Chapter I: Part 1

LITTLE BLUE BOOK NO. 705
Edited by E. Haldeman-Julius

100 Professions for
Women

Betty Van Deventer

HALDEMAN-JULIUS PUBLICATIONS
GIRARD, KANSAS

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Copyright, 1928,
Haldeman-Julius Company.

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

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100 PROFESSIONS FOR WOMEN

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ECONOMIC INDEPENDENCE FOR WOMEN

Fifteen years ago few women entered business or professional lives from choice. The woman who had no husband, father, or brother to support her was considered unfortunate. Woman’s delicate constitution was not considered consonant with the harsh, hurrying world of business.

How times have changed! And how rapidly! Pride in economic independence is expressed ubiquitously today by women who earn their own living. There are fewer and fewer examples of the pitiful “poor relation” who must find her food and lodging in the home of some more affluent relative.

Daughters of wealthy parents today plan careers. Although they will never have to earn their actual livings, they want the thrill of business, and the knowledge that they possess the ability to make their own ways in the world.

The bachelor girl takes the place of the simpering old maid. In place of a parrot, knitting, and a porch rocking chair, the modern unmarried woman has the interest of the whole world through her business connections.

If the married woman of today does not relish housework, she is at liberty to have a career in the business world. The percentage of married women who are working grows surprisingly every year, especially in the larger cities where more opportunities are found. The war, of course, gave a great impetus to this movement. Many women who had done war-time work found they could not be happy when they returned to the humdrum roles of housekeepers. Something was lacking—an excitement, an interest in big accomplishment rather than merely seeing that the breakfast dishes got washed. Just so with the girls who work before they are married. They may decide to settle down to being old-fashioned wives, wives who cook, mend, sweep, and wash for friend husband. Soon the novelty palls, and, in the great majority of cases, these young women return to their business lives.

The greatest urge which women feel to earn their own livings is the glorious feeling of independence! No more asking father for money, no more explanations to friend husband about needing a new hat! Many wives have to plead for spending money, have to accept it as a gift. Is it to be wondered that they prefer their own pay envelopes?

Economic independence for women is here to stay! Having tasted this divine nectar of freedom, women will not give it up. Nor would the average man have them. Business women of intelligence are very interesting. They have more in common with their men friends than the sheltered, stay-at-home girl. Men find real companionship with the well-informed woman. She need not lose her feminine charm and delicacy just because she happens to work in an office. For a long time there will probably be a sex jealousy between men and women in business. The homo sapiens just can’t get over—at least not very quickly—his idea that he stands supreme in the realms of business. It is up to the woman of tomorrow to show that she can hold the place she has won in the world of business affairs.

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NEW FIELDS OPEN TO WOMEN

The pre-war woman who faced the problem of earning a living had few doors open to her knocking. She might be a teacher or a stenographer. In this post-war era practically no line of endeavor has not been trespassed upon by woman. The sacred professions of law, medicine, and engineering have been invaded until woman’s place in these realms ceases to be criticized.

Ability is the first reason for the success of women in industry. The feminine point of view has proved its worth in practically every form of marketing. As women do the great majority of the retail buying in the United States, women have been able to show the way to sell most effectively.

It was predicted that women would not be able to stand the physical strain of the work-a-day world. While they do not possess the endurance which men have, they have proved constitutionally equal to their tasks. After all, housework is not a light physical labor and women have managed to do this for a long, long time. Fatigue is accentuated with boredom. Business offers more variety than sweeping and dusting.

Another factor which must not be overlooked in this analysis of the woman in business is the economic. Women will work for less money than men will. Consequently, women have been employed many times to take the place of men. This has made some sex antagonism. As women become more experienced, they demand more money, although the rate of compensation for the same work is less for women. This should and will be adjusted in time.

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100 PAYING PROFESSIONS

Every girl should be equipped to earn a good living. Parents of today talk about fitting a girl for a business life just as much as a boy. Of course, the better trained person, the better educated man or woman makes a greater success in life. Girls should find where their interests, propensities, and abilities lie, and should begin early in life to develop these.

The following pages give descriptions and enlightenment on a hundred professions in which women engage today. As this is an age of specialization, the peak of each profession will be emphasized. Many of the seemingly routine types of work can be made most interesting and valuable by specialization. The girl or woman starting a business career will do well to consider the many occupations open to her, and to choose with greatest wisdom. In business one may as well reach the top—it will prove not only more remunerative, but infinitely more interesting.

The woman who has capital will be wise to launch a business for herself if she is well-equipped to handle this business. This is an excellent time for women to go into business for themselves. Here they can compete on equal footing with men. Profits take no consideration of sex. If the woman with capital is trained, she will be most injudicious if she does not acquire some experience in the same type of business she intends to operate. For example, suppose a woman wishes to start a dress shop. It will be well worth her while to work in a department store, a wholesale house, and a specialty shop before she starts out on her own. She must become educated in her business. She will be ahead even if she spends several years acquainting herself with all possible aspects of the dress business. Countless costly mistakes will be avoided.

In the following resumés, the more unusual and the newer professions have been accentuated as they will prove of greatest interest to the girl or woman personally curious about the possibilities which the modern business world offers.

(1.) _Accountant._ To become a private or public accountant, a woman must have considerable business experience and must know the practices of bookkeeping thoroughly. An accountant records, analyzes, and interprets the businesses of private individuals or of corporations. Auditing, which checks up the records of a business, is a form of accounting.

The height of the profession is to become a Certified Public Accountant. One must pass rigid examinations to earn this title. Some women are registered accountants and practice successfully.

Salaries for accountants are above the average, ranging from $35 a week to $100. Certified Public Accountants are in business for themselves, of course, and when they are successful they earn very substantial incomes.

(2.) _Actress._ The stage today wants not only beautiful but accomplished girls. The young woman who cannot offer dramatic ability and training, or dancing, singing, or some other definite thing, will have a difficult time making her way behind the footlights.

Vaudeville, the legitimate stage, and the movies all offer chances for fame and fortune. The chorus girl makes from $35 to $75 a week. The extra in the movie game must provide her own wardrobe. Work as an extra is uncertain and pays from $8 to $15 a day.

Stars in any of the theatrical fields earn very high salaries, but only while the shows are playing. They live expensive lives as they can be assured of no permanency of location.

(3.) _Adjustor._ Large corporations dealing with the public often employ women to adjust difficulties which naturally arise in transactions. Department stores, for example, have adjustors to handle merchandise and service complaints from customers.

Adjustors must have good general educations, patience, and must make a good appearance. The salaries paid to them range from $25 to $50 a week.

(4.) _Advertising Women._ Advertising is a field which offers limitless possibilities to women. Prejudice against them in this work is little, and their feminine point of view is considered most desirable.

Copywriters, who write the text of advertisements, receive from $25 to $100 a week in salary. Account experts in advertising agencies receive as much as $200 a week. Women today occupy many executive positions which pay excellent salaries.

Manufacturing plants, wholesalers, public utility organizations, mills, banks, department stores, and many other business enterprises employ women for advertising.

(5.) _Americanization Work._ The war brought to a focus the need for teaching our great foreign population the meaning of the American government and the traditions of this country. Social workers were employed for this purpose. Schools now train students to teach Americanization. The foreign-born man or woman is taught enough so that he or she can intelligently pass the examinations for citizenship. Classes in English are held. Thus the parents do not get out of sympathy with their children who learn Americanisms in school.

College educations are usually required for Americanization workers. Pay probably averages from $1,800 to $2,400 a year.

(6.) _Antique Dealer._ The desire for antiques has spread over the country. Furniture, glass, and metal objects are at a premium provided they can be declared antique.

Stores selling furniture and interior decorators employ women who know antiques. Many books have been written upon the subject. It is an interesting new field, especially adapted to women as they have an interest in home decorations.

(7.) _Archeologist._ Archeology is the interpretation of past ages in the light of relics which are found of their civilizations. Exploration to find the relics must be made. Then examination and conclusions concerning the relics are made. Eventually historical data is established and written.

Women are successful in archeology. They are members of expeditions as well as students in the field. A great background of history and science is required to be an archeologist.

(8.) _Architect._ The master builders of today are not all men. Many women have entered the field of architecture and have made remarkable progress. Especially in the planning of homes do women excel. Large firms employ women to go over plans to see that the kitchen arrangements for a house or an apartment building are proper, to consider proportions of rooms for decorating purposes, and to specialize on clothes and linen closet plans. Women have also successfully designed public buildings.

Of course, a college education is necessary for the woman architect. She will earn a good living if she is skillful.

(9.) _Artist._ The emancipated woman enters the field of creative art on an equal footing with men. Writers, etchers, painters, sculptors, and musicians number many women among their famous today.

As a profession, commercial art offers interesting occupation to women. Art applied to business, and particularly to advertising illustration may be studied in almost every city. Women who draw figures are called fashion artists. Others do lettering, decorative borders, etc.

Artists on salary receive from $15 to $100 a week.

(10.) _Athletic Coach._ Girls’ schools and colleges now stress intra-mural athletics and competent coaches are engaged. Some large business corporations also employ athletic coaches. Usually the coach is athletic herself and has had training in coaching. Wellesley offers an excellent course for coaches. Salaries range from $1,500 to $2,800 a year.

Swimming coaches in schools, clubs, and at beaches can earn good livings teaching children and adults how to swim. The Red Cross employs lifesaving teachers.

(11.) _Aviatrix._ Not to be outdone by man on land or sea—or in the air—milady has put on goggles and climbed into the pilot’s seat of an airplane. Flying schools report that women make adept pupils. At first women were only stunt and feature flyers. Some went in for parachute jumping. Today women are entering the field of transportation aviation. The industry is so new that no standards of compensation have been set.

(12.) _Banker._ Banks have employed women in clerical positions for a long, long time. It is a fairly recent development to give women executive positions in banks. Today many business women are large customers of banks. They can now consult with women executives in banks. These women are called investment advisers. Other positions in banks filled by women are: teller, accountant, secretary, vice-president, treasurer and even president.

(13.) _Beauty Expert._ This includes barbers, manicurists, masseuses, marcellers, etc. The woman who can give fashionable bobs is in great demand. So is the expert marceller. Masseuses are employed by clubs, hotels, and Turkish baths. Reliable beauty culture schools give courses of six weeks to three months duration. The beauty parlor operator will earn from $20 to $50 a week.

(14.) _Biologist._ Besides teaching, women biologists find employment in federal, state, or community laboratories analyzing foods, studying water impurities, and even pathological plant life. The Department of Agriculture employs a number of women biologists in their experimental laboratories. The pay is rather small, averaging from $1,200 to $2,000 a year. Great study is necessary for biologists, usually advanced university degrees.

(15.) _Bookkeeper._ This seems to be one of the less attractive professions for women. As it is almost mechanical, the woman with original thoughts will not wish to remain in this type of work indefinitely. It does offer good business training for the girl fresh from high school or business college. It is a trade which is an asset, too, as a woman can almost always find a job if she is a bookkeeper. Salaries vary from $12 a week to $40.

(16.) _Botanist._ Research work in botany offers attractive possibilities to trained women. Botany as applied to agriculture is the chief present commercial use. Development of new and better species of producing plants are studied. Botany deals with all plant life. Botany is taught in many grade schools and in practically all high schools and colleges. Women fill these teaching positions very well.

(17.) _Broker._ Brokers are mediums of communication between buyers and sellers. Women serve as brokers in real estate transactions, in stock and bond deals, etc. One woman has made a reputation as a produce broker in New York. She buys farm produce, chickens, eggs, etc., from produce houses throughout the country and sells these to commission merchants in New York.

Women brokers are almost always in business for themselves, although they may be employed in brokerage offices. They have undoubtedly had years of business experience before they have entered this fascinating but risky form of business.

(18.) _Buyer._ Buying for retail businesses is a great and extensive venture. Buyers occupy important positions in all department stores. They usually have risen from the ranks of salesgirls, although the modern tendency is to train college graduates for buying positions. A buyer must be shrewd as well as versed in the articles she is choosing. Ready-to-wear buyers are perhaps the most important in the store world. They command large salaries, and must, in turn, make sizable profits for their employers. In department stores the pay to buyers runs from $40 a week to $15,000 to $20,000 a year for the executive buyers.

(19.) _Budget Adviser._ The modern housewife runs her home on a budget. She keeps track of what she has spent, and she makes systematic plans for what she will spend.

Banks, trust companies, etc., employ women to give advice on budgets. Stores also have budget advisers. These experts figure out what percentage of incomes should be spent for rent, for food, for entertainment, for charity, for education, etc. They advise the public. They are paid not by the public but by companies which offer their services.

(20.) _Camp Counselor._ Thousands of camps for girls are maintained every summer all over the country. The capable woman with some income who wishes to work for part of a year will do well to look into the positions of camp counselors. These adults direct the girls in athletics, in school work (where courses are being made up), and in social activities. Camp counselors should know out-of-door life and should like to be with girls.

(21.) _Cashier._ A cashier is vested with much responsibility, although she is generally heavily insured, and she receives only fair pay. Her work is almost automatic, dealing with the making of change and the balancing of cash. Work as a cashier does not hold out a great future for a girl. Pay ranges from $12 a week to $25.

(22.) _Cataloguer._ Private and public libraries employ specialists to do their cataloguing. Collectors of any rare objects of art or science have these treasures catalogued when their number has reached a sufficient volume.

Studious, earnest girls can do this work and it often proves interesting to list the collection of years’ labor. Pay is small, averaging not more than $25 a week at the most.

(23.) _Caterer._ The caterer prepares the food for large banquets, for parties, or merely for home entertainment. She must be an expert in the culinary line.

This is a good business for the housewife to enter, provided she is untrained in another field. She solicits the lodges, clubs, churches, and homes for patrons. She suggests to them appetizing refreshments, and she then has these foods prepared in her place of business, and she must deliver them in good condition. The caterer also sends experienced people to serve the food. Dishes, linens, and silver may be rented from the caterer.

(24.) _Chauffeur._ During the war, girls demonstrated that they could drive ambulances, and many of these weren’t light cars. In Philadelphia recently a taxicab company started with only girls for their chauffeurs. The girls are clad in natty, well-tailored uniforms, and they give efficient, courteous service to their customers. They report that they are not molested by flirtatious men. These girls have gone through a course of automobile mechanics.

(25.) _Chemist._ There are many openings today for women chemists. They may teach, do research work, or enter the wide field of applied chemistry. Practically all high schools and colleges employ chemistry teachers. The government has many openings for chemists in the following departments: the Bureau of Standards, the Bureau of Engraving, the United States Public Health Service, and the Bureau of Chemistry. State and municipal governments also have need of chemists.

Industry utilizes the science of chemistry extensively. Experiments for future developments as well as tests of present productions are made. The woman chemist can do as well as the man, provided she has good training.

Chemistry has a great future in industry. It serves not only the purpose of testing products but of developing great, new accomplishments. A chemist receives a fair salary, but will never get rich quickly from this profession. Women who are chemical laboratory workers receive from $20 to $65 a week.

(26.) _Companion._ Here is a genteel, pleasant profession for the woman who fears to meet the bustling, strenuous business world. Many wealthy women and many invalids employ companions. The duties of these employees are centered in keeping their employers comfortable and interested. Today the demand is for women of culture as companions. Take invalids, for example; they will want some companionship as well as some care.

Women of means sometimes employ traveling companions. Their duties consist of taking care of reservations, accompanying their employers on boats, trains, and other excursions. They are expected to make themselves generally agreeable as well as useful. One duty of the companion is to read aloud. She must do this with intelligence and interest.

All of the expenses of the companion are paid. She can have little separate life of her own. She will receive from $50 to $150 a month.

(27.) _Comparative Shopper._ The majority of large stores in this country maintain shopping departments, or, as they are often called, comparative values departments. It is the duty of these departments to see that no other stores in the same locality undersell their store. For example, they compare the merchandise in the various departments with the same merchandise in other stores and report the differences in price.

For this type of work, stores like to employ women for part time, although full time comparative shopping jobs are given. The shopper must not become known in other stores. This is a good occupation for married women who know the values of merchandise and who wish to devote part of their time to earning money.

For full time work comparative shopping pays about $25 a week in large stores. Part time workers are paid from 50 cents to $1 an hour.

(28.) _Comptometer Operators._ In big businesses much of the clerical work is done on adding and other calculating machines. Today business schools offer courses to train girls to run these machines with speed and efficiency. These girls are called comptometer operators. Their work is purely mechanical, and practice makes them improve in speed. If a girl wants this type of work, she is paid fairly well. Novices usually start at $15 or $20 a week. The most expert and swift comptometer operators will not make over $50 a week.

(29.) _Cook._ Girls who love the mystery and the excitement of mixing flour, sugar, and eggs together must not turn up their noses at the idea of cooking as a profession. Of course, it is not meant that these girls will go in private homes as servants. Today a cook in a great hotel, club, or restaurant is an honored person and must be an educated person. He or she must know values of foodstuffs, the chemistry of cooking, and the likes and dislikes of the great and petulant public. The histories of foods of foreign countries must also be familiar to them.

Chefs, or cooks, in hotels and clubs receive very good salaries. The most famous of them are said to earn $10,000 a year. That is unusual, of course. The average good cook in a public eating place receives from $40 to $100 a week. They have their assistants to do the menial work, and only the general planning and supervising is left for them.

(30.) _Copyist._ This work is semi-artistic. Today manufacturers of style merchandise, including clothing and accessories, are constantly on the lookout for something new. They buy models from Paris and other fashion centers and want them copied in perhaps less expensive materials. Copyists not only reproduce models patterned after originals, but they copy styles of other concerns, of retail stores, of any new style source which they can find. They must be able to recognize new styles and to sketch them not artistically, but understandably. Salaries paid vary from $15 a week to $35. Of course, New York, Chicago and other large cities are the only localities for copyists.

(31.) _Correspondent._ This does not refer to legal situations. Correspondents handle the letters of organizations. Many times they have charge of form letters which are used for usual queries. The heads of correspondent departments are usually responsible women who must meet situations with common sense. Correspondents also write letters for companies. Therefore, they must know the English language and its use in business letters. Correspondents in smaller concerns write their own letters, therefore a knowledge of typewriting is required. In larger concerns they dictate either to stenographers or dictaphones.

(32.) _Credit Women._ Here is an interesting occupation for the keen, alert woman. Today much business is done on credit. Every organization which sells on time as well as every organization which maintains thirty day credit must have people to pass on the desirability of applicants. Past credit records must be investigated. Almost all cities of any size have credit rating companies. Thus professional deadbeats cannot keep up their game as their reputations are recorded.

It is not uncommon for a store to have a woman as credit manager. Her job is important and well paid. The girl who would enjoy such a type of work should get a job in a credit office of a store or in a credit bureau. She will learn the business from the ground up—and it is a calling which has a future. Salaries paid to credit managers range from $1,800 a year to $6,000. Women seem to be particularly successful in this certain profession and there seems to be little prejudice against them as credit executives.

(33.) _Critic._ Critics are supposedly students who are educated in literature, in painting, in music, or in any other art, and can crystallize their impressions and beliefs into convincing form for the public.

Newspapers have dramatic, music, and art critics. The movie critic, too, is not to be overlooked as she is often a woman. Women make good critics—as any husband will testify. Seriously speaking, they have the analytic faculty and it is being recognized by newspapers and magazines who need this writing.

When critics get reputations, they often add lecturing to their means of earning money. Lecture bureaus furnish speakers for hundreds of clubs and schools all over the country.

One cannot get to be a critic in a day. One must first become an expert in judging some particular form of art and must acquire a reputation not only for sagacity but for clarity in expressing points of view. The financial standings of critics vary greatly. Those with commanding names draw the large salaries while the minor ones are paid only fairly well.

(34.) _Demonstrator._ Many new devices have been introduced into American homes by demonstrators. Consider vacuum cleaners, for example. Women often do this demonstrating. Stores, too, have demonstrators for beauty culture articles such as creams, powders, etc. Electrical refrigeration companies, gas and electric stove companies, and many other organizations of similar type use women demonstrators. To be a demonstrator a woman must have a clean appearance. She must be able to answer questions sensibly and convincingly. Demonstration gives women a chance to travel, an aspect which appeals to the more adventurous younger generation. Chances for futures in this work are not as good as in many other lines, but the work itself is interesting. Salaries range from $18 a week to $35.

(35.) _Dentist._ Dentistry has been attracting women for quite a number of years. It is a technical profession in which women have made a good name for their sex. Women dentists seem to be particularly successful with children patients; perhaps they have a better understanding of the emotions of children which dental work surely calls forth.

The value of teaching children how to care for their teeth has been realized and women dentists are employed to teach dental hygiene in schools, settlement houses, etc.

Many institutions have resident dentists who care for the teeth of their employees. Such institutions include stores, factories, large insurance houses, banks, etc. Women fill these institutional jobs most satisfactorily. Salaries paid to resident dentists vary from $1,800 to $3,600 a year.

(36.) _Designer._ Designing is one of the most fascinating and successful fields for women to enter, provided they have the talent and the training. Almost every article manufactured is first designed—which includes the conceiving of the object and its practical planning. Women designers enter every field—including the designing of furniture, lighting fixtures, fabrics, apparel, and costumes.

The fabric designer has a fascinating work. She deals with colors, with designs, and with all the practical sides of the manufacture of a printed or blocked material. Cretonne designing is a gigantic business in itself. Think of the hundreds of different patterns turned out every year. These must all be designed first. Art schools specialize in fabric designing courses.

Costume designing is an alluring occupation. Almost every New York dramatic production has its costume designer. Of course, any historical presentation must be correctly as well as beautifully costumed. Revues and musical comedies make a great thing of gorgeous, bizarre, and exquisite costuming. Again, some expert designer has worked out the costumes.

The greatest commercial use of designing is in the manufacture of wearing apparel—dresses, coats, hats, scarfs, lingerie, etc. Every season the designers must anticipate the popular trends of styles and make garments which will meet the demands of the public. Paris is followed closely. The designer must also be a business woman as she can suggest only styles which lend themselves to sensible manufacturing. When the expense of a garment does not matter, she is not so limited. When, however, she is designing a dress to sell at a certain price, she must take into account the amount of material required, the workmanship, the trimmings, etc.

The most prominent designers spend much time abroad, always on the lookout for new and feasible ideas. Their expenses, of course, are paid. Salaries for designers have a wide range, depending upon originality and experience as well as technical ability. Beginners start at $35 a week. Some of the famous designers are reputed to command salaries as great as $50,000 a year. While there are many competent men in this species of work, woman holds her own without a single apology.

(37.) _Detective._ Employment may be obtained by women on both private and government detective forces. In private agencies, women often prove valuable as they can work subtly. A good looking woman with brains can find out many secrets which a male detective would never discover in a hundred years. Women detectives are required to go into many dubious places and they must run up against unpleasant and sometimes dangerous people. For the woman who likes excitement, the work might be pleasing.

Policewomen now patrol dance halls, theatres, and other public places of amusement. They have as their province the safety of the girl in the city. Policewomen are usually at least thirty years old, sensible, and with a social point of view on the problems of women and girls.

The secret service, the aristocracy of this type of work, too, employs women. This verges on diplomatic work.

Salaries paid to private women detectives vary from $20 to $75 a week. Policewomen receive the same remuneration that policemen do.

(38.) _Diplomat._ For all time women have played their unofficial parts in the diplomatic world. Who, for example, is more important than the wife of an ambassador or of a consul? It is only recently, however, that she has been admitted into the consular service of the United States. At present there are only a few vice-consuls who are women. However, the barrier is down now and more women will fill these positions in the future.

To enter the consular service, women, just like men, must take the consular examination in Washington. Pay is very small and an outside income is most useful to those in the diplomatic service.

(39.) _Doctor._ In all branches of the profession hundreds of women are doing splendid work. An increasing number of students who register in medical colleges are women. Their scholastic standing equals those of the men students. Now the prejudice against women doctors is greatly overcome. Hospitals which used to discriminate against them have ceased to do so, and many women internes are found in the leading hospitals of the country.

Women enter general medical practice as well as the specializations of the calling. In Pediatrics, or the science of children’s health, women are singularly successful. A Pediatrist cares for children from birth to the age of sixteen.

In medicine there are institutional opportunities for women in schools, hospital staffs, and large corporations. Practically all girls’ schools and women’s colleges have women doctors.

In public health work, too, women doctors are in demand. Many women who write a Dr. in front of their names go in for medical research work, a limitless and valuable domain. Here they study the natures and try to find out the causes of many diseases which ravage the world.

Dietetics is an interesting medical profession. Women can be dietitians without graduating from medical school and entering the profession. All hospitals and sanitariums of any size employ dietitians.

Women doctors in institutions may earn from $2,400 to $10,000 a year. The study of medicine and the preparation for the profession is a difficult, long process. Seven years is the average medical course in a college. Then a year to two years of interneship in a hospital is required. Specialization demands further study.

(40.) _Draftsman._ A draftsman draws plans for machinery, structures, or places. Women have done this highly technical work well. They must be trained in this particular kind of work thoroughly. High schools frequently offer courses in draftsmanship. Engineering colleges almost always teach it. Unless a girl is very mechanically minded and likes the detail work involved, this profession does not offer an unusual amount of inducement.

(41.) _Dramatic Coach or Director._ In school work, community pageants, and on the professional stage, women have the chance to direct plays and other theatrical presentations. The woman who wants to adopt this work should know the art of elocution, the literature of the stage, and the principles of scenic and lighting effects. She must have the ability to direct a whole organization.

Dramatic coaching in schools is usually done in conjunction with some other work, usually teaching. The coach helps the students to prepare and present their class plays and their other school entertainments.

In this country there are bureaus which provide coaches to clubs, to civic governments, and to any person or organization which intends to put on a play, a pageant, or a festival.

The field of directing commercial dramas is dominated by men. Still, women do act as dramatic directors and several have made outstanding successes in this work. It is a hard profession to enter. Eva La Galliene, for example, directs her repertoire theater. She arrived at this position after years of work as an actress. She still acts in her presentations.

(42.) _Editor._ Newspapers, magazines, and publishing houses maintain staffs of editors. It is their duty to accept material and to see that it is in proper condition for publication.

In the newspaper game, not many women become managing editors. The common editorial positions which women fill are: society editor, fashion editor, home economics editor, and school editor.

Magazines and publishing houses value the services of women editors greatly. The fashion magazines must be run by women. Fiction, travel, and informative current event magazines all employ women in editorial capacities.

The feminine point of view is important to publishers. Women edit, as a rule, the children’s books. To become an editor, one must have a good education, be and remain well-read, and know what the public will buy. The ability to recognize merit in new writers is also important.

Editorial positions on magazines pay quite well, ranging, for assistants, from $40 a week to $10,000 and even more for full-fledged editors. In the publishing world, editors do not receive such good money. The field is always full as many a college girl plans and hopes to enter the editorial field.

(43.) _Educational Director._ Stores, factories, banks, and other large institutions now have educational departments not only to train their employees in their own systems of business but to give them broader general educations. Classes are maintained. In stores the sales people receive instruction in the nature of fabrics, in the history of furniture, in everyday psychology, and in the specific system of the store. There is always an educational director with assistants.

This is a rather new type of work and a most excellent variation from ordinary teaching. Several colleges give courses in educational work for institutions. In Boston is a school called “The Prince School” which teaches store educational systems.

Pay for educational directors varies from $2,400 to $8,000 a year. Her assistants receive from $35 to $75 a week.

(44.) _Explorer._ Women have had their parts in the exploration of the world. Present day explorations are conducted to gain scientific data for the most part. Women who are trained in some special work of science have found interesting times in exploration. Will Beebe, the fascinating explorer, has employed women as laboratory workers and historians on some of his adventurous trips. Martin Johnson and Osa Johnson have made notable exploration trips in Africa. They study wild animal life. Mrs. Johnson drives a truck, shoots a rifle accurately, cooks, and does whatever is necessary. Together they take motion pictures and collect interesting material.

(45.) _Exporter or Importer._ Many women engage in buying foreign merchandise or in selling American-made products abroad. Some work for exporting or importing firms and the more ambitious are in business for themselves.

In novelties, gift articles, and apparel women are especially successful importers. Much pottery, lace, china, and glass is imported by women. They, in turn, sell it to wholesale houses or to retail shops.

One woman is a successful exporter of American sewing machines. Another exports American shoes which are in great demand in Europe.

The best way to learn this business is not through schools and books but by actual experience. Customs must be thoroughly understood. It is well to speak foreign languages, too.

(46.) _Farmer._ The call of the land—the feel of the soil—is not confined to men, alone. Many women love next-to-nature life on farms, although it proves very strenuous. Women do manage vast grain farms, and they do it well. Probably more women run truck farms, raising fancy vegetables for table use. Still more women operate chicken farms. With a good market nearby, poultry farming is a good industry. Eggs and chickens are in demand all the year around, and extra money can be made by the sale of ducks, geese, and turkeys at holiday times, as every farmer knows.

Agricultural colleges offer splendid courses in modern farming. Rotation of crops, animal husbandry, and necessary sciences of farming are sensibly taught. The woman who is planning the vigorous life of a farm will be well-equipped with this knowledge, although she can obtain it from books if she wishes to do so.

(47.) _File Clerk._ The careful keeping of correspondence and other records is a necessary part of any office work. While filing is considered a rather ordinary task, it is considered highly responsible in many business organizations. The head of a filing system in a large company has an important position. By diligent work, and always meticulous filing, a girl can work herself up to a good position as the woman in charge of filing.

The ordinary file clerk makes from $10 to $25 a week. Chief file clerks make as much as $70 a week.

(48.) _Florist._ What woman doesn’t love to handle flowers? To arrange them? To see them constantly? Among the loveliest flower shops in the country are those managed and owned by women. Women are also pleasantly employed in florist shops. They learn how to make corsage, wedding and funeral bouquets. They come to know the seasonableness of various flowers.

Clerks in florists’ shops are paid from $12 to $35 a week. If a woman is thinking of owning a flower shop, she should work in several first before opening hers as there are many ins and outs in the floral business.

(49.) _Geologist._ Geology, the study of the surface and inside structures of the earth, offers a limited but engrossing sphere of opportunity. The life of the prospecting geologist is physically very vigorous, but, even so, women tackle this work and like it. The majority of women geologists, however, teach or do research work. In oil geology there centers the most commercial interest. At present in the United States Geological Survey, a woman geologist is engaged in research work concerning the micro-organisms of oil-producing rocks and sands.

Mineralogy, or the study of minerals, is a branch of geology which women have entered. At the present time, little exploring for new ore mines is taking place as the present mines supply well the world’s metal needs. Consequently, analysis of rocks, or mineralogy, is more or less at a standstill from a business point of view.

(50.) _Guide._ In these days of extensive travel, there are interesting chances for professional guides. In Paris and other European cities, a number of intelligent young American women have become guides. They not only show tourists famous historical places and museums, but they direct the anxious shoppers to the best stores and specialty shops, the out-of-the-ordinary eating places, the quaint inns, etc. Knowledge of the native language is necessary.

Steamship and travel companies which arrange tours often have cultured young women as guides and assistant guides. All of their expenses are paid, of course. They must read up the histories of the places to be visited, acquaint themselves with the customs of the countries, and assist in the details of passports and baggage examination care at ports. On board ship these guides make themselves generally agreeable to the passengers, playing hostess at ship entertainments.

Salaries paid to these guides are naturally small, as women are anxious to take the trips. One large tourist company pays these guides $75 a month, plus expenses. This amount gives the young women money for clothes and pocket money.

(51.) _Home Economist._ Domestic women with a scientific turn of mind like to delve deeply into home problems. Some of them study home economics merely to teach, others put this knowledge to other commercial uses.

Large flour companies, canning companies, and other food producing companies employ home economists and provide them with extensive experimental laboratories. Here they test out new recipes, new uses, and prove old contentions concerning food values and delectabilities.

Stores use home economists in advisory capacities. Magazines which deal with home problems also have on their experimental and editorial staffs women trained in this particular lore. In the whole field of home dressmaking, many women are employed as expert consultants. Pattern companies, yard goods stores, and sewing machine companies have home economists to inform prospective customers as to the most effective ways to make their own wardrobes.

(52.) _Hostess._ The hostess in any public place—be it a tea room, hotel, or club—must radiate dignified, reserved hospitality. She speaks for the business and her personality is very important. She adds intimacy without familiarity.

In a tea room or cafe she often seats people, taking the place of the more commercial head waiter. It is the fashion now to be informal in public places. Then she sees that the customers receive prompt service, and she tries to provide any unusual courtesy which occurs to her.

The duties and privileges of hostesses vary with every establishment. In some hotels the hostess resides in the hotel and helps patrons who want advice on shops, excursions, and theaters. She may preside over the hotel library.

The hostesses spoken of may be older women, and most frequently are women of social standing who have had financial reverses. They find themselves equipped to meet the public and to be professionally gracious.

In this jazz day, there is another type of hostess in the merry whirl—the hostess at the night club. She may be a bright, attractive, and above all wise young woman. It is she who decides who will spend the most money in the club—and she gives these parties the most desirable tables. She must be a good sport and not take offense at any too personal remark which may be cast in her direction. In some clubs she must dance with any of the men who invite her. She may even be called upon to furnish some entertaining.

Hostesses receive from $15 a week in the small tea rooms to $75 a week in the flourishing night clubs.

(53.) _Housekeeper._ Large estates have women employed as head housekeepers. They sometimes do the duties which butlers have done, that is, assume charge of the servants and of the household supplies. In a domicile of many servants, rooms of linens, and vast food stores, the housekeeper has a very trustworthy occupation. She is paid from $90 to $150 a month and receives her maintenance.

Most hotels have head housekeepers. Under them are all the chamber maids. The housekeeper in a hotel is responsible for keeping the rooms in order. She frequently buys the linen supplies. She takes charge, too, of the vast laundry done for the hotel.

Housekeepers in hotels usually receive a room and meals. They are paid from $60 to $300 a month. The latter figure applies to the very large hotels, of course.

(54.) _House Mother._ School dormitories and school fraternities and sororities have house mothers. They plan the food, manage the servants, and act as guides, philosophers, and friends to the girls or boys who live in the houses.

Women who are accepted in schools as house mothers are usually middle-aged women of genteel background and sympathetic nature. Their actions will be watched and imitated by the children, and therefore their manners must be above reproach. The salaries they receive vary from $75 to $150 a month. They receive, of course, maintenance.

(55.) _Interior Decorator._ Here is a veritable Elysium for women! Hundreds of them have entered the profession of interior decoration, and many of them have done remarkable work.

The interior decorator for the home helps with the selection of furniture, curtains and draperies, lamps, rugs, pictures, tapestries, dishes, ornaments of any kind, and even the linens. Perhaps the decorator is called into consultation with the architect. They plan color schemes and room proportions together. The decorator may go to Europe to select certain articles. Modest homes, too, are now employing decorators.

Interior decorators receive fees for their services. Besides this they get a commission for the articles which they sell. They may even carry furniture, pottery, fabrics, etc., themselves.

Stores which sell furniture and home needs often employ young women as consulting interior decorators. Customers come to them with their home beautifying problems. These young decorators receive from $25 to $150 a week. In large stores which specialize in this, the experienced interior decorator may make as much as $10,000 a year. There are only a few stores in the country which have such extensive departments.

(56.) _Insurance Agents._ Women sell insurance very successfully. They also hold down other jobs in insurance offices, such as manager of the woman’s department, research worker, or financial expert.

Women are adept in selling all kinds of insurance, life, fire, tornado, accident and health, plate glass, etc. They can talk well and they have enthusiasm for new work.

Women sell other women insurance well. They can talk on an understanding basis with each other.

Another branch of insurance which women succeed in is the Workman’s Compensation Act. This is regulated by law. However, adjustments and claims must be made. The social worker who specializes in this type of insurance represents the working man with his claim.

(57.) _Jeweler._ Precious stones, gleaming metals, rare craftsmanship, and a general environment of loveliness is what the jewelry business offers to women. The majority of positions are selling ones, but they are fascinating. High types of girls are demanded for this work. They are, it goes without saying, placed under bond. The wise girl who gets a position in a jewelry store or the jewelry department of a large store will study metals and precious stones. There is much of consuming interest to know.

(58.) _Journalist._ Many a girl has the ambition to do newspaper work. To be a reporter! It is a lively, consuming profession which more and more women enter continually. It is a game of the survival of the fittest. One must have a nose for news, or a propensity for the feature story type of writing. Reporting is hard work. It means long chases after sometimes futile stories, tedious waits for personages of interviewing importance, and sometimes great strains physically. Not all of the work, by any means, is interesting. Long lists of graduates, for example, have to be copied. Countless dull stories must be written. There is the other, thrilling side, too. Getting a “scoop” which means getting a good story before another paper has it—that is a thrill which the reporter loves best.

Women reporters are sometimes called “sob sisters.” This means that they write human interest stories—play up emotions, dwell on sentimentalities, and sometimes use exaggerations. Women are very agile reporters. They are often most resourceful and clever.

The top notch positions in journalism are those with syndicates. Syndicates sell feature stories to many newspapers. The woman who writes for them is very well paid and her writings are published extensively so that she acquires a reputation.

Reporters on papers receive from $15 to $125 a week. They have expense accounts for money used in traveling for the paper.

(59.) _Laboratory Technician._ Medical laboratories have a demand for trained workers who assist in the analyses and do chemical work in blood tests, etc. Sometimes these laboratories are in conjunction with hospitals, and again they may be part of a doctor’s office. Still other laboratories are run independently and physicians send work to them.

City and state health departments maintain laboratories where cultures are examined, where water and milk are examined to see if the germ content is dangerous. Women occupy positions frequently in such laboratories. They are paid from $20 to $40 a week and must be trained.

(60.) _Landscape Gardener._ Home owners who covet everything beautiful for their surroundings employ landscape gardeners to plan the shrubs, trees, flowers, walks, arbors, and all growing things and decorations in the gardens, lawns, and orchards. Women have gone in for this landscape gardening wholeheartedly.

A knowledge of horticulture is necessary to the well-equipped landscape gardener. She must know what seasons the various flowers bloom so that she can plan continually blooming parts of the garden. She must know what soils nourish which plants the best. She must have a good sense of color and of form.

Large firms of architects employ landscape gardeners. Nurseries need them, too. Many landscape gardeners are in business for themselves. Cities and state governments use landscape gardeners to make public buildings look as well as possible. Landscape gardening in parks is a most necessary feature.

Salaries paid to landscape gardeners vary from $1,500 to $8,000 a year. Every piece of work, when a woman is in this business for herself, is charged for separately, as in other professions.

(61.) _Lawyer._ A woman lawyer used to be considered somewhat of a freak. Now she is respected and admired. Although women have not invaded law as they have medicine and some of the other professions, they are making significant inroads. They have been uniquely successful in maintaining positions in the national, state, and municipal legal forces.

Women do try cases in court splendidly. Furthermore, they prove admirable in probate or estate work. In the domestic relations courts they evince a basic understanding of legal situations which involve emotional conflicts. In children’s courts, too, they prove their right to be in the honored profession of law. More and more trust companies are finding women lawyers suitable for their legal work.

(62.) _Librarian._ The girl who is interested in quiet, intelligent, and rather modestly paid work, will do well to interest herself in libraries. They may be divided into these classes: public, school, technical, and private. Everyone knows public libraries and the way they function. The larger libraries have subdivisions in which librarians specialize. For example, a woman may be a children’s librarian or a reference room librarian. The librarian can be a great influence for good in the community as she can help to direct the reading of men, women, and children. Many ideas are formed by reading.

School and technical libraries require trained workers, too. The librarian in a school should have a fresh, youthful point of view. She must assist the student in reference work, give him inspiration, and keep all the many details of her work in good order. Medical and legal associations maintain libraries for reference and research work. Capable women often take charge of these.

Private libraries are maintained by extremely wealthy people, by scholars, and by collectors. Some of these private collections of rare books are interesting beyond description. Librarians for these jeweled shelves keep the books well catalogued, entertain guests with information concerning the volumes, and assist their employers if they are using the library for any particular piece of work.

Colleges now have courses for library work. There are distinct schools for librarians, too. Salaries are not munificent, averaging from $60 to $300 a month. Some head librarians of large institutions receive as high as $6,000 a year. They are few and far between.

(63.) _Mechanic._ Traditionally women are most awkward with a hammer, a monkey wrench, or a screw driver. They, themselves, have come to accept the notion that they cannot be mechanically adept. Every once in a while this contention is heartily disproved. A woman is noted who is a garage worker—or who owns a garage. One large American city boasts an expert woman plumber. In this day and age, if a woman is interested in any mechanical pursuit—from engineering to operating a steam shovel—there is no reason why she cannot follow out her own desires. More power to her!