceit, or undue optimism. Instead of these
expressions, the habit-system should be cultivated of taking pleasure in benevolence,
devotion, faith in a higher than human power, and in maintaining the attitude of
good-will toward all.

SATURN: These thought-cells desire safety. They may express through greed,
self-centeredness, worry, fear, sorrow, despondency, or envy. Instead, the
habit-system should be cultivated of taking pleasure in order, system, organization,
efficiency, persistence and the carrying of responsibility.

URANUS: These thought-cells desire originality. They may express through
eccentricity of dress, of action, or of opinion, through abruptness, or through extreme
views and the effort radically to change whatever may be the existing condition.
Instead, the habit-system should be cultivated of taking pleasure in research and
invention and in encouraging reformation that advances one step at a time.

NEPTUNE: These thought-cells desire the ideal They may express through
day-dreaming, through unsound schemes, through over sensitivity, through wishful
thinking, or through vague longings. Instead, the habit-system should be cultivated
of taking pleasure in using the imagination for some practical and constructive
purpose. Almost anything can be dramatized in a manner that will increase its value.

PLUTO: These thought-cells desire cooperation or coercion. They may express
through uniting with others in anti-social activities, through coercing others, through
selfish use of psychic energies, or through inversive methods. Instead, the
habit-system should be cultivated of taking pleasure in cooperating in activities that
benefit society, and in developing true spirituality.

Forming New Habits

–As the habits of thought, the habits of feeling, and the habits of action determine
what happens in our lives, let us now further consider how they may be changed in
the direction desired. After which we will be in a better position effectively to adopt
the plans indicated for securing a lucrative position.

The first thing, of course, is to decide, after due deliberation, the exact nature of the
new habits to be formed. No attention is to be given bad habits. They are to be
eradicated by the formation of new ones that automatically turn their energies into
more constructive channels. Next, some method should be adopted to insure that the
new habit will be remembered at the time it should function. It takes unusual effort to
remember to do something that we are unaccustomed to do. At the time it is important
we are very apt to forget that a new habit has been decided upon and proceed in the
channel of the old habit already well established.

By the use of effort and repetition, the thought of the new habit may be linked up with
any one of the numberless acts which we perform that require no especial effort to
remember. When we leave the office or shop at the end of day, it requires no effort to
remember to take our hat from the rack before going home. It may require
considerable effort, however, to remember to go into an adjoining room and close the
windows, or each evening to leave certain papers on the boss’ desk, or to ring up and
ask what shall be brought home for dinner. In fact, the more disagreeable the task and
the farther removed from notice, the easier it is to forget it.

But if, when placing one’s hat on the rack one resolutely determines to remember the
disagreeable detail when the hat is removed, the moment the hat is picked up this
other less familiar matter will be remembered. For the first few times considerable
resolution and intensity of feeling should be experienced in determining, as the hat is
placed on the rack, that the detail will be remembered when the hat is removed. But
after a few evenings on which the new habit to be formed is remembered when the hat
is picked up, the two actions become so strongly welded, through the law of mental
association, that thereafter every time the hat is removed from the rack the thought of
the new habit pops into the mind.

Every individual has numerous habits that are already well formed, and on which he
can count for some degree of regularity, to which he can tie new habits in such a way
that they will be remembered. We all eat at certain intervals, we go to bed, we arise in
the morning, we go to work, and perform various other routine acts, to any one of
which by a little effort we can link up the memory of some other act to be done. In
Chapter 02 there is given an illustration of binding the
remembrance to do something, by means of an affirmation, with the act of eating.

Certain attitudes of mind, and certain types of behavior, may be desirable only in the
presence of certain persons. In such cases, then, after determining the habitual
attitudes and behavior to be cultivated, the effort should be made to affiliate strongly
the thought of the habit with these persons, so that the habit is always brought to mind
when in their presence. In some such manner every habit to be formed should always,
even at the expense of great pains, be so firmly related to older habits that it is always
remembered at the time when it should function.

One New Habit At a Time

–Usually, when there is the desire to replace bad habits by better ones, the impulse is
to make a thorough job of it, and carry the reform into all departments of life. Such an
attitude is excellent. Thus you may, after reading this lesson, decide to adopt and
build into your life as habits, the actions, thoughts and feelings here advocated as
lending themselves to better employment. If such a resolution is made, or if a
resolution covering any other series of habits is made, it is well to write out on paper,
for your own reference, just what these new habits to be adopted are.

But it is decidedly unwise to try to cultivate them all at once. To do so violates one of
the fundamental principles of psychology; the principle that the range of attention at
any one time is very limited. The energies cannot be directed efficiently into
numerous channels at the same time.

Even in learning to use a machine, the best way is to practice each separate operation
by itself, taking up a new one only after the first is learned so thoroughly as to become
established as a habit. When two or more operations learned separately become
habitual, they may then be joined as a series; or when the first operation has become
habitual, the second may be learned as an additional part of the first, and later the
third added to this, until the whole complex process becomes practically automatic.

To establish any new thought, new feeling, or new action requires that the objective
attention be directed to it persistently. This takes an unusual amount of energy and
effort. Most of us do not have the energy at our command thus to establish more than
one new habit at a time. Each repetition makes the use of voluntary attention and
conscious effort less necessary, until after a time all we have to do is to think of the
thing and it is accomplished, almost no effort or energy being necessary to initiate the
process. It has become habitual.

It is all very well, therefore, to outline a series of new habits to be formed; but it is
psychologically unsound to learn them all at once. They should be taken up one at a
time and mastered in single combat. Not until one has been made obedient should the
next be engaged. When two have been vanquished the third should be challenged,
and so on, until the whole company of desirable habits is under full control. Do not
battle with the whole regiment at once. Even taken one at a time they are full worthy
of your metal.

Another well recognized psychological law that we may take advantage of in
establishing new habits is that the ease with which an action is repeated depends upon
the vividness of the previous performances and the amount of repetition. Much,
therefore, depends upon making a strong start. Not only should the matter be thought
about thoroughly when initiating the habit, but as many precautions as possible
should be taken to insure that the action is not neglected. Tell your friends what you
intend to do, so that your pride will reinforce your resolution when tempted to neglect
the matter. Devise means to make the performance of the habit easy, and to make its
non-performance both difficult and disagreeable.

Having given the habit a good strong start, while there is still enthusiasm about it take
the opportunity to put it into practice. If the opportunity is not at hand, seek out the
opportunity. Resolutions have
a way of evaporating in a short while. To guard against this, find some method by
which the habit may be given exercise without delay, and see to it before the
enthusiasm subsides that it is given much repetition.

Visualizing the Interview

–In Chapter 06 the formation of habits has been
compared with the making of trails through the deep snow of winter. Every time we
pass over a new trail, and every time we repeat a new habit, the easier it becomes. But
if the trail is new, and not well broken, there is always the temptation to take the old
and easier way. In habit formation, in so far as possible, this should be guarded
against.

Suppose you desire to cultivate the habit of selling your ability. In the past it has been
the habit merely to ask for employment, and if you were not hired on asking to walk
away. You have resolved, therefore, to proceed in a very different manner. You
realize, however, that the old trail will be much easier to follow, and that unless well
prepared, you will merely ask for employment, and if refused will walk away.
Therefore, in preparation for breaking the new trail you rehearse over and over again
the anticipated interview. You visualize, as accurately as possible, the man to whom
you will address yourself and the environment where you will talk to him. Imagine
yourself ushered into his presence and starting the conversation, perhaps something
after this manner: “Mr. Jones, I do not wish to intrude on your time unnecessarily, but
I feel it will be to your advantage as well as to my own for me to explain why I should
be working for you.” Then, in imagination, proceed with the interview, explaining in
detail to Mr. Jones just why you are particularly qualified to fill some position with
his firm.

Such a carefully visualized rehearsal begins to break the trail for a new line of
conduct, reinforces the determination to break this new trail instead of following the
old one, and in addition, through picturing the result, adds a psychic power that lends
its weight to a favorable issue.

Stubborn Habits

–Where the habit to be discontinued, through the substitution of a new one, is a
particularly stubborn one, a change of environment often is beneficial. For instance,
it is exceptionally hard to break the liquor habit while continuing to associate with
drinking companions.

No doubt most people could get the equivalent of a college education by means of
home study. But the environment of home study does not contain the factors that
reinforce the student’s determination to study, as does the college. Acquaintances
have been informed that one is going to college, and to fail to make progress would
seem a disgrace. At college one is a member of a large group, all bent on getting an
education. By the members of this group, to study is considered the proper thing. One
loses caste if he fails. In fact, pressure is brought from so many quarters to induce one
to study, that it is commonly much easier to get one’s lessons than to face the
numerous disagreeable consequences of not getting them.

But with home study usually there is no such pressure in the direction of learning, but
a multitude of distractions, so that it is only the unusual person who has
determination enough to get a good education without attending school.

Will Power

–Will is directed desire, but the will only accomplishes results when expressed in
action. If, therefore, a person has formed the habit of carrying out his resolutions, he
is considered a person of strong will power. But when a person decides to `do
something, and then fails even to make a vigorous attempt, he is conceded to be a
person of weak will. Will power, it will thus be seen, is always associated with certain
habits of action. To be a person of strong will is to be one in whom the habit has been
formed of carrying out one’s decisions without fail.

When a resolution is made, and it is not carried out, it weakens the will. Due care,
therefore, should be exercised, as previously mentioned, not to undertake too much.
Furthermore, when a resolution is made, every exception allowed weakens both the
will and the new habit. The person who quits smoking, but who thinks just one more
cigarette doesn’t count, quickly slips back into the old habit. The old trails through
the snow are so easy to get into again. Therefore, in forming a new habit take
particular pains that there are no “exceptions” in which the old habit to be displaced is
allowed to function.

Correct Every Lapse

–Sometimes, in a careless moment, or under unusual pressure, or preoccupation,
the old habit may slip by the guard. In such cases do not let the transgression go with
little notice. In each and every such case, take time and effort to do the thing in the
right way. If the old habit is an exaggeration, whenever one is conscious that
something has been a bit exaggerated in the telling, see to it that the impression given
is fully corrected, and that those to whom it is told are given an uncolored version. If
the old habit is that of speaking sharply, see to it when you speak sharply to a person
that you offer apologies, or express kindness, as soon as you realize what you have
done. Let no exception to the new habit arise, in so far as possible; but if unwittingly
the old habit does function, make as complete and as prompt a correction of it as
circumstances will permit.

Persuasion is Superior to Force

–Right here is the place to mention another psychological law: When one forces
one’s self into a course of action it sets up conflicts between different sections of the
mind. When, because we are stronger than another, we compel him to do something
that he resists doing, we have alienated him. Instead of cooperating with us, he is
rebellious, and whenever opportunity arises, will cause a disturbance. Likewise,
whenever one section of our mind is bent on not doing something, but is
overpowered by another section of the mind, and compelled to action, an antagonism
is set up between these two sections of the mind that may be lasting and that may lead
to serious consequences. There will be more said about these inner conflicts in
subsequent lessons. Here it is enough merely to indicate how they arise, and that, like
warfare in general, they lead to loss of efficiency, and to discords that attract
destructive events.

Do not compel yourself to do something that you intensely dislike to do. Instead,
learn to like to do it. And in dealing with other people the same principle holds.

The effect of the stringent prohibition laws that came into being during World War I
well illustrates this psychological law. A majority of the people, by means of
legislation, forced prohibition on a large and unwilling minority. Being bludgeoned
into prohibition, this minority staged a surreptitious revolt against this law. As a
consequence there was not only more drunkenness and liquor traffic but a crime
wave of greater proportion, than the country had ever known.

So also, if you bludgeon your own mind, or a section of it, into the acceptance of
some course of action, it not only revolts and tends to interfere whenever possible
with carrying out this action, but the discord engendered spreads, and
unpremeditated actions regarding other things, and annoying emotions, are the
result.

About everything imaginable there are many points of interest. A little analysis will
discover these interesting qualities, and interest is akin to attractiveness. Many things
that are otherwise disagreeable may be made pleasant by imbuing them with an
element of competition. Timing one’s performance against that of another’s, or
against one’s previous record. Comparing the perfection of the product with that of
another, or with one’s past performance. Undertaking to find a new and better way to
do one’s work. Reading up on everything connected with the matter. These are but a
few of the ways by which interest may be made to breed attractiveness.

No matter how dry-as-dust a subject may be, if one becomes an expert in it there is a
glow of satisfaction, a pleasant knowledge that one is its master. Thus one may utilize
the Drive For Significance in learning to like some particular work. Let one think of
the pleasure of being master of some performance, of conquering it, even though at
first it appears most distasteful, and before long, if this attitude is held, the joy of
mastery becomes greater than the original aversion.

Often it is possible to build up a bond of association between the disagreeable thing
and some cherished ambition. Look at it not as a disagreeable duty, but as a step
gladly taken, even though it is accompanied by suffering, because it leads to the
desired goal. At other times the matter at hand may be linked, through the use of the
imagination, with some joyful past experience. If, when undertaking the
disagreeable task, one thinks of the pleasant experience, and feels the thrill of it, in
time this pleasant emotion will become so associated with the task that there will be
more joy felt whenever the task is thought of, or is accomplished, than aversion.

In Chapter 06 it was mentioned as one of the three
fundamentals of habit-formation that one should always associate the desirable
habit as strongly as possible with feelings of pleasure. Only a few of numerous ways
by which this may be accomplished have been mentioned. By following this plan no
part of the mind is forced to accept the new habit. Instead, an appeal is made to
pleasure, and as this appeal becomes successful all parts of the mentality not merely
acquiesce in permitting the new habit, but unite in a desire for its continuance. Such a
process, instead of breaking up the mental elements into warring factions, unites
them in a common desire, and in cooperative effort. Instead of conflicts, harmonious
integration is present, and these harmonies, in addition to reinforcing the new habit,
have a power of attracting good fortune into the life.

This matter of avoiding conflicts is also very important in breaking a strongly
entrenched undesirable habit. Such a habit is an acquired tendency to act in a certain
way under certain circumstances.

Let us suppose, for instance, that a person is addicted to coffee drinking, but has
found it detrimental, and desires to stop. Now, because of habit, whenever he has
meals the desire for coffee is very strong. He may, of course, just stubbornly refuse to
yield to the desire. But if he handles the matter in this way, and the desire is insistent,
he may develop a feeling of irritation that lasts all day. Of course, if all the important
elements of his mind have accepted the desirability of avoiding coffee to such an
extent that he no longer feels an urgent desire for it, the idea has become integrated
with the other mental factors, and no conflict results. But if the desire continues, it
may prove very annoying.

To avoid this conflict a new outlet must be provided for the old habit: That is, not
only should a new habit be formed that will take the place of the old habit, but it
should be of such a nature as to pacify rather than conflict with the old habit. The
coffee drinker will escape such conflict if he for a time, until the desire has grown
weak, uses some coffee substitute. The cigarette smoker will find it easier to break
the habit if, when he desires a smoke, he takes a chew of chewing gum. The outlet of
the habit is thus not completely and abruptly blocked, and its energy finds a way of
expending itself without breaking through in disintegrating channels.

In this lesson, and the preceding ones, much has been said about habits. But when we
stop to think that what a man is depends upon his habit-systems, and that he is a
success or failure in any particular department of life, or in all of them, because of his
habits, it seems difficult to over emphasize their importance. Furthermore, if we are
to bring changes of consequence into our lives, it will be through changing some of
our habits. The general trend of our fortunes will alter very little while our habits are
the same. The lessons of this course tell how to attain various worth while ends, but
these ends can only be attained through the cultivation of appropriate habits.

Employment

–When one works for another there are three distinct factors that need to be
considered:

1. The workman and his desires. 2. The employer and his desires. 3. The work itself.
It should be the desire of the workman to secure such employment as will enable him
to do most for himself and most for society, of which he forms a part. In
Chapter 01 we have already considered in some detail the factors
that should govern the selection of a vocation. Briefly, these factors combine the
natural abilities with the most harmonious influence in the life, as revealed by the
birth chart.

One who is already of mature age, without a knowledge of astrology, can analyze his
past performance in various lines and get a fair estimate of his abilities. And this is
very important. But as indicated in the lesson mentioned, aside from ability, one may
attract fortune or misfortune in a particular line, and this may be of even greater
importance than ability. As this is written, for instance, the newspapers are full of the
first great commercial air disaster of a trans-continental airplane. The T.A.T. air
liner, on its regular run, encountered a storm and ran into the top of a mountain near
Grant, New Mexico, killing the pilot and his seven passengers.

Because this same pilot had made successful trips over this same route, and because
he was chosen to fill one of the most important positions open at this time to an air
pilot, there is no doubt that he was an aviator of unusual ability. Yet in spite of this, it
would have been better for him and for the seven passengers if he had never taken up
flying. Some other pilot with much less ability, but with luck enough not to chance in
the vicinity of this mountain when blinded by the storm would have come through
safely.

Analyzing the Field

–It may be, and often so happens, that one is unable to get at once into the kind of
work one would prefer. It is a good plan, therefore, carefully to analyze to what extent
the abilities may make one fit for various other forms of work. Also, from the birth
chart, one should decide what kind of fortune may be expected in each. In these lines,
which because of necessity may be temporarily entered, not merely the amount of
remuneration should be considered, but also the opportunity presented in each
leading to the most preferred work.

One should not expect to get employment merely because one wants it, or because
one wants this particular kind of work. Those who hire help do not do so merely as a
favor to those who want work; they do it because they are convinced it is to their
advantage.If you are going to get work, the person who hires you must believe that you will
prove of value to him. If he does not already believe this, before you get the position
you will have to convince him of its truth.

The workman looks at a prospective job from the standpoint of what he will get out of
it. The employer looks at the job from the standpoint of what the employer will derive
from it. The common meeting ground is the work itself. This work when
accomplished should not be merely satisfying to the employer, nor merely satisfying
to the workman, but should result in the satisfaction of both. In so far as it falls short
of this mark the position is a failure.

After you have thoroughly, and in detail, made an analysis of your qualifications for
various sorts of work, the next step is to give just as thorough an analysis of the
possible opportunities to utilize these abilities. The entire field of possibilities should
be gone over and given a rating, and to make the matter clear it is well to write out on a
sheet of paper the various possible positions in the order of their preference, placing
the most desirable one opposite number 1, the next most desirable opposite number
2, and so on.

Marketing Service and Ability

–Employment, like salesmanship in other fields, is at different levels. And it should
never be lost sight of that getting employment is an act of salesmanship, and
governed by all the rules of salesmanship in other lines. It is the act of selling one’s
abilities and labor.

At its lowest level of salesmanship, the one desiring employment depends entirely
upon the initiative of the prospective employer to hunt him up and secure his
services. If the desire, want, or need of the employer is insistent enough, and the
difficulty in procuring help great enough, he will put forth much effort, and may find
and employ such a workman.

So also, if we have a great desire for an article of merchandise, we will probably go to
the different stores and ask if they carry it. In such event, the merchant possessing it
will make a sale even though the article is tucked away out of sight. But if another
merchant has displayed the article, when we need it we will go to him rather than to
the one who has kept it hidden, because we know the former can satisfy our desire,
but are uncertain if the latter can. Likewise in marketing service and ability, unless by
some means we inform prospective employers about our ability and willingness to
work, if there are places where they know help can be hired they will not go to the
trouble and search us out but, as is natural, will satisfy their need through the easiest
channel.Unfortunately for the person desiring work, it is usually so easy for the employer to
find those who meet his requirements that few positions are filled without at least
some effort on the part of the prospective employee.

A great deal of work is to be had, however, with very little salesmanship. That is, the
employer has a well defined and well recognized idea that he should hire help, and a
rather definite idea of the kind of persons that will satisfy this need. Under such
circumstances, all the prospective employee has to do is to learn about the
employer’s need for help, and ask for the position.

For the better types of jobs, however, employers are apt to be more particular. The
employer here considered has a definite program of work to be accomplished, but is
in doubt as to the person best able to perform it. To obtain such a position, one should
not only have the ability to fill it, but must in some manner be able to convince the
employer not only that one can fill it, but can do so in a manner more satisfying than
can any other probable or actual applicants for the place.

On a still more difficult level are those employers who do not know that they need
help. Before they hire assistance they must in some manner be convinced that
additional personnel will be to their advantage, and that the person making
application can fill the position satisfactorily. Employers are not omniscient, nor do
they always have time or ability to know all that should be done to make their
enterprise a success. Very frequently a careful analysis by another will reveal where
an additional person can be employed with considerable profit to the concern. And
where such a situation is observed the person making the discovery need not feel
diffident, although he may need to use tact, about placing the idea before the
prospective employer. In other words, for those who can see possibilities, there are
opportunities to make jobs.

If you seek a job, whether the position is to be had at a low level of effort or at a high
one, you should know as much as possible about just what the requirements are to
satisfy the desires of the employer. Or if the prospective employer has no desires
about the matter, you must build up those desires by pointing out advantages and then
showing him how to gain them.

Planning the Interview

–Before selling the employer the idea that you will prove advantageous to him, in
some manner you must gain an audience and attract his attention. Considerable
ingenuity and tact may be necessary to get into the employer’s presence without
causing ill will. Sometimes a mutual friend, or one already employed, can be induced
to give an introduction. This is advantageous, as it tends to show that others have
confidence in you. You should not, of course, take too much of the time of a busy
executive. But when it is considered that you are really endeavoring to render him a
service, there need be no hesitancy about approaching him and using so much of his
time as is necessary to sell him the idea that he should hire you.

Remembering that you are hired to satisfy a certain need, everything should be done
to convey the idea that you can successfully fill the need. To begin with, personality
is a very important thing in all human contacts. Try, therefore, to create a pleasant
impression. Find out as much as possible about the employer. If he has some
particular interest, either in regard to his work or a hobby, some brief inquiry about it
is an excellent move to pave the way to the main issue. If he likes you, he will be
much more apt to hire you than if his first impression is one of distaste.

But mere attractiveness is not enough. You must create the impression that you can
successfully fill the place. If, therefore, you wish a job as a mechanic, dress the part
and act the part. Do not dress like a dandy and expect to be hired to do heavy or dirty
work. On the other hand, if seeking an office job, pay particular attention to the
neatness of your appearance, because this will create an impression that you will be
neat and orderly in your work.

When you approach the prospective employer, do so with confidence. Faith is the
basis of all business relations. If you have confidence in yourself, this feeling of
confidence will be imparted to the other person. Also, it acts as a suggestion to the
other person that he will hire you. And it is your task to offer him as many suggestions
and reasons as possible that he will be greatly benefitted if he takes you into his
service.

If opportunity arises for you to do so, you should study the things he individually
likes and dislikes in his help, and should suggest to him in some manner that you have
the desirable traits. But if such an intimate knowledge of his peculiar bias is not to be
obtained, at least there are some qualifications that appeal to nearly all employers,
and each of these points should be brought up.

First of all, of course, is the ability to do the work. Then the matter of reliability and
steadiness. Interest in the work, and team spirit should be stressed. And the ability to
cooperate and get along well with others.

It is a good plan, either by consulting a directory or by other means, to get as large a
list as possible of the places you would like to work, and for which you have
qualifications. Write this list down in black and white, and make it a point to visit all
of these places unless hired. Sometimes a well written letter, stating your
qualifications and desire for the position, sent to a list of firms will bring a
satisfactory reply from at least one. The same letter, of course, may be sent to the
whole list. But a letter, as a rule, is less effective than a personal interview.

In all salesmanship it is recognized that if the regular sales talk fails, an added
incentive introduced at the right time often makes the sale. Many a person badly
needing work, when the employer hesitated, has volunteered to work a few days or a
week without pay to demonstrate his work, or has volunteered to work, and for a time
let the employer pay him what the latter thought he was worth, no salary being agreed
upon. Also, as in any other sales work, do not take no for an answer as long as there is
any chance of making the reply favorable. Persistence and determination have won
many a conference that seemed hopeless.

Applying For the Job

–Plan the interview ahead of time. Know as much as possible about the work. Know
as much as possible about the personal leanings of the employer. Visualize the
interview over and over before it takes place. Undertake both by statements and
suggestions to build up the desires of the person interviewed to hire you. Appeal to
the things you know he likes, to the things that are to his advantage, to the gain you
will bring him. And when you have made an appeal regarding a certain advantage to
him, back it up with proof. Do not merely tell him you can do the work well, but tell
him you have had definite experience with such work, or with other lines, that fits
you for the position, and when possible give references. Do not merely tell him you
are steady help, tell him how long you worked with some other firm.

Know beforehand just what you are going to say.

Hold his attention while you say it. Do not over state your case, as exaggeration
causes loss of confidence. Have confidence you are going to be hired. And after you
have, to the best of your ability built up his desire to employ you, do not fail at that
point to ask him for the position. Tell him without quibbling that you believe he will
benefit by hiring you, and that you want the place. Do not take no for an answer. If he
hesitates, have in reserve and give him some additional reason or incentive. Get a
definite answer while the force of your talk is still in his mind.

And when you get the position, see to it that you fulfill his expectations.

Occult Considerations

–The advisability of visualizing the interview in which employment is to be
obtained has already been mentioned. It is also advantageous to visualize yourself
working in the desired occupation, just as you would be working when hired. Hold
the picture in the mind as steadily as possible and with the feeling of full confidence
that you will thus be working at no distant date. Do not try to visualize at this time the
steps necessary to obtain the employment. Picture the work and yourself employed at
it as vividly as possible. Feel confident that this picture will come true. Feel as you
would feel while doing the work. Make it as real in every way as possible. Affirm to
yourself, “This Is My Work.”

The powers of the soul are very extensive, and such visualizing and suggesting
directs its attention and energies toward bringing about the condition held thus
before the mind. The soul has psychic senses which it employs to get information
quite outside the range of any physical perception. And it uses, when properly
directed to do so, and without the knowledge of the objective mind, numerous
invisible energies for the attainment of its ends. Thus through visualization, it is
possible to demonstrate employment.

Other invisible energies flowing from the planets also have a pronounced influence
upon the times when it is easy and the times it is hard to get employment. The
progressed aspect most favorable to employment is a harmonious aspect to the ruler
of the birth chart tenth house. Next best is a harmonious aspect to the ruler of the sixth
house. At the time any important position is secured there is always a progressed
aspect to the ruler of the tenth and a progressed aspect to the ruler of the sixth.

Adding pleasant energy, through appropriate thoughts, to the thought-cells mapped
by the tenth house, and to the thought-cells mapped by the sixth house, assists
markedly in getting and holding a satisfactory job.

On a day when the Moon is shown in the ephemeris to be making good aspects to the
Sun is in general a good day to ask for employment; but on a day when the Moon
makes adverse aspects to the Sun, employers are less favorably inclined to hire help.
That hour of the day ruled by the Sun, or the hour ruled by Jupiter, is a good time to
ask for work; but when the best planet in the birth chart is known, the hour of day
ruled by this planet is even better. These planetary hours are explained in Course VIII,
Chapter 07.