20036 ($15; students $7.50).

A survey of 40 senior personnel directors of medium-sized and large employers in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area identified characteristics of unskilled applicants most highly valued by employers. These personnel directors estimated the probability that 16 hypothetical unskilled individuals would be hired at their firm. Each hypothetical individual was desf.ribed by seven characteristics: high school completion, job-specific training, work experience, motivation, reliability, appearance, and speech. The primary finding was that the motivation, reliability, and attitude of entry-level job applicants were more important than completing high school or a training program. In fact, personnel officers repozted that completing high school or a training program did not significantly improve the likelihood of being hired for an entry-level position. The hiring decision for entry-level positions was, unlike the,ase for many higher paying jobs, not a singl