Employment and unemployment

就業(yè)與失業(yè)

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How to apply for a job

　　Say you're a developer who's in the market for a job. You come across a job listing, perhaps something like the one I recently posted. It's a job you're interested in and you send in your resume. Here's what to do.

　　A cover letter is not just a standard part of your resume. A cover letter is designed to highlight the parts of your experience that are specific to the job to which you are applying. It's supposed to be the thing I see first and should draw me in, making me want to get the details from your resume. Don't stick your cover letter in an attachment and your resume in another attachment or your cover letter might not get seen. It's certainly not doing its job hidden in an attachment like that. If you are sending a resume by email, your cover letter belongs in the body of your email.

　　You need to proofread your cover letter carefully. This is my first introduction to you. This is your chance to impress me. If you have sloppy spelling, capitalization, and spelling in your cover letter I'll expect that your code as the same sort of problems. I'm not looking for Pulitzer-prize-winning stuff here, but most kids learn in first grade to capitalize proper nouns and the beginnings of sentences.

　　Your resume should tell me what languages you know, what technologies you have experience with, and how you've applied that experience. Unless you're applying for a job as a secretary, you don't need to tell me you're proficient at MS Word - if you're a software developer, I assume you're familiar enough the basic workings of a word processor to use it to open a document and read a spec. Do tell me what sort of systems you've built and what challenges you overcame while building them. Do tell me how you applied your knowledge of efficient database operation to decrease server load by 30%.

　　When I look at your resume I should get a sense of what size projects you've worked on. If you've worked with an internationally-known company, then I immediately understand you've had exposure to larger projects. If all of your experience was at no-name companies in North Dakota, then you need to tell me that the project you worked on had 15 developers and an annual budget of 3 million dollars. Otherwise I'm likely to think your prior experience was building simple ASP front ends to little Access databases.

　　And finally, follow the directions for applying for the job. If I went to the trouble of describing how you should apply, there's probably a good reason for it. If I ask for a plain-text resume, don't send a Word document or a link to your resume on your Web site. If I ask for a code sample, include it. If you can't follow those simple directions, how can I expect that you'll be able to follow a spec?

　　I don't even look at those emails I get with Word attachments, no code samples, no information about availability or your location. I simply file them away in case I ever have a need to hire a developer that doesn't know how to follow directions.

Reading Comprehension

1. Why did the author suggest that don't put your cover letter in another attachment of your resume?
[A] It's a waste of time.
[B] It is absurd.
[C] It will make your cover letter not do its job.
[D] There is no need to do so.

2. Why did the author emphasize the importance of proofread?
[A] Because it is a quality that a pupil should have.
[B] Proofreading can decrease errors from your cover letter.
[C] It will make you avoid some simple errors and will give your reader a good impression.
[D] It can make you win Pulitzer-prize.

3. Why did the author say that you should let the reader know what size project you've worked on？
[A] Because this will highlight your resume.
[B] Because you are required to do so.
[C] Because this will let your reader know you better.
[D]Because it can make your reader know your ability for larger projects.

4. What's the meaning of "went to the trouble" that mentioned in paragraph 6?
[A] To face puzzledom.
[B] An amount of effort and time that is needed to do something.
[C] Have some difficulties.
[D] Some problems can't be solve.

5. What's the meaning of the word "spec" which mentioned in paragraph 6?
[A] Rule.
[B] Law.
[C] A detailed instruction about how a piece of equipment should be made.
[D] An direction.

答案與題解：

1.[C]

細節(jié)題。準確定位到原文是解題的關(guān)鍵。本題出現(xiàn)在原文的第二段。題目問道作者為什么建議不要把求職信放在簡歷的另一個附件里，該題正確的理解應(yīng)為如果把求職信放在另一個附件中則求職信將發(fā)揮不出它的作用。

2.[C]

細節(jié)題。本題的干擾項在B項。校對的確可以減少錯誤，但這并不是本文強調(diào)的重點。本文認為避免一些低級錯誤是給審查簡歷的人留下好印象的機會。

3.[D]

細節(jié)題。請看文中的第五段，"then I immediately understand you've had exposure to larger projects."這樣我便知道你有做大型項目的能力，也就是選項中需要我們選出的答案：這樣可以使你簡歷的讀者知道你具備做大型項目的能力。

4.[B]

邏輯判斷題。本題先要解決對原句的理解問題，詞組"went to the trouble"指的是不厭其煩。然后再定位到原文，根據(jù)上下文邏輯，可以推知，作者是在講他之所以不厭其煩的解釋怎樣申請工作的原因，所以B為正確選項。

5.[C]

推斷題。從原文句式上看，這里是一個遞進的關(guān)系，是邏輯上的順延，所以一定是與"direction"同意的一個詞。再加上邏輯上的遞進關(guān)系，所以正確的解釋應(yīng)該是"制造某項設(shè)備的詳細指令。"

Words:

1. capitalization資本化，股本，資本總額

2. spec投機，說明，規(guī)格

3. exposure暴露，曝光，揭發(fā)，方向

Notes：

1．A cover letter is designed to highlight the parts of... job to which you are applying.

這里難點在于對"cover letter"意思的把握，文中出現(xiàn)的這個詞組是求職信的意思，是個特定表達法。另外注意被動語態(tài)在漢譯時在這里應(yīng)轉(zhuǎn)化為主動語態(tài)。

本句應(yīng)譯為：設(shè)計一封求職信是用來給你的經(jīng)歷增輝的。這對于你申請工作特別的有利。

2．If you have sloppy spelling, capitalization,... as the same sort of problems.

這里，"sloppy spelling"的翻法值得注意。sloppy本意是潮濕的，濺污的，這里引申來指代字跡不整。

本句應(yīng)譯為：如果在你的求職信中字跡不整潔，有大小寫錯誤甚至拼寫錯誤，我會認為你的所作所為也會到處出錯。

3．Unless you're applying for a job as a secretary, ...open a document and read a spec.

"secretary"是名詞，有部長、大臣、書記、秘書等意思。這里指秘書工作。

本句應(yīng)譯為：除非你申請的是一項秘書工作，你不用告訴我你精通微軟的文字操作系統(tǒng)。如果你是一個軟件開發(fā)人員，我假設(shè)你對文字處理的基礎(chǔ)工作很精通，熟知怎樣打開文檔和讀取文件。

4．Do tell me what sort of systems ...overcame while building them.

這句話同下句話一起都屬于強調(diào)句型，這里注意強調(diào)句的翻法。

本句應(yīng)譯為：要告訴我都做過什么類型的系統(tǒng)，克服了怎樣的困難。

5．Do tell me how you applied your knowledge ...operation to decrease server load by 30%.

"server load"指的是服務(wù)器的負荷。注意在這里的強調(diào)句型的翻譯。

課文參考譯文：

怎樣申請工作

　　假定你是一個到招聘會上找工作的研發(fā)人員，你拿上一張工作清單，或許有點像我最近張貼出去的那張。這是一份你感興趣的工作，你遞上你的簡歷，下面是你要做的。

　　一封求職信不僅僅是你簡歷中一個標準的部分，求職信旨在為你的經(jīng)歷增加閃光點，這特別有助于你申請工作。它必須有新意，能吸引我，使我有想從簡歷中進一步了解你的愿望。不要把你的求職信同你的簡歷放在不同的附件里，否則你的求職信可能根本不會被打開。它就一直埋沒在附件中發(fā)揮不了作用了。如果你用電子郵件寄送簡歷，你的求職信就要包涵在你的電子郵件里。

　　你需要仔細校對你求職信里的內(nèi)容，這是我要跟你講的第一句話。這也是你能給我留下印象的機會。如果在你的求職信中字跡不整潔，有大小寫錯誤甚至拼寫錯誤，我會認為你的所作所為也會到處出錯。我并不是在挑能獲得普利策獎的員工。但專有名詞首字母以及句子的首字母應(yīng)該大寫的問題是大多數(shù)孩子們在一年級就學(xué)過了的。

　　你的簡歷中應(yīng)該告訴我你都會哪些語言，都有哪些技能經(jīng)驗，以及熟練到什么程度。除非你申請的是一項秘書工作，你不需要告訴我你精通微軟的文字操作系統(tǒng)。如果你是一個軟件開發(fā)人員，我假設(shè)你對文字處理的基礎(chǔ)工作很精通，熟知怎樣打開文檔及讀取文件。要告訴我的是都做過什么類型的系統(tǒng)，克服了怎樣的困難。要告訴我怎樣運用你的知識使服務(wù)器更有效率地工作，以使其負荷量減少30%。

　　當我看你的簡歷的時候，我應(yīng)該能知道你做過什么級別的項目。如果你曾為一個國際知名公司做項目，那么，我會馬上知道你有做大型工程的能力。如果你所有的活兒都是給北達科州那些不知名的公司們干的，那么你就要告訴我你所從事的工程中要有15個以上的研發(fā)人員和300萬美元的年預(yù)算。否則，我將會認為你先前的工作只是做一些簡單的動態(tài)服務(wù)器主頁，前后再鏈接上微不足道的數(shù)據(jù)庫接口。

　　最后，請遵循工作申請的要求。如果非要說我為什么要不厭其煩的向你講怎樣來申請，那么下面的說明可以解釋。如果我要一份純文本簡歷，就不要給我一份Word文檔或是一個網(wǎng)頁中關(guān)于你簡歷的鏈接。如果我要一份編程實例，那么就把它加在其中。如果這么簡單的指示你都不能遵守，那么我怎么能認為以后你會按照規(guī)章辦事呢？