If the transcription of these notes is made on a typewriting machine, as in most cases they will be, the employer should give regard to the quality of the typescript. Good typewriting is at once distinguished by an even impression, absence of erasures, and an absence of ugly-looking punctuation marks stabbed through the paper. A competent typist strikes her punctua tion marks lightly, more lightly than other characters, and by so doing she makes the work look better and spares the life of the machine.
The best stenographer is she who takes an interest in her work, and it will pay a prospective employer to make a few adroit inquiries on this subject. The root of a good deal of incompetence in the stenographic world is indifference, and a little enthusiasm goes a very long way.
A stenographer may succeed in passing the prescribed tests and yet be an undesirable acquisition. The employer should protect himself against this possibility by engaging the applicant on a month's trial, and if at the end of this time she is unsuitable, there should be no hesitation in terminating her service. Many business men who would not tolerate incompetency in
a male clerk will, for reasons which do credit to their hearts rather than their heads, suffer a member of the fairer sex to heap blunder on blunder. This is a mistake from all points of view; moreover, it must be remembered that the dismissal of a servant, although comparatively easy at the end of a trial term, is much more reiugnant to the ordinary humane person after some duration of service. This is an important point, and has been well evidenced in many a practical example.
It will be noticed that we have dealt with the stenographer in the feminine sense. The reason for this is that stenography nowadays is practically a woman's monopoly, and, where the above conditions are filled, woman seems to be best adapted to the work. Obviously, however, my remarks apply equally well to male stenographers, who are still needed in many concerns. Some of the very best stenographers are men, but their work belongs to the higher branches, and is consequently paid for at higher rates.