从应聘者中脱颖而出

　　It's great if we enjoy our work and, even if we don't, it occupies a lot of our time.你想过换工作吗？招聘会一场接一场，求职者应聘了一家又一家。那么，如何提高求职成功率呢？One of the most important steps in winning a job is to have a successful job interview (or several job interviews). Many job candidates are worried about interviews, and they feel even worse about the interviews given in English. How can you be successful in a job interview? What are the qualities necessary to make you outperform other candidates and get the job?别着急，接下来的内容就是帮助你从众多的应聘者中脱颖而出。

　　这次我们将听到在校生小刘和公司经理之间的一段面试对话。You will learn from Liu's skills for handling a job interview.

　　Most job candidates will predict interview questions and prepare the answers before they have job interviews. Good preparation can often help them a great deal in giving their best performance.有备而来，则无往而不利。就让我们看看英语面试中经常出现的一些问题。

　　A. Tell me something about yourself.

　　Give me a general introduction about yourself.

　　Give me a brief introduction about your education and working experience.

　　Please introduce yourself first.

　　B. What's your goal for future?

　　What will you be in 5 years?

　　What do you think your position will be in 5 years?

　　What's your blueprint for your future?

　　C. What's your advantage / disadvantage for this job?

　　What makes you feel confident for this job?

　　Why do you like this kind of job?

　　D. Tell me your present job description.

　　Describe your daily responsibilities.

　　What do you do everyday in your office?

　　E. What kind of person are you?

　　What do you think your colleagues might describe you?

　　What do you think your boss might describe you?

　　What do you think your friends might describe you?

　　F. Do you prefer to work with others or by yourself?

　　What kind of people rub you the wrong way?

　　What do you look for in a supervisor?

　　If you were the boss, list the 3 most important persons for you in your business.

　　Describe one of your colleagues whom you like best.

　　G. What can you do for us?

　　How does your education relate to this job?

　　Describe a goal once you achieved and how you got there.

　　Suppose you have a chance to design/evaluate/manage a job, which way do you prefer to do it.

　　What have you learned from previous jobs you have held?

　　H. What's your expectative salary?

　　What's your present salary?

　　What do you expect to earn?

　　What if we can't offer you as you expect?

　　暂且不评论小刘的表现是否出色，让我们先来看看小刘的同学Sam面对同样的面试官，同样的问题，他是如何应答的吧。

　　MANAGER: Good morning, Mr. Brown! Please sit down!

　　SAM: Good morning, sir. Thank you.

　　MANAGER: Why did you apply for an internship in this company?

　　SAM: Well, sir, your company is located very near the college, so it would be very convenient for me to work here.

　　MANAGER: Anything else?

　　SAM: Yes, well, your company is an engineering company, and as I am an engineer, it seems I might be able to make myself useful.

　　MANAGER: Er, I see. Among the qualities we are looking for is technical ability and practical skills. A lot of university graduates have paper qualifications--but can they deliver? What would you say to that?

　　SAM: Yes, well, at my college, we have been working mainly on theoretical aspects so that we have a firm foundation. But each semester we have been asked to work on a practical project of some kind or other.

　　Can you give me an example?

　　SAM: Yes, well, during the last semester, I did the technical drawing of an experimental water pump. We had to do a presentation at the end of the semester.

　　MANAGER: Really! Did you bring the drawing with you?

　　SAM: I'm afraid I didn't. I didn't think you would be interested.

　　MANAGER: I see! Tell me, did you do that as an individual assignment?

　　SAM: Well, I worked with a team of five other people on the pump. I didn't want to get too involved, because of the time factor, so I offered to do the drawing, based on the design that had been worked out.

　　MANAGER: What part did the others play in developing the pump?

　　SAM: Well, I didn't have time to attend all the meetings, so I'm not sure exactly what everybody did.

　　MANAGER: I see. It sounds a bit ambitious.

　　SAM: Yes, it was. It took us far too long to get organized, and some of them said they wanted to try it out, and modify it. That was a good thing, I suppose, and I believe in the end it worked quite well, but I didn't get involved in the trials. To be honest, I was worried about our end of semester exams!

　　MANAGER: Right, Mr. Brown. That's all for the moment. I'll let you know soon what we decide.

　　SAM: Yes, sir. Thank you very much.

　　Notes:

　　1. theoretical adj.：理论的，理论上的

　　2. trial：测试，试验

　下面是面试官对Liu和 Sam在各个方面表现的纪录。对比看来，孰优孰劣，立刻显现。

　　The quality list: Candidate's performance

　　Liu Sam

　　a. Practical skills He has developed a water pump that required almost no external energy to run it. He didn't show us anything except the drawing.

　　b. Communication skills He answered questions clearly, logically and confidently. He answered questions clearly, but the interview with him was neither lively nor interesting.

　　c. Flexibility (灵活性、适应性) He knew what kind of answers the interviewer expected. He didn't quite know what kind of answers the interviewer expected.

　　d. Leadership He persuaded his team members to work with him on his idea about the water pump. He didn't show this ability.

　　e. Ability to work under pressure He and his team worked together day and night in order to finish their project in time. He was very worried about final exams and didn't want to get involved in the project.

　　f. Ability to work in a team He could recognize the importance of every team member, and knew how to work with them. He didn't get involved in the teamwork and didn't know what others were doing.

　　g. Motivation (求职动机) The two reasons he gave at the beginning of the interview are convincing. The two reasons he gave were weak. It seemed that he would work for any engineering company close to where he lived.

　　通过观看面试考官的记录卡，我们看出Liu的表现比Sam好得太多了。

　　首先， a good job candidate must have strong motivation.小Liu事先了解了要面试的公司并且表达了这个公司将在他的职业生涯中占据重要地位的想法；而Sam的原因却苍白无力。似乎只要离他学校近的公司他都会考虑。

　　其次，Also, a good job candidate should have practical skills.Liu showed his skills by presenting his designs of a water pump. Yet, Sam seemed to attach little importance to this skill.

　　最后，Another quality we are looking for in a job candidate is his ability to work with others. Liu在他的研究小组处于领导地位，而Sam几乎没有介入小组的项目研究。

　　接下来，我们打算送给大家一份礼物：17Deadly (致命的) Interview Mistakes Job Seekers Make.We hope you will avoid these mistakes in your job interview and we wish you good luck in your future job-hunting!

　17Deadly Interview Mistakes Job Seekers Make

　　1 Arrive late for the interview.不要迟到。

　　2 Indicate you are late because the directions you were given were not good.即使迟到也不要把不认识路当成借口。

　　3 Look disheveled and inappropriately dressed.衣着要整洁得体。

　　4 Slouch in your seat.坐姿要端正。

　　5 Don't maintain good eye contact with the interviewer.要与面试官保持良好的眼神交流。

　　6 Do your company research at the interview by asking, "What do you guys do here?"不要问面试的公司是哪个行业的。

　　7 Don't make a connection between your skills and the needs of the employer.一定要把自己掌握的技能同所要应聘的岗位相挂钩。

　　8 Brag about how great you are, but neglect to cite evidence of your accomplishments.不要炫耀自己的战绩而不给出实例。

　　9 Respond in an unfocused, disorganized, and rambling manner.说话回答问题要讲求条理。

　　10 Remain low-key and display no enthusiasm for the job.要对应聘的工作表现出充分的热情。

　　11 Answer most questions with simple "yes" and "no" answers.不要仅仅用“是”或“不是”去回答问题。

　　12 Appear desperate for a job-any job.适当表达对应聘职位的渴求。

　　13 Call the interviewer by his or her first name, or use the wrong name.注意正确地称呼面试官。

　　14 Badmouth your current or former employer.不要说领导的坏话。

　　15 Ask, "How am I doing? Are you going to hire me?"不要问这两个问题。

　　16 Blurt out "I need to make at least $35,000. I hope this job pays at least that much," near the beginning of the interview.不要在面试之初就不假思索地报出想要的薪酬。

　　17 When asked, "Do you have any questions?", reply "No."当面试者问你还有何问题的时候，千万不要说没有问题。

　　最后需要提醒大家注意的是，英式英语和美式英语对于“简历”的称呼是不同的。The term curriculum vitae (a Latin expression meaning the course of life) is generally used in British English while resume (a French word meaning summary) is used in America and elsewhere. Many British people simply use the initials CV to refer to curriculum vitae.求职英语就先聊到这里。求职只是迈出了职业生涯的第一步，如何做好工作，成功实现自我才是我们更该关心和注目的，祝大家事业有成！