Chapter 2 - The Job Interview

There were many more kids looking for work than there were jobs to be had and the natural progression to an apprenticeship was to work as office-boy/messenger for two years before learning a trade. There were a good variety of choices in the trades, i.e. Joiner, Electrician, Pattern Maker, Plumber, Fitter & Turner, Bricklayer, Boilermaker and the lesser-known Roll Turner. The latter trade was exclusive to the steel trade and found only in rolling mills whereas the other skills could be applied to many other types of construction work outside the steel plants.

In recognition of this restriction the Roll Turners were compensated by three pence an hour more in the pay packet than the other tradesmen. Not quite enough to make anyone rich, three cents x 48 (number of hours worked per week) = $1.44 per week, go figure.

One had to register with the department of labour and present oneself weekly and be able to be interviewed for any available jobs on offer and it was prudent to accept a position if one was offered. That is how landed my first job was as telegram delivery boy in the neighbouring town of South Bank. It was only a temporary position whilst the current boy was on vacation and I think it lasted about 10 days which was good as I knew little about the geography of Slaggy Island as we uppity Grangetowners called it, so I spent extra time riding the huge heavy bike around looking for the addresses on the envelope containing the telegram.

After that episode there were no more jobs offered so I signed on a waiting list with Dorman Long Steel Works and went through the mill as it were, pardon the pun. The first step being as previously described office boy/messenger. At least four but I think five of us boys whom I knew went to the Mill Manager’s office to be interviewed for the one position office boy. The mill manager was a busy guy and late coming to the interview and obviously wanted out of there as soon as possible. His means of choosing the candidate proved that. We were all seated along a wall dividing his office from his Clerks office, we were in the Clerk’s office and he began by asking the boy on his left to tell him “What is the formula for finding the area of a circle?” First boy drew a blank, as did the rest of them when asked in turn the same question. Myself being last to be asked provided the correct answer, PiiR2 or 3.1416 x R2. Pii being the 16^th letter of the Greek alphabet multiplied by the radius of said circle squared being the answer he wanted.

His next requirement was to ask everyone in the same sequence as before to perform a handstand against the wall. I was the only one who did to his satisfaction. He said to me you stay and speak with my Clerk, Mr. Casey, who will ask you some details and tell you when to report for work. The rest of you can go, and he disappeared out of the door he came in by, back out into the mill.

The year was 1940 and it was of utmost importance that the mill produce as much steel as possible for the war effort, a man very much under pressure from his job was Mill Manager, Mr. Harry Houston.

The office boy/messenger job lasted 18 months and provided a good knowledge of the vast plant and its workings, which led to me to becoming an apprentice Roll Turner. Dad told me the only drawback to the trade was that one had to move around to gain experience and to go where the work was. His words certainly came to be true in my respect, England to Africa then back to England for seven years eventually ending up in Canada. So the trade certainly provided an opportunity to travel and see two more continents in the world, which was a much different experience than most people who grew up in our parents age group who rarely travelled any farther than their own legs would carry them within any given day.

Aerial View of the Plant and row houses bottom right