Get the Job You Want（大学英语综合教程4课文）

UNIT3-1

Harvey Mackay, who runs his own company, often interviews applicants for jobs. Here he lets us into the secret of what qualities an employer is looking for, and gives four tips on what can help you to stand out from the crowd.

自己经营公司的哈维·麦凯经常对求职者进行面试。文中他告诉我们关于雇主看重什么样品质的秘密，并提出4点建议，帮助你显得比众人突出。

Get the Job You Want

得到你想要的工作

Harvey B. Mackay

哈维·B·麦凯

I run a manufacturing company with about 350 employees, and I often do the interviewing and hiring myself. I like talking to potential salespeople, because they're our link to customers.

我经营着一家有350名左右员工的制造公司，我本人常常要对求职者进行面试，决定是否聘用。我喜欢与可能成为营业员的人交谈，因为他们会是我们与顾客联系的纽带。

　

When a recent college graduate came into my office not too long ago looking for a sales job, I asked him what he had done to prepare for the interview. He said he'd read something about us somewhere.

不久前一个新近毕业的大学生到我办公室谋求一份销售工作。我问他为这次面试做过哪些准备。他说他在什么地方看到过有关本公司的一些情况。

Had he called anyone at Mackay Envelope Corporation to find out more about us? No. Had he called our suppliers? Our customers? No.

他有没有给麦凯信封公司的人打过电话，好了解更多有关我们的情况？没打过。他有没有给我们的供应厂商打过电话？还有我们的客户？都没有。

Had he checked with his university to see if there were any graduates working at Mackay whom he could interview? Had he asked any friends to grill him in a mock interview? Did he go to the library to find newspaper clippings on us?

他可曾在就读的大学里查问过有没有校友在本公司就职，以便向他们了解一些情况?他可曾请朋友向他提问，对他进行模拟面试？可曾去图书馆查找过有关本公司的剪报？

Did he write a letter beforehand to tell us about himself, what he was doing to prepare for the interview and why he'd be right for the job? Was he planning to follow up the interview with another letter indicating his eagerness to join us? Would the letter be in our hands within 24 hours of the meeting, possibly even hand-delivered?

他事先有没有写封信来介绍自己，告诉我们自己为这次面试在做哪些准备，自己何以能胜任此项工作？面试之后他是否打算再写一封信，表明自己加盟本公司的诚意？这封信会不会在面试后的24小时之内送到我们手上，也许甚至是亲自送来？

The answer to every question was the same: no. That left me with only one other question: How well prepared would this person be if he were to call on a prospective customer for us? I already knew the answer.

他对上述每一个问题的回答全都一样：没有。这样我就只剩一个问题要问了：如果此人代表本公司去见可能成为我们客户的人，他准备工作会做得怎样？答案不言自明。

As I see it, there are four keys to getting hired:

在笔者看来，如欲被聘用，应注意四个要诀：

1. Prepare to win. "If you miss one day of practice, you notice the difference," the saying goes among musicians. "If you miss two days of practice, the critics notice the difference. If you miss three days of practice, the audience notices the difference."

1. 准备去赢。“一日不练，自己知道，”音乐家中有这样的说法。"两日不练，音乐评论家知道。三日不练，观众知道。"

When we watch a world-class musician or a top athlete, we don't see the years of preparation that enabled him or her to become great. The Michael Jordans of the world have talent, yes, but they're also the first ones on and the last ones off the basketball court. The same preparation applies in every form of human endeavor. If you want the job, you have to prepare to win it.

我们在观看世界级音乐家或顶尖运动员的表演时，看到的并不是使他们变成出类拔萃人物的长年苦练。世界上诸如迈克尔·乔丹这样的顶尖人物无疑具有非凡才能，但他们在篮球场上也是第一个到，最后一个走。同样的苦练适用于人类的各项活动。若想被聘用，就要准备去赢。

When I graduated from college, the odds were good that I would have the same job for the rest of my life. And that's how it worked out. But getting hired is no longer a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Employment experts believe that today's graduates could face as many as ten job changes during their careers.

我大学毕业时，我极有可能终身从事同一个工作。当时情况也的确如此。但如今已不再是一生被聘去做一个工作了。指导就业的专家认为，今天的大学毕业生在他们的生涯中可能会经历多达10次的职业变动。

That may sound like a lot of pressure. But if you're prepared, the pressure is on the other folks -- the ones who haven't done their homework.

听上去似乎压力不小。然而，如果你做了准备，压力就是别人的—那些没做准备的人.

You won't get every job you go after. The best salespeople don't close every sale. Michael Jordan makes barely half of his field-goal attempts. But it takes no longer to prepare well for one interview than to wander in half-prepared for five. And your prospects for success will be many times better.

你不可能得到你想要的每份工作。最好的售货人员也不可能每次都成交。迈克尔·乔丹投篮命中率勉强过半。但认真准备一次面试的时间不会多于马马虎虎准备五次面试的时间，而你成功的可能性要多得多。

2. Never stop learning. Recently I played a doubles tennis match paired with a 90-year-old. I wondered how things would work out; I shouldn't have. We hammered our opponents 6-1, 6-1!

2. 永不中断学习。最近我和一位90高龄的老者搭档打双人网球。我琢磨着那会是什么结局；可我的担心是多余的。我们以两个6:1击败对手。

As we were switching sides to play a third set, he said to me, "Do you mind if I play the backhand court? I always like to work on my weaknesses." What a fantastic example of a person who has never stopped learning. Incidentally, we won the third set 6-1.

我们交换场地打第三局时，他对我说：“我打反手击球你不介意吧？我向来喜欢多练练自己的弱点。”好一个永不中断学习的精彩实例。顺便说一下，我们6:1赢了第三局。

As we walked off the court, my 90-year-old partner chuckled and said, "I thought you'd like to know about my number-one ranking in doubles in the United States in my age bracket, 85 and up!" He wasn't thinking 90; he wasn't even thinking 85. He was thinking number one.

走出赛场，我那90高龄的搭档笑着说：“你也许想知道我在85岁以上年龄段的美国网球双打排名第一！”他想的不是年届90，想的甚至也不是85岁高龄。他想的是第一。

You can do the same if you work on your weaknesses and develop your strengths. To be able to compete, you've got to keep learning all your life.

如果你努力克服自己的弱点，发挥自己的优势，你同样可以做得那么好。要有能力竞争，就得终生学习。

3. Believe in yourself, even when no one else does. Do you remember the four-minute mile? Athletes had been trying to do it for hundreds of years and finally decided it was physically impossible for humans. Our bone structure was all wrong, our lung power inadequate.

3. 相信自己，哪怕没人相信你。还记得那4分钟跑一英里的往事吗？几百年来，运动员们一直试图实现这一目标，最终人类的身体无法做到。我们的骨结构不适应，我们的肺活量跟不上。

Then one human proved the experts wrong. And, miracle of miracles, six weeks after Roger Bannister broke the four-minute mile, John Landy beat Bannister's time by nearly two full seconds. Since then, close to eight hundred runners have broken the four-minute mile!

可是，有一个人证明那些专家错了。奇迹中的奇迹是，在罗杰·班尼斯特打破4分钟一英里的纪录6个星期之后，约翰·兰迪又以几乎快出整整2秒的成绩打破了班尼斯特的纪录。此后，有大约800多名运动员打破了4分钟一英里的记录。

Several years ago my daughter Mimi and I took a crack at running the New York Marathon. At the gun, 23,000 runners started -- and 21,244 finished. First place went to a Kenyan who completed the race in two hours, 11 minutes and one second. The 21,244th runner to finish was a Vietnam veteran. He did it in three days, nine hours and 37 minutes. With no legs, he covered 26.2 miles. After my daughter and I passed him in the first few minutes, we easily found more courage to finish ourselves.

几年前，我和女儿米米参加了纽约马拉松比赛。发令枪一响，23,000名运动员冲出起跑线—最后有21,244名运动员到达终点。第一名是一位以2小时11分钟零1秒跑完全程的肯尼亚人。第21,244名运动员是一位越战老兵。他用了3天9小时37分钟跑完全程。没有双腿的他坚持跑完了26.2英里。我和女儿在比赛的最初几分钟内超过了他，当时顿觉勇气倍增，一定要跑完全程。

Don't ever let anyone tell you that you can't accomplish your goals. Who says you're not tougher, harder working and more able than your competition? You see, a goal is a dream with a deadline: in writing, measurable, identifiable, attainable.

别听旁人说你不能实现自己的目标。谁说你不比你的竞争对手更坚强、更努力、更能干？要知道，所谓目标就是有最后限期的梦想：写成文字，可测量，可确认，可实现

4. Find a way to make a difference. In my opinion, the majority of New York cabdrivers are unfriendly, if not downright rude. Most of the cabs are filthy, and almost all of them sport an impenetrable, bulletproof partition. But recently I jumped into a cab at LaGuardia Airport and guess what? It was clean. There was beautiful music playing and no partition.

4. 想方设法显得与众不同。在我看来，纽约大多数的出租车司机即使不算无礼透顶，至少也是不友好的。车辆大都十分肮脏，几乎所有的车都触目地装有难以穿透的防弹隔离装置。可近日我在拉瓜迪亚机场跳上了一辆出租车，你猜怎么样？车子竟然干干净净。放着优美的音乐，而且没有隔离装置。

"Park Lane Hotel, please," I said to the driver. With a broad smile, he said, "Hi, my name is Wally," and he handed me a mission statement. A mission statement! It said he would get me there safely, courteously and on time.

“请到帕克街酒店，”我对司机说。他笑容满面地说：“你好，我叫沃利，”他说着递给我一份保证书。一份保证书！上面写着他将安全、礼貌、准时地将我送到目的地。

As we drove off, he held up a choice of newspapers and said, "Be my guest." He told me to help myself to the fruit in the basket on the back seat. He held up a cellular phone and said, "It's a dollar a minute if you'd like to make a call."

车开后，他拿出几份报纸说：“请随意翻阅。”他还让我随意品尝后座篮子里的水果。接着他又拿出手机说：“您要是想打电话，每分钟1美元。”

Shocked, I blurted, "How long have you been practicing this?" He answered, "Three or four years."

我大吃一惊，脱口问道：“你这么做有多久了？”他回答说：“有三、四年了。”

"I know this is prying." I said, "but how much extra money do you earn in tips?"

“我知道不该问，”我说，“可是，你能多挣多少小费？”

"Between $12,000 and $14,000 a year!" he responded proudly.

“一年12,000到14,000美元左右，”他得意地回答说。

He doesn't know it, but he's my hero. He's living proof that you can always shift the odds in your favor.

他不知道他成了我心目中的英雄。他就是一个生动的例证，说明你总是可以争取到成功的机会。

My mentor, Curt Carlson, is the wealthiest man in Minnesota, owner of a hotel and travel company with sales in the neighborhood of $9 billion. I had to get to a meeting in New York one day, and Curt generously offered me a ride in his jet. It happened to be a day Minnesota was hit with one of the worst snowstorms in years. Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport was closed for the first time in decades.

我的良师益友柯特·卡尔森是明尼苏达州的首富，拥有一家酒店和旅行社，营业收入约达90亿美元。一次我要去纽约赴会，柯特慷慨地请我乘坐他的私人飞机。碰巧那天明尼苏达州遭受多年不遇的暴风雪袭击。明尼阿波利斯—圣保罗国际机场几十年来第一次关闭。

Then, though the storm continued to pound us, the airport opened a runway for small craft only. As we were taxiing down it to take off, Curt turned to me and said gleefully, "Look, Harvey, no tracks in the snow!"

虽然暴风雪仍在肆虐，机场还是特地为小型飞机清出了一条跑道。我们正在跑道上滑行准备起飞时，柯特转过头来兴奋地说：“看哪，哈维，雪地上没有痕迹啊！”

Curt Carlson, 70 years old at the time, rich beyond anyone's dreams, could still sparkle with excitement about being first.

柯特·卡尔森，当时年届70，富甲一方，竟然还会因为自己是第一个而如此兴奋。

From my standpoint, that's what it's all about. Prepare to win. Never stop learning. Believe in yourself, even when no one else does. Find a way to make a difference. Then go out and make your own tracks in the snow.

在我看来，这些正是关键之所在。准备去赢。永不中断学习。相信自己，哪怕没人相信你。想方设法显得与众不同。然后就出发，在雪地上留下你自己的足迹。