PUTNAM TO STUDY CHOICE OF CAREER

Following a recommendation made last year by the Committee on Employment of the Student Council, A. L. Putnam '20 was appointed Consultant on Careers to cooperate with the Alumni Placement Office, at Wadsworth House, and the Student Employment Office, at University Hall. The position was created in order to conduct research of various post-college careers and to investigate the general problem of aiding undergraduates in their choosing of an occupation for which they are fitted.

In discussing his plans, Putnam emphasized his intention to examine the problems brought to him not as an adviser in the strict sense of the word but more as an expert giving the individual the benefit of his experience and the results of his study of general and particular cases in personnel work. He said that he intended following the suggestion of the Student Council that he occupy himself first in a survey of the broad outlines of the problem of career choosing.

The questionnaire which recently was sent to all members of the Senior class was the beginning of an investigation of the immediate needs of Harvard men. Using as a basis the type of impersonal information gained for the Alumni Placement Service through the questionnaire. Putnam will study the problems of the individual by means of personal interviews.

Though his work at first will be concerned largely with the Senior class he hopes to extend his study and usefulness to all undergraduates. He pointed out that the four years of college life are the most important in the development of the college-bred individual and that they should be utilized in a thoughtful manner if they are to contribute the full benefit of which they are potential.