Careers Room

The Careers Room has been more regularly used this term, and an encouraging feature has been the increased number of younger boys who have made use of it. As has been pointed out before, though it may not be advisable to settle too definitely upon a career at an early age, it is never too early to begin finding out about possibilities. Information continues to come in from various sources, and recent additions to the Careers File include pamphlets from the following :—

Stewarts and Lloyds, Ltd.—Engineering. Dorman Long & Co., Ltd.—Engineering. Raleigh Industries, Ltd.—Engineering. Lockheed Hydraulic Brakes, Ltd.—Engineering. Bradford Technical College—Textiles. Tootal Broadhurst Lee Co., Ltd.—Textiles. Ashton Brothers, Ltd.—Textiles. Esso Petroleum Company. Anglo-American Corporation (S. Africa)—Mining. Federation of British Industries ,(a pamphlet entitled "Careers for the Graduate in Industry"). Sutherland Dental School, Durham University. Loughborough College of Technology—Automobile Engineering. Local Government Service. Edinburgh University Department of Social Studies.

Also in the Careers Room are to be found two series of pamphlets produced by the Ministry of Labour and National Service, namely "Careers for Men and Women" and "Choice of Careers". The following revised pamphlets in the first series have recently been received :—

Auctioneering, Estate Agency and Land Agency. Insurance. Electrical Engineering.

The following new pamphlets have been received in the second series :—

Accountancy. Medical Laboratory Technician. Occupational Therapy. Physiotherapy. Chiropody. Local Government.

In these notes last term it was pointed out that one of the functions of the Public Schools Appointments Bureau is to organise Short Works Courses during the Easter and Summer holidays for boys over 16. The object of the courses is to give boys some idea of what industrial and business careers entail. They are open both to boys who have decided to enter industry or business and also to boys who have not decided upon their careers, but who think that they might be interested in industry. Attendance at one of the courses 35

does not place a boy under any obligation. Any boy interested in attending one of these courses is well advised to apply for a place as soon as possible after the publication of full details. These are generally sent out near the beginning of the term before the holiday in which the courses are arranged.

In order to give some idea of what is done on the Short Works Courses, the following account was written by a member of the School who attended the Rootes Group course during the Summer holidays.

K.G.C.

SHORT WORKS COURSE

Out of a very wide choice of courses offered by the Public Schools Appointments Bureau I chose to apply for that run by the Rootes Group in Coventry. The course lasted for four days in September, and my idea was to see the Motor Industry from the inside. There were sixteen of us from Public Schools in all parts of the country, and we were heartily welcomed at the Stoke factory. Our accommodation was at an excellent hotel outside Coventry.

On the first day we were collected by coach and taken to the factory. After an interesting talk on the birth of the motor car we were shown round the Stoke factory. In the afternoon we went round the Ryton factory where most of the final assembly work is done. This was not a detailed tour and during the next three days we spent half a day in each of the main departments. The first of these was the Foundry where we saw the molten metal being cast into cylinder blocks and other engine parts. These are finished in the Engine Machine Shop where one afternoon was spent. The next department was the Engine Assembly Shop where the engines are assembled and tested. The gear boxes come next on the list and these are assembled and thoroughly tested in the Gear Box Shop. On the final morning we went to the Ryton works to watch the assembly of the whole vehicle. The bodies and chassis (if any) come from another factory in the Rootes Group. All the vehicles are tested on rollers and several have actual road tests.

We attended short lectures and our questions were answered by various members of the firm such as the Production Manager, Chief designer, and Personnel Manager. Our guides were pupils who were on the Company's five years' course. In the evenings we could do what we liked and one evening I had a chance to visit some stock car racing.

There was no doubt that at the end of the course everybody had had an enjoyable and extremely profitable time.