A study was undertaken of West Indian and white youths in Lewisham, England, who were entering the employment market for the first time in 1977. It was found that blacks were less successful than whites in the search for employment. Not only were they three times as likely to be unemployed, but those in employment had taken longer to find work, had made more applications, and had been to more interviews than whites. Despite their efforts, black school leavers were less likely to find the kind of work they wanted, and so were less satisfied with their jobs. The educational achievement of the blacks was generally lower than that of the whites. However, this did not appear to be the crucial factor in explaining the differing success of the two groups in finding jobs. Two thirds of unemployed blacks thought they had been discriminated against by employers. Discrimination appears to be an important factor in accounting for the difficulties faced by blacks in the search for work. The findings of this survey have numerous policy implications for employers, local education authorities, and the Manpower Services Commission. (Author/MC)