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Denys Taylor, my sagely pal from my native Northumberland, led an illustrious career in the advertising and public relations industry. Typing this blog from his apartment, he shares a number of career managements tips for young people entering the labour market.
Having spent 2 weeks in 1936 with career experts from the British Society of Industrial Psychologists, their main kernel of advice was guidance towards a career as a marketing executive.
He would have it that guidance has to come from outside; that we're incapable of seeing our own attributes and being objective in ourselves.
We're no wiser today than then. We're no nearer guiding young people effectively today than in the 1930s. "There are so many distractions now; young people are doing things for pleasure and not necessarily illumination."
Where will enlightenment come from? Is hardship prerequisite to personal growth. It certainly helped many people during the course of Denys's long journey. He says he's pretty disillusioned by the prospects in the world today, it's getting bleaker because we're not getting wiser. For all the increase in knowledge and productivity, the world doesn't appear to actually grow.
Sadly, he regards his inevitable departure "as the end of not understanding". He reminds me of Ghandhi's famous quote: "prayer is the yearning in one's soul for more wisdom"; not subducation or approbation.
More optimistically he would like to see the older generation providing more career guidance and passing-on insight. "Every school ought to have a Careers Adviser on the staff".
I hope to be able to return to Denys to capture more of his career reflections next week. Denys, having hailed from Northern England retired from his position as Managing Director of CAPRA (the Cooperative Advertising & Public Relations Agency); having melded 920 separate cooperative initiatives into a single national marketing policy.
