Indianapolis News, Indianapolis, Marion County, 27 April 1920 — Page 14
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THE INDIAXAPOLIS XETTS, TUESPAT, APETTj 27, 1920.
(Advertisement)
Unusual Comforts and Conveniences Provided Phone Employes
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Dancing, Music, Library, Rest Room, Hot Meals
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Elaborate Training School Equips Girls to Earn a Better Livelihood
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A little ever • r»*r avo she wan Juet another of the great army of unemployed American trirle—clean brtgrht-eyed. alert and eager to granp an opportnnlty. But she— like thoeaande of her eistere—lacked the one thing essential to a young woman's speedy success In the In* dustfial world—a business education. ’ *'' ' Today—Just fifteen months later— she has a proud record of four promotions In as many seasons, and ranks as ons of ths successful Assistant Toll Instructors of the Bell Telephone Company. Her rapid rlss wae due to the hoslnese education ehe received at the hands of the telephone company. That—In a word—is the story of the remarkable success of Mice HIiAbeth Oreenwolt, who in January, lilt, was a student in the educational department, located In the great telephone building at Meridian and New Turk Rtreeta. and who la today occupying the responsible, well-paid position of Assistant Toil Instructor. s - '«» ,- j It Is not an unusual story. As a matter of fact it is one that Is duplicated many times among the nearly a thousand happy young women who make It possible for Indianapolis to have telephone service.
CONTENTED TELEPHONE EMPLOYES EXPLAIN ADYAN. TAGES OF THE WORK
According to Mi a Oreenwolt, the lot ef the telephone employe Is a most pleasant one. She smiles most affably as she tells you that not for ths world would she trade places with other young women in offices and factories "But,” she adds, "it la a work sny girl of ordinary intelligence can learn In * very few weeks—and best of all—she doesn't have to lay out sny money tor her telephone education. Instead of that, the company sends her to Its own school and pays her while ahe is lArning. As soon as As Is out of the school her pay la substantially Increased, and If she keeps her mind on her work there is no limit to the possibilities for advancement. I'm sure many girls would not be willing to work in off toe* and factories If they knew how attractive tele-* HAltv im » 1
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WHERE REST PERIODS ARE SPENT
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HOT MOME-L1KT WNCHL ARE PROVIDED, A7 J.ESS JHAN HOME CAN YPROVIDE THEM.
VSHEIZE THE HUMBER PLEASE" ORIGINATES
any of the tele- ^ l» the city—there are many of them scattmwd over Marion Aunty—finds plenty to substantiate Miss Qreemwolra statements. The life of tho telephone *ir! is a happy one—at least, in mo far as the telephone company can provMo tor the happinoM of its employee
A GLIMPSE OF THE TELEPHONE GIRL OFF DUTY . For instance, on top of the "Main" building Z M.r.dlbn .Ud N., Tor\ streets, there ia a big glassed-in restroom where the girls speed their spare time. You can find little groups of them here at ail hours, comfortably chatting, reading, resting on the wicker couches, writing to the “folks at home," playing the piano or dancing to the tunes produced o* trola Ydu always sneing in the what else is going on. The happy, youthful spirits of the bright-faced girls seem to respond eternally to this well-named “poetry of motion." Of good books there is a ptentitude. supplied by the well-stocked shelves of a circulating library. The latest newspapers and magazines are also conveniently placed to while away an idle baU hour. Unlike moat employes in other occupations th« telephone employe
has access to this rest and recreation department at times other than the noon hour. She is employed for two periods of four hours each, each day. A fifteen-minute rest period is provided in the middle of these work periods, in addition to tho full hour allowed for lunch. In this way the girl may viait the rest room once every two hours if shs so desires. Should she feel Indisposed—a quiet nook in another part of the building ia provided with hospital beds and cots. She can lie here* in absolute quiet—subject-to the ministrations of ths capable first aid department at any time her health seems to demand it.
AND. OH GIRLS. THE HOME COOKING OF THE PHONE LUNCHROOM
At meal time she can buy a home, like hot lunch at even leas than it would colt her to bring the cold victuals from home. She may have her noon meal in thia lunchroom—or ahe may taka all three meals hers every day—at a cost much lower than she would have to pay In lunchrooms or boarding bouses that are maintained fur profit. At every meal aha finds kindred spirits at bar right and left hand. Oirto of her own age, interested in the very things that engage her Interest. It ia an environment that must stimulate any alert young woman. No doubt these are some of the reasons why many girls who started in telephone work ten or fifteen years age are still glad to be enrolled as telephone employes. There are even some who have been on the local payroll for over twenty years. But in spirit of efficiency they are still “girls." Not all of the young women in the telephone work are local operators. There is such s demand for competent, people to fill the high positions, that almost any girl of apt mind can qualify for advancement in a comparatively short time.
PLENTY OF WORK FOR THOSE W HO CAN NOT REPORT AT 8 AND LEAVE AT 5
Another thing that makes ^ telephone work attractive to young ladies who could not afford to seek other employment is the great adaptability of the hours. This ia particularly advantageous to students—whether in high school er
college—who find that the telephone company can give them fascinating and lucrative employment that will in no way interfere with their school work. Many an ambitious girl has paid her way through school by taking advantage of this opportunity—and it is always possible for more of them to do so. Other girls, who prefsr not to go all the way to the center of town each day for their employment, avail themselves of the opportunity to work in the various outlying exchanges within easy walking distance of home.
EXCEEDINGLY HIGH TYPE OF GIRL FOUND IN THE WORK
it is no doubt these factors of adaptability of hours to the needs of educated young women, the nearness of the work to the home, and the splendid provision made to interest girls of the right type in the work, and to fit them for it, that accounts for ths sxcoedtngly high standard of young woman found in telephony. It ia a work to whieh the fondest mother can safely entrust the morals of hsr daughter. The girls are chaperoned by well educated, refined women who are on hand In every department to watch over their welfare. You see these matronly looking women with their kindly, smiliag faces in the rest room, the locker room, the educational department and the lunch room, as wel> as in the work rooms. These older employes seem to take an unusual interest in helping the newer girls adjust themselves to their environment. They see to It that no girl gets to the great switchboard until she has become thoroughly accustomed to the work.
NEED FOR TIMIDITY THE PART OF NEW EMPLOYES
From the moment the prospective employe steps into the enrollment office she is met in a way to assure her that she need have no fear af being embarrassed with her new occupation. For weeks she is schooled in the mechanics of telephony from the standpqjnt of both the local and long distance operator. She is taught the extreme simplicity of what to outsiders at times seems to be a hopelessly complex operation. She has it demonstrated to her that
it is easy to give a subscriber the right number—and to do it quickly. She is taught what the various signals an<l signs of telephony mean— and how they operate. And long before she is asked to take her position in front of the great switchboard she is given practical experience work in a "laboratory,” that is an actual switchboard room in miniature. Here, before a practical working switchboard, she receives and transmits calls just as she will later do when she gats into the actual work. The only difference lies in the fact that until she is absolutely sure of herself she gets no calls from the subscribing public. Her "number, please/’ is s'poken into a phone, at the other end of which is an instructor, whose sole interest in life Is to make the learner a more efficient operate/ Should the student make mistakes in her practice w*ork she ie shown how to correct them—and how to avoid them in the future. She learns exactly what to do and say under all circumstances. Every condition that can possibly arts# when shs is seated before the big switchboard taking her instructions from the general public. Is duplicated over and over again before the schoolroom switchboard. And her education is stimulated by the fact that other girls, to right and left of her. are doing the same thing. At first the calls are given to her slowly. As her efficiency increases, they are speeded up until at last she is handling calls as rapidly as they are ever handled even in the rush hours. And then ehe is ready to graduate into the actual work. But, unlike most business schools, this one has paid her all the time she was learning—instead of asking her to pay it. This obe gives her a permanent position immediately upon graduation and sees to it that her salary is advanced and her opportunities Increased as her service lengthens.
SICK BENEFITS. INSURANCE AND PENSION FOR FAITHFtfL WORKERS
Should she take sick, a special insurance feature, to which she contributes nothing, pays her a sick benefit. After a reasonable length of service she is likewise entitled to a death benefit—and after a still greater length of service to retirement on a pension—should shs so deeire.
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'EMBRYO PHONE. GIRLS" LEARNING. THEIR WORK AT THE EXPENSE^ a OF THE 1 COMPANY.
At all times hsr health is guardsd. She is protected from disease by unusuai sanitary precautions. Every girl is entitled to free consultation with the company’s physician. Lungs, heart, eyes and hearing are alfo watched, both for the good of the employe and for the good of the service. This means less time off on account of sickness—and a remarkable freedom from those periods of depression known as "the blues," to which many feminine workers in othsr fields are so frequently subjMt* ' ' ? There to at all times a friendly rivalry between the girls in ths various exchanges—each trying to excel the other in good spirits and efficiency. Nor are the girls in the outlying exchanges at all willing to admit that their sisters in ths central building have any" advantage that can not be duplicated ia the other exchange bulldingm. Some of these girls in the outlying buildings even insist that their own rest and recreation rooms are cosier and ' more attractive than the beautiful restroom in the “Main” building.
ANOTHER “SUCCESS STORY** FROM THE IRVINGTON EXCHANGE
For instance, their is Uable Cornstock. of the Irvington office, who is perfectly content to help handle the phone traffic of Indianapolis' classic suburb. Miss Comstock says that as a convenient homelike place to work, the Irvington exchange can not be equalled anywhere. She is decidedly proud of the coxy type of bungalow architecture used in the building, the g/eat trees back of it and the homeli’.e lawn and hedgd in front. “It’s Use working in your own home,*’ she says—‘ialmost like not being at work at alL"
Eleven years ago Miss Comstock was a messenger. A little later she enrolled in the telephone school, and since then her rise has been rapid. She has become by turns, operator, recruiting officer, supervisor and clerk. Those who know her say that, like many other girls, the cheerful associations she has built up in telephone work, and the attractive nature of her employment, will probably add materially to the length of her service. Unless, of course, she should at some time before that period has elspsed, go the way of so many telephone employes. "From telephone bell to wedding bell," say the happy telephone girls, "is not always a long step." Growth of business is not tho only reason why there are always vacancies to be filled in the telephone industry. Scores of girls leave every year to take up happy home duties. At any rate, it is true that there is no over-abundance of telephone employes. Any clean-thinking girl of ordinary intelligence can quickly qualify for the work. Her pay starts the moment she enrolls in the training school. It commences to advance the moment she leaves it. The position—with its many opportunities for advancement—is hers as long as she is willing to give service efficiently and pleasantly.
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MABEL COMSTOCK BAS FOL/ND THE, WORK INTEBSLY INTERESTING FOR THE PAST 11 YEARS
POSITIONS OPEN NOW FOR AMBITIOUS GIRLS Opportunities are now open for beginners in both the local and the long-distance departments. Good positions at attractive hours also await experienced telephone operate rs who are always glad to return to this desirable work. ' It is a position that requires no previous experience and offers speedy advancement The girls are not put to work answering calia until they have been given suitable training. The pay starts the moment the girl is enrolled in the telephone school.
As a matter of fact the rats *f pay while learning is really higher than that usually paid to stenographers and bookkeepers just out of business college. Yet stenographers and bookkeepers are not paid at ail while they are learning their professions. Indeed, many of them not only have no income while attending school, hut have to pay from $59 to $100 for the privilege of learning. Contrasted to such conditions, what business opportunity Is brighter than that offered to girls who take up telephoning—a free education In a work that offers lifetime employment—pay while learningimmediate advancement—and an opportunity to work up to an unusually well-paid. 1 responsible position.
Girls Interested in Learning Telephone Work Should Apply to the Indiana Bell Telephone Co New York and Meridian Streets Employment Desk in Main Lobby
INDIANAPOLI9. I NO.