The vast majority enter the service as clerks or copyists at a salary of $720 or $900 a year, and rise gradually to a salary of $1,500 or more, doing purely mechanical or clerical work.
This branch of the Federal service is known as "Clerks' Departmental Service." Examinations are held twice a year—spring and fall—at various points all over the country, selected by the Civil Service Commission. A girl does not have to go to Washington to take this examination. It is given in several cities of her own State. For instance, in Ohio examinations are generally held at Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Ironton, Toledo and Zanesville.
As this is the service in which the majority of women find positions, and as its examinations are the simplest, I am giving exact instructions for the girl who thinks she would like to seek an appointment as a clerk. The Civil Service Commission issues twice a year—in January and July—a manual giving all the information needed at first by would-be appointees. In addition to securing a copy of this manual, which is sent on request, the applicant should write to the Civil Service Commission, Washington, D. C., several weeks before the examination is scheduled, stating simply that she wants to take the Clerk-Copyist examination, and asking at what point nearest her home and on what date said examination will be held, and closing with
