Industrial Research 



113 



no new conceptions or creative thouglit is evident, is not of great 

 value. In that event an industrial research laboratory is likely 

 to prove more dynamic and provide better training. 



Relation of academic standing to success in industrial 

 research. — There is no general rule by means of which 

 success in industrial research can be predicted on the 

 basis of academic standing. Academic standing tends 

 to measure the student's abiUty to study, to under- 

 stand, and temporarily to remember, and is silent on 

 the highly important question of creative ability, and 

 on other qualifications. Another reason for this dis- 

 crepancy is that the terra "industrial research" is quite 

 elastic and the personnel requirements differ between 

 organizations. 



This subject was discussed by a number of research 

 directors. It was general!}' believed that to succeed in 

 research a student should be in the upper half or even 

 upper fourth of his class. Some laboratories have aca- 

 demic standards controlling the employment of new 

 men, particularly men who have received the bachelor's 

 degree. In several cases it was beheved that the fact 

 that a man was permitted to work for a graduate degree 

 was a sufficient evidence of proficiency in studies. But 

 there was general agreement that, although a good 

 academic standing is desirable, or in some cases essen- 

 tial, it is no substitute for other essential qualities, and 

 is in itself no guarantee of success. 



Resume of qualifications and training. — In the pre- 

 ceding pages we have discussed the various quahfica- 

 tions including training, which are believed to be im- 

 portant for a successful career in industrial research. 

 The hst is formidable but without minimizing the im- 

 portance of these attributes it should be realized that 

 they are important in varj'ing degrees. Just which ones 

 of them are most important in any given case depends 

 on the nature of the work and type of organization. 

 For fundamental research work more emphasis will 

 probably be placed on those qualities and attaimnents 

 which are usually associated with purely scientific work, 

 and less on such quahties as personality, cooperative- 

 ness, practicality, and common sense. On the other 

 hand, problems of a development type, such as the 

 perfection of a new process, may emphasize these quali- 

 ties, and demand less in the way of scientific curiosity, 

 imagination, and an intensive training in pure science. 

 In other words a paragon is not required for industrial 

 research. 



This summary is written as a result of studying a 

 large number of suggestions from research directors 

 who have read the foregoing section. As far as possible, 

 these suggestions have been included in the final revi- 

 sion of the section. The replies indicated, however, a 

 considerable diversity of opinion as to the relative im- 

 portance of certain qualities, and this diversity exists 

 largely because the inquiry embraced such a great 



variety of industries whose research activities cover a 

 wide range of problems and rcsponsibihties. 



Selection of a Position 



A candidate for a position should secure as much 

 information as possible about exactly the qualifications 

 required and siiould compare them with his own. The 

 applicant will probably be on the safest ground if he 

 secures a position that requires the training in which he 

 specialized. While there are many notable exceptions, 

 it is generally true that the best training, for example 

 for organic chemical research, is speciaUzation in organic 

 chemistry. 



If the candidate feels that he has a special aptitude 

 for some particular type of work, he will do well to con- 

 sider this as a desirable, although perhaps not an essen- 

 tial factor in selecting a position. For example, a man 

 who much prefers to do fundamental research may find 

 it worth his while to secure a position of tliis type in an 

 industrial laboratory. Most large laboratories carry 

 on work of this sort though only a portion of the staff 

 is devoted to it. 



The applicant should consider a number of othei 

 points relating to the particular organization with 

 which he may become associated. The matter ol 

 fmancial terms is only one of these factors. He should 

 also consider the record of the company and of the 

 industry. Industries and companies which are well 

 established and which have demonstrated that researcli 

 is profitable to them, offer considerable promise from 

 the standpoint of stability. In such cases the probabili- 

 ties are that the work will be thoroughly organized, and 

 that for the first few years, at least, the new employee 

 will have considerable assistance in the way of training 

 from those who have experience in the technical phases 

 of the business. 



The situation is somewhat different with respect Lo 

 industries or organizations wherein research is fairly 

 new. In these, while a field for research will probably 

 exist, the course is not so well charted. Matters that 

 have been in the art or handicraft stage will need to be 

 reduced sooner or later to technical terms. Policies for 

 carrying on technical work will not be so definitely 

 established. In general, a position of this sort will offer 

 considerable opportunities to the right men since they 

 will be among the first to enter a new field. 



Both types of work have advantages and disad- 

 vantages, and it is not the purpose here to recommend 

 either in preference to the other, but merely to point 

 out the difference that may exist and of which the 

 prospective research worker should take account. 



He should consider the record of his prospective em- 

 ployer from the standpoint of the ability of the organiza- 

 tion to utilize the results of research, since no industrial 



