Advice For Graduating Seniors

Editor's Note: This was originally published in The Camden Chronicle, but the exact date is unknown. At the time of Jim's death in January 2000, the biggest internet story was the fact that none of the dire predictions surrounding January 1, 2000 ("Y2K") had come to pass. Facebook, Twitter, etc., may have been ideas percolating in some teenager's consciousness, but I have my doubts about that. In the article below, as with many issues, Jim foreshadows the use of social media by employers and others to monitor behavior and use those observations to make a range of decisions impacting employment, college admissions, and so forth. 

At lunch a few days ago, a friend and I were discussing the opportunities, or lack of opportunities, facing this year's group of high school graduates. My friend, a southern expatriate like myself, was explaining, "When I came to Detroit in 1947, a fellow could sleep 'til 8:00 on just about any morning and still get a job before lunchtime. My advice to a high school grad is to continue on with their education. Jobs are much harder to come by now."

I suppose my friend's advice makes sense, but as for me, I have no advice for a student continuing on to college because I never went and cannot speak with authority.* But I do have advice for a young person who is beginning a lifetime  of work in a supermarket, hamburger franchise, machine shop, factory, or any of the thousands of unskilled jobs that are required to keep this country humming: KEEP A JOURNAL!

Not a diary. Not a record of holding hands with a Saturday night date. I'm talking about a record of the people you work with and especially the ones in authority over you.

From the moment you make application and are hired, every move you make and every word you speak will be reported in some personnel file the company requires its managers to keep. Your personal life will be recorded, too. Your habits, such as smoking and drinking, will be noted and scrutinized in the event that you are eligible for some sort of promotion or advance in the company. Screening agencies will be hired to check on your family life and your friends. Is your spouse the proper sort? Will he or she fit into the company's scheme of things? Are your friends well behaved? Do they have sexual or social failings that could bring embarrassment to you and, through you, to the company?

In order to minimize the effect these company-kept personnel records might have on you in the future a journal of all your workmates, and especially middle- and upper-management in the organization, is absolutely essential. This way, when sales are slow, new orders are not forthcoming and your boss pulls your personnel file because layoffs are the order of the day, you can pull out your own file and explain why it would be better if you are kept.

Records are a powerful tool and anyone can keep them. Remember, a properly kept journal can be far more valuable than the high school diploma you just earned.

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More editor's notes: 

* This is sort of true. Jim didn't get a high school diploma in 1948 as he should have, instead he quit school two months before graduating and hopped a bus for Detroit. I never did hear a story that made sense. In one serious questioning, he explained that he had done badly on tests and quit before he thought he would be humiliated by flunking. In another, he claimed that he just wanted to come to the big city and make money. Quitting and being motivated by money were two traits I never would have used to describe my father. However, after being discharged from the Navy (see Letters From The USS Valley Forge), Jim received a G.E.D. and did take some courses, including creative writing and public speaking, from Henry Ford Community College. 

As with much of Jim's writing, the tone is a bit tongue in cheek. As a father, he never advocated blackmailing supervisors in the event of an unfortunate conversation. However, he did recommend constant observation of one's environment and listening for what was not being said. He also recommended a Pharm.D. as the best of all possible careers to anyone who would listen.