When you get back

Korero (AEWS), Volume 2, Issue 18, 11 September 1944, Page 14

When you get back

POSSIBLE JOBS FOR SERVICEMEN

We have tried to make the information given here as complete and accurate as possible, but it should be remembered that changing conditions may invalidate some of it. These articles can be regarded, therefore, only as a general guide. They do not bind Korero or any authority.

Engineering Draughting The Public Works Department absorbs about six to eight draughting cadets annually, but outside the Department vacancies are few. The normal procedure is to take youths with University Entrance (drawing and mathematics with a high percentage of marks are necessary subjects) or equivalent qualifications, and train them in the Department. Adults do not enter the Service as cadets, the initial salary rates being low. Adult draughtsmen are sometimes employed on the temporary staff, and if an opportunity of this nature is sought, study should be directed towards passing such examinations as A.M I. Struct. E., A.R.1.8.A., A.M.1.C.E., and A.N.Z.1.A., but it should be remembered that vacancies are dependent on the activity of the Department, which is seldom predictable so far ahead. In a similar fashion, Bachelors of Engineering are occasionally employed at about £3OO per annum. Engineering draughting may be considered to cover any of the specialized branches of engineering, according to the course followed by the person concerned mechanical, electrical, civil. The work of the more senior draughtsman is highly technical and involves designing and computation with attendant proficiency in mathematics, while the preparation of specifications and estimates calls for a certain knowledge of contract law and familiarity with trade practices. In the Public Works Department, draughtsmen, generally, may rise in salary from about £250 per annum to about £470 per annum according to qualifications and appointment rather than entirely on length of service.

Local bodies in the larger centres e.g., City Councils —and certain of the bigger engineering firms employ draughtsmen, but as a general rule the conditions of entry are much the same as for the Public Works Department. The number of exservicemen not already in the employ of the institutions concerned that could be absorbed in this occupation is extremely small.

Survey Draughting and Computing This work is closely allied to the profession of surveying, but, unlike the latter, it is suited to disabled men, provided they have the use of their hands and good eyesight with no suggestion of colourblindness. Those who take up this work under normal conditions mostly join the Lands and Survey Department as draughting cadets. Appointments are made through the Public Service Commissioner’s Office, the minimum examination requirement being Public Service Entrance. The training period lasts from five to seven years, during which time cadets are required to pass departmental examinations in draughtsmanship and computing. The work is skilled and interesting with good opportunities for advancement for the keen cadet. The best draughting cadets in the Lands and Survey Department each year may become survey cadets, provided, of course, that they have the University Entrance

Examination requirements, including the subject of mathematics. There is a normal recruitment by the Lands and Survey Department of approximately two draughting cadets per annum, the appointees being generally under the age of eighteen years. However, a limited number of temporary and casual employees are engaged from year to year, and such employees are not restricted by an age-limit, nor do they require to produce the same evidence of educational qualifications. Included in this category are temporary draughtsmen, draughting assistants, and map-mounters. This avenue of appointment gives an opportunity of limited advancement to appointees who have not passed the Public Service Entrance Examination and who are not required to have the intensified and advanced training of a permanent officer. Moreover, although not part of the office staff, casual employees are attached to survey parties in the field in the capacity of chainmen and linesmen. These

employees are on daily rates of pay and in many instances are continuously employed. They require to be physically fit and mentally alert. The part that these varied occupations will play in the rehabilitation of soldiers is at present under discussion between the Department and the Rehabilitation Board. It is important to note in regard to rehabilitation that there are approximately seventy draughting cadets and draughtsmen serving with the overseas Forces who will be returning to the Department. Salaries vary according to scale : £BO per annum for the cadet starting with Public Service Entrance, or per annum if he has the University Entrance Examination ; and the average adult may earn from about per annum to an eventual salary of to per annum, although there are a few higher-paid positions than this. These figures are subject to an additional amount of about per annum cost-of-living bonus.