(Ed. Note--The Crimson does not necessarily endorse opinions expressed in printed communications. No attention will be paid to anonymous letters and only under special conditions, at the request of the writer, will names be withheld. Only letters under 400 words can be printed because of space limitations.)

To the Editor of the Crimson:

A statement attributed to me appeared in a recent issue of the Crimson saying in effect that jobs would be assured only to men in the upper tenth of the senior class. By implication it was further stated that the other nine-tenths would waste time by registering with the Placement Office. The absurdity of both contentions should be apparent, but there is a half-truth here which demands explanation.

One might equally well say either that no senior is ever assured a job or, on the basis of past records, that nearly 100 per cent are assured jobs. The issue is What is the role of the Placement Office in placing seniors? and What are the employment prospects of its senior registrants?

The function of the Placement Office is to bring together students seeking business employment and employers seeking graduating students. One phase of this activity is scheduling interviews for students with representatives sent to the College by the large national corporations. These companies are frankly in search of outstanding men and to find twenty trainees may visit twenty or more colleges. Such a company recruiting at Harvard may interview thirty men and hire only two. It is true, under these circumstances, that the "upper tenth" stand the best chance of employment.

The greatest fire does not always accompany the densest smoke. The national corporations make plenty of smoke, but most seniors find employment in the relatively smaller companies. Here, too, the Placement Office has its contacts. Few representatives from these companies will be sent to the College, but job orders will come by mail and telephone and interviews for seniors are then arranged at the company's offices.

Once a senior has determined the sort of work he wants, the Placement Office will assist him also to plan a campaign of job seeking, will help him with letters to employers, and will furnish him with names of companies and their officers.

The Placement Office "hands out" no jobs; at best it brings together prospective employer and employee. In this sense every registrant must shift for himself; the final responsibility for getting a job is his. Those seniors who accept this responsibility will always be guaranteed the sincere efforts of the Placement Office in their behalf and may be reasonably assured of employment after graduation. Donald H. Moyer.