I conducted an interview with Kathleen Weihberg on how she had made the transition from high school to the workforce.  She graduated from high school in the 1970’s.  Here is the information that she told me:

     Kathleen said high school was to prepare you for a future in some career or college.  College was one direction that a student could go.  For her college did not seem to be an option because her family could not afford it.  At that time the only reason to go to college was if you wanted to be a doctor, lawyer, nurse or a teacher.  She did not want to be any of those things.  She felt that there would always be a need for secretarial office position.

    During high school she focused on secretary courses.  Some of the courses that she took were in bookkeeping, business math, typing and shorthand.  These courses prepared her to be able to work in an office setting.  One of the jobs that she could do was to be a clerk typist.  The courses that she took also helped to prepare her to go into the workforce.  They taught her interviewing skills and other necessary skills to help her obtain a job after high school.  She said that the transition was pretty easy because the courses helped her a lot and taught her the necessary skills that were needed.

    Kathleen attended an employment fair at a local high school about a month before graduation.  At the employment fair, there were employers from all different companies looking for people to hire.  Some of the employers were willing to interview and talk to you right there at the fair.  At the tables employers had applications that the students could fill out.  One of the tables was Underwriters Laboratories, where she filled out an application and talked with a representative of the company.  A week later Underwriters Laboratories called for her to come in for second interview and a couple of days after the interview they called and told her that she had a job.  At Underwriters Laboratories she started out filing and then advance to a clerk typist position and later was promoted to a supervisor position within her department.  She said that she learned the most from just working there at the company.
 
 

Home page