Industry TODAY. FINANCE ANALYST San Jose, California I .1 .Y
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I..c At Work in Industry TODAY. FINANCE ANALYST San Jose, California i_ .1 .Y ............ ENGINEERING ASSISTANT CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE WORK GROUP LEADER Salem, Virginia _~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~New .York, New York q..... St.:'w~Petersburg, Florida TELETYPE OPERATOR MACHINIST APPRENTI Iflz-% ONNEL SPECIALIST Louisville, Kentucky Cleveland, Ohio |INSTITUTE OFI ARDUSTYAL Cincinnati, Ohio . VW ENGINEERING MANAGER AIRCRAFT ELECTRICAL SPECIALIST QUALITY CONTROL SUPERVISOR Pittsfield, Massachusetts Schenectady, New York Philadelphia, Pennsylvania At Work in Industry Today THIS IS A BOOKLET about some of the men and many Negro young people.. "It isn't enough for us to women who work for the General Electric Com- tell them about good job opportunities," we've been pany. told. "You have to show them." Maybe this booklet They have jobs in sales, as secretaries, as engineers, will help. as factory workers, as managers. Some of the men and women in this booklet did Some work with familiar products like electric irons drop out of school. Each has regretted it. One (who and refrigerators and radios. Others work in strange now holds a well-paying, high-skill job) told us: "I've new fields like nuclear electronics, outer space proj- spent 15 years just trying to catch up. I put in seven ects, and supersonic jet engines. years in night school, and that's not easy when you've Some have worked for General Electric for many got a full-time job and a family to raise. And even years. Some are just starting their careers in industry. now I ask myself 'How far would I have gone if I'd Some work in the older General Electric plants in stuck to the books 15 years ago?"' The progress road the northeast where General Electric began in the has been rocky for the man or woman who dropped 19th century - in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Penn- out of school too soon - and because jobs are getting sylvania, New York. Others work in states in which more complicated all the time, the way is getting even General Electric plants are relatively new -in Cali- rougher for any school dropout - white or Negro. To fornia, Kentucky, Georgia, Virginia, Arizona, etc. the dropout we can only say: Try to go back, or Some are high school graduates. Some are gradu- try for night school, or try the many industrial train- ates of top-flight colleges and universities. Some ing centers which are doing a good job in many cities. dropped out of school too soon-and have had a hard The sooner the better! time overcoming their lack of formal education. And how about the Negro youth who does care, All have one thing in common. They are Negroes. who does well in high school and earns his diploma? We are telling you about their jobs and their back- The Negro men and women who have made the great- grounds to show you the kinds of jobs that capable est progress with General Electric are those who have Negro men and women can hold in General Electric looked on graduation from high school as a milestone and in industry. We are talking about today. As these in education -'but not the end. They've gone on to words are written, each of these men and women is at secretarial schools, to trade schools, business schools. work-designing, typing, drafting, repairing, manag- They've taken advantage of training offered by large ing, planning, selling, working standard machinery, or companies and the Armed Services. operating some of the most complex equipment the And, of course, some have gone on to college. world has ever known. However, college deans tell us that many outstanding It has been thus for many, many years. Back in Negro students shy away from courses which would 1935, the man who was then president of General lead to careers in industry. "They're uncertain about Electric, Gerard Swope, wrote: their chances in industry, so they tend to move into "There shall be no discrimination by foremen, superin- such fields as medicine, law, the ministry, dentistry, tendents, or other executives of the Company against any and teaching," we're told. America needs outstanding employee because of race or creed, or because of an em- ployee's membership in any fraternity, society, labor organi- doctors, lawyers, clergymen, dentists, and teachers, of zation, or other lawful organization." course. But this industrial nation also needs young These, of course, are the words and the spirit that people-white and Negro-who can become outstand- General Electric people try to live by. ing economists, factory supervisors, scientists, adver- This doesn't mean that General Electric is perfect. tising writers, product designers, sales representatives, Even today we sometimes find the cobwebs of old auditors, and electrical engineers. Maybe this booklet worn-out antagonisms. What it means is that we have will help here, too. been trying for a good many years to live up to high To the young Negro, we say this: Can you find standards of fairness in hiring and in employee prog- your own "success image?" Can you put yourself on ress. If we're not perfect - we're certainly not compla- one of these pages? Do you have the desire? The will- cent. We're still trying to make progress - and com- ingness to bring out the best in yourself? The deter- placency is the enemy of progress. mination to get the essential education and training? That's the main reason for this booklet. Yes? Then we at General Electric believe that you Many white and Negro educators have told us that can look forward to a career in industry - a career in years of hopelessness about the future have produced which success is not based on race, but on your own a "don't care" attitude toward good grades among ability, education, and ambition. 1 Judge F. Allen He practices what he preaches about personnel development "Don't lose faith in yourself when con- fronted with obstacles and disappoint- ment. Remain relentless." This is the advice Judge F. Allen volunteers when questioned on how to get ahead in industry. He should know. He's in charge of personnel develop- ment at General Electric's Re-entry Systems Department in Philadelphia, and he has long followed his own advice. business proved to be neither as satis- vanced to supervisor and then to man- College seemed out of the question fying nor rewarding as anticipated. ager of these and related functions. when Mr. Allen was graduated from After qualifying through competitive Today Mr. Allen is responsible for Philadelphia's Darby High School. He examination, Judge Allen took a job all professional and managerial devel- didn't have the money. He went to with the Pennsylvania State Employ- opment programs at the Re-entry Sys- work in local shipyards, then enlisted ment Service. During his four years tems Department (part of the GE in the U. S. Coast Guard in 1943, with the agency as an employment Missile and Space Division), together serving in the South Pacific. interviewer and counselor, he reas- with the administration of training At the end of World War II, he re- sessed his goals. "People," he decided, programs and the Department Tuition solved to get a first class education. "are far more interesting and complex Refund Program for employees. With the help of the G.I. Bill of Rights than real estate." His interest in people goes beyond he enrolled in Temple University's He accepted a job with the Philadel- his job. He has worked closely with the School of Business Administration and phia Urban League as industrial and Reverend Leon Sullivan in developing received his B.S. degree from there in vocational service secretary. training programs for the Opportuni- 1950. In 1960, he entered industry. He ties Industrialization Center - a school After college he went to work with accepted a post as a placement repre- founded by Reverend Sullivan to fight the Veterans Administration as an in- sentative in employee relations in Gen- unemployment among Philadelphia's surance accountant and worked nights eral Electric's fast-growing Missile and lower income citizens. Also, by partici- in a real estate office. Three years Space Operations in Philadelphia. He pating in scores of career guidance later, he switched to a full-time job in recruited, interviewed and evaluated seminars and conferences in area real estate, working as an aircraft sheet salaried and hourly applicants. He also schools, Judge Allen has helped moti- metal worker at night. was responsible for the evaluation of vate many students to continue their But his venture into the real estate the manpower requirements. He ad- education. * * u Barbara Beasley Keeping nationwide track of orders for General Electric appliances You've heard of people counting sheep Park in Louisville, Kentucky. She han- to get to sleep. But did you ever hear dles the transmission, receipt, and con- of anyone who counts appliances? firmation of orders forAppliance Park's That's what Barbara Beasley often huge distribution warehouse. You can finds herself facing during her night- realize the complexity of the task by time musings. It's really little wonder the fact that this one central storage though, because in a normal day Miss and shipping operation services every Beasley will be involved with many General Electric major appliance dis- thousands of appliances-of all shapes tributor in the United States. and colors. Miss Beasley's day is fairly well di- She is a teletype operator at the vided between routing incoming orders world's biggest appliance manufactur- to the right spot and getting out con- ing plant, General Electric's Appliance firmation messages on orders available 2 for shipment.