THE PROBLEM 問題
My daughter is an Oxford graduate with a business degree and is bilingual in French. She works in marketing for a small company but is looking for something better. She has applied for 20 jobs and has had many interviews but keeps getting rejected. She has asked why and was told by an internet search engine that they were "not obliged to give feedback". A PR company said she was "very bright" but not "truly committed to a career in PR". Is there any point in asking for reasons? And what can be done to get her a job?
我女兒是牛津畢業(yè)的，有一個商學(xué)學(xué)位，而且通曉英語和法語。她目前在一家小公司做市場營銷，但正在找更好的工作。她申請了20個職位，面試了很多次，但通通被拒。她曾問過原因。一家互聯(lián)網(wǎng)搜索引擎公司告訴她，它們"沒有義務(wù)提供反饋"。一家公關(guān)公司表示，她"非常聰明"，但不會"真正專心從事公關(guān)業(yè)"。詢問原因有用嗎？她怎么才能找到一份工作呢？
THE ANSWER 回答
No, there is no point in asking for feedback. Most interviewers can't or won't explain their decisions, and why should they? They are not running a careers advice service and giving reasons simply invites future lawsuits.
沒錯，尋求反饋是沒有用的。大多數(shù)面試官無法或不愿解釋他們的決定，而且他們也沒有義務(wù)解釋。他們不是職業(yè)咨詢服務(wù)機(jī)構(gòu)，講出原因只會在日后招致官司纏身。
In any case, your daughter has already found out what she needs to know. She didn't get the job because she failed to act as if she was gagging for a career in PR. The reason, no doubt, is that she wasn't gagging for such a career. She is a clever girl and doesn't know if she will like PR for the good reason that she hasn't tried it.
無論如何，你女兒已經(jīng)知道了自己需要知道的信息。她沒得到這份工作，因為她沒有表現(xiàn)出自己很想從事公關(guān)事業(yè)的樣子。毫無疑問，原因就在于她確實也沒有很想從事這樣的事業(yè)。她是一個聰明姑娘，不知道自己是否會喜歡公關(guān)工作，原因就是她沒嘗試過。
Such ambivalence may be sensible, but getting a job doesn't involve sense. It involves looking about 1,000 times keener than you actually are. Before her next interview she should find out as much as she can about the job and the company. This will put her far ahead of most candidates - who can't even be bothered to check the website.
這種矛盾心理也許是理性的，但找工作跟理性沒什么關(guān)系，而是要讓你看上去比實際上的心情熱切1000倍。在她下次接受面試之前，她應(yīng)該盡可能地查找關(guān)于這個職位和這個公司的信息。這會使她遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)于大多數(shù)應(yīng)聘者--那些人甚至懶得上網(wǎng)查找信息。
She would also do well to get a trusted friend to give her a dummy interview and tell her some home truths about how she comes across. If she can do this, a brilliant future awaits. I couldn't contemplate doing such an exposing thing myself, and I'm twice her age.
她也可以找一個可信賴的朋友來一場模擬面試，對她的表現(xiàn)提一些逆耳忠言。如果她能做到這一點，光明的未來就在前面等著她。我自己倒不打算做這種暴露自己缺點的事，畢竟我的年齡比她大一倍。
Some readers have suggested that your daughter's real problem is that she has a pushy mother who writes in on her behalf. I don't think you're necessarily pushy: it's horrid to watch your child fail, and the older the child the worse, as there is little you can do.
有些讀者提出，你女兒真正的問題是，她有一個很要強(qiáng)的媽媽，甚至替她寫信提出這個問題。不過我認(rèn)為，你未必是很要強(qiáng)：看著自己的孩子失敗是一件可怕的事，孩子年齡越大就越糟糕，因為你也無能為力。
My guess is you wrote for a simpler reason: you read the newspaper and she doesn't. In which case, get her a subscription. Even if she doesn't actually read it, a folded pink paper sticking out of her bag is a nice fashion accessory.
我猜，你之所以寫信來，只有一個簡單的原因：你看我們報紙，她卻不看。如果是這樣，那就也給她訂一份吧。就算她實際并不看，但從她的包里探出一卷粉紅色的報紙，也是個不錯的時尚裝飾。
My daughter is an Oxford graduate with a business degree and is bilingual in French. She works in marketing for a small company but is looking for something better. She has applied for 20 jobs and has had many interviews but keeps getting rejected. She has asked why and was told by an internet search engine that they were "not obliged to give feedback". A PR company said she was "very bright" but not "truly committed to a career in PR". Is there any point in asking for reasons? And what can be done to get her a job?
我女兒是牛津畢業(yè)的，有一個商學(xué)學(xué)位，而且通曉英語和法語。她目前在一家小公司做市場營銷，但正在找更好的工作。她申請了20個職位，面試了很多次，但通通被拒。她曾問過原因。一家互聯(lián)網(wǎng)搜索引擎公司告訴她，它們"沒有義務(wù)提供反饋"。一家公關(guān)公司表示，她"非常聰明"，但不會"真正專心從事公關(guān)業(yè)"。詢問原因有用嗎？她怎么才能找到一份工作呢？
THE ANSWER 回答
No, there is no point in asking for feedback. Most interviewers can't or won't explain their decisions, and why should they? They are not running a careers advice service and giving reasons simply invites future lawsuits.
沒錯，尋求反饋是沒有用的。大多數(shù)面試官無法或不愿解釋他們的決定，而且他們也沒有義務(wù)解釋。他們不是職業(yè)咨詢服務(wù)機(jī)構(gòu)，講出原因只會在日后招致官司纏身。
In any case, your daughter has already found out what she needs to know. She didn't get the job because she failed to act as if she was gagging for a career in PR. The reason, no doubt, is that she wasn't gagging for such a career. She is a clever girl and doesn't know if she will like PR for the good reason that she hasn't tried it.
無論如何，你女兒已經(jīng)知道了自己需要知道的信息。她沒得到這份工作，因為她沒有表現(xiàn)出自己很想從事公關(guān)事業(yè)的樣子。毫無疑問，原因就在于她確實也沒有很想從事這樣的事業(yè)。她是一個聰明姑娘，不知道自己是否會喜歡公關(guān)工作，原因就是她沒嘗試過。
Such ambivalence may be sensible, but getting a job doesn't involve sense. It involves looking about 1,000 times keener than you actually are. Before her next interview she should find out as much as she can about the job and the company. This will put her far ahead of most candidates - who can't even be bothered to check the website.
這種矛盾心理也許是理性的，但找工作跟理性沒什么關(guān)系，而是要讓你看上去比實際上的心情熱切1000倍。在她下次接受面試之前，她應(yīng)該盡可能地查找關(guān)于這個職位和這個公司的信息。這會使她遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)于大多數(shù)應(yīng)聘者--那些人甚至懶得上網(wǎng)查找信息。
She would also do well to get a trusted friend to give her a dummy interview and tell her some home truths about how she comes across. If she can do this, a brilliant future awaits. I couldn't contemplate doing such an exposing thing myself, and I'm twice her age.
她也可以找一個可信賴的朋友來一場模擬面試，對她的表現(xiàn)提一些逆耳忠言。如果她能做到這一點，光明的未來就在前面等著她。我自己倒不打算做這種暴露自己缺點的事，畢竟我的年齡比她大一倍。
Some readers have suggested that your daughter's real problem is that she has a pushy mother who writes in on her behalf. I don't think you're necessarily pushy: it's horrid to watch your child fail, and the older the child the worse, as there is little you can do.
有些讀者提出，你女兒真正的問題是，她有一個很要強(qiáng)的媽媽，甚至替她寫信提出這個問題。不過我認(rèn)為，你未必是很要強(qiáng)：看著自己的孩子失敗是一件可怕的事，孩子年齡越大就越糟糕，因為你也無能為力。
My guess is you wrote for a simpler reason: you read the newspaper and she doesn't. In which case, get her a subscription. Even if she doesn't actually read it, a folded pink paper sticking out of her bag is a nice fashion accessory.
我猜，你之所以寫信來，只有一個簡單的原因：你看我們報紙，她卻不看。如果是這樣，那就也給她訂一份吧。就算她實際并不看，但從她的包里探出一卷粉紅色的報紙，也是個不錯的時尚裝飾。