Every business institution has, or should have, its moral, commercial, financial, artistic, and other standards with reference to personnel, according to the character of the business and other important considerations.  And the man who contemplates work with any firm will examine himself to see whether he can harmonize happily with these standards.  In like manner, every profession and art has its traditional standards and ethics, which should be considered.

PHYSICAL SURROUNDINGS

In selecting his vocation, the wise man ascertains his fitness for its physical surroundings.  Some men cannot work permanently indoors, underground, in a high altitude, in a hot or cold climate, in a damp or a dry climate, in high or low artificial temperature, in the midst of noise or dust or chemical fumes, or by artificial light, or in a locality where certain social advantages do not exist or where satisfactory homes cannot be rented or purchased.  Some men are not fitted for city life; others are not fitted for country life.  All these and other facts should be taken into consideration with reference to surroundings.

MANAGEMENT AND SUPERIORS

The management of every place has its personal preferences, not based on efficiency.  We once knew a manager who was so distressed by impediments of speech that he could not endure persons with these peculiarities in his organization, although their manner of speech had nothing to do with the quality of their work.  Every manager has some more or less marked idiosyncrasies, and these must be known and studied by prospective employees.  The personality of the management and its effect upon the worker under its direction and leadership are other important factors.  The manager who is a keen, positive driver will get good results with a certain type of people in his organization, but only with a certain type.  The efficiency of every man in the organization is also conditioned very largely upon the personal preferences, personality, and methods of his immediate superior—­his foreman, gang-boss, or chief.  Certain types of men harmonize and work well together.  Other types are antagonistic and discordant.  By their very nature they cannot work in the harmony which is essential to efficiency.  In making choice of work, the man with good judgment scrutinizes all these important elements.

ASSOCIATES AND SOCIAL ADVANTAGES

Every vocation has its social environment.  There are fellow employees, or professional associates, inevitable in the work itself; also the particular class of society fixed by locality, income, or the standing of the vocation.