Page:The Girl Who Earns Her Own Living (1909).djvu/31

 the business, because she can study the situation from both sides of the correspondence.

If she means to be a lawyer, then by all means she should seek a position with a law firm, and, if possible, with some bright, ambitious lawyer who has not yet acquired an influential partner or a corporation position and a staff of clerical help. If she shows a natural grasp of legal problems, her employer will be the first to find this out.

Many girls start wrong. They want a position so badly that they do not stop to investigate the conditions under which they are to work. Do not make this mistake. Go into details with your prospective employer. Have a very clear understanding with him as to hours, half holidays and vacations, your hour for lunch, and extra pay allowed for overtime, especially in the evening. Your employer will not resent this demand for a perfect understanding. Rather he will respect you the more for asking it in advance, instead of accepting the position blindly and then complaining afterward about the hours, etc.

After having been informed as to hours and having accepted them as satisfactory, keep them. If you live at a distance and know that you cannot get to the office as early as the man asks, tell him so and decline the position. Do