快要畢業(yè)了嗎？不妨先看看雇主有什么要求
Anne Fisher
2019-04-02
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今年春天即將從大學(xué)畢業(yè)嗎？恭喜！如果你去年秋天便已經(jīng)開始找工作，但到目前為止未能如常所愿，別灰心。沒(méi)有找到工作的不止你一人。全美大學(xué)與雇主協(xié)會(huì)（NACE）建議，2019年畢業(yè)生工作市場(chǎng)從兩個(gè)方面來(lái)講尤為特別。
首先，招聘經(jīng)理似乎變得更挑剔。略多于40%的大學(xué)大四學(xué)生在秋季面試后獲得了工作。對(duì)比在2016年秋天獲得工作的2017年畢業(yè)生數(shù)，這個(gè)數(shù)字降低了5%。秋季招聘在近些年已經(jīng)取代春季招聘會(huì)成為了主要的招聘季。NACE調(diào)查稱，與此同時(shí)，學(xué)生們也變得“更挑剔”。即便在那些獲得工作機(jī)會(huì)的學(xué)生中，接受工作的學(xué)生數(shù)量也出現(xiàn)了降低，他們轉(zhuǎn)而選擇繼續(xù)尋找工作。你可能已經(jīng)發(fā)現(xiàn)，其中很多人如今正是你的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手。
那么你如何才能從中脫穎而出？丹尼斯·都德利稱，“成績(jī)好，課外活動(dòng)和實(shí)習(xí)經(jīng)歷都會(huì)加分，這是肯定的，但更加難找的是‘軟’技能?！钡つ崴故且幻Y深企業(yè)培訓(xùn)師，經(jīng)常圍繞職業(yè)準(zhǔn)備這一議題，在大學(xué)校園進(jìn)行演講，對(duì)學(xué)生進(jìn)行輔導(dǎo)。丹尼斯還撰寫了一本充滿智慧、實(shí)用的新書，名為《行動(dòng)起來(lái)?。旱玫焦ぷ?，獲得關(guān)注，然后升職》（Work It!: Get In, Get Noticed, Get Promoted）?！叭绻愕摹畟€(gè)人技能’在競(jìng)爭(zhēng)中技?jí)喝悍?，那么你將成為面試官的青睞對(duì)象?！?/p>
另一項(xiàng)NACE的調(diào)查支持這個(gè)觀點(diǎn)。當(dāng)被問(wèn)及對(duì)新畢業(yè)生有什么要求時(shí)，82%的招聘經(jīng)理和人力資源專業(yè)人士將溝通技能看作是排名第一的技能，緊隨其后的是解決問(wèn)題和團(tuán)隊(duì)工作能力。如今大紅大紫的分析和量化技能則在雇主的需求單上排名第五。
都德利表示，“面試官并不期望新畢業(yè)生擁有豐富的技術(shù)專長(zhǎng)。從這一點(diǎn)來(lái)看，他們更關(guān)注的是你是什么樣一個(gè)人，以及如何展示自己?！痹诹私膺@一點(diǎn)之后，她提出了五個(gè)有助于獲取工作機(jī)會(huì)的小竅門：
1. 傾聽自己的內(nèi)心。
好消息，他們會(huì)招聘那些愿意真誠(chéng)講述自己個(gè)人經(jīng)歷的人。都德利說(shuō)：“清晰的表達(dá)能力至關(guān)重要?！敝档靡惶岬氖?，避免使用Z世代（95后或00后——譯者注）廣泛使用的一些不良習(xí)慣，例如“升調(diào)”，也就是在一段聲明的結(jié)尾使用上揚(yáng)的語(yǔ)調(diào)，聽起來(lái)就像是提問(wèn)一樣。都德利指出，另一個(gè)不良習(xí)慣就是“‘嗯，是的’，人們說(shuō)到這里的時(shí)候會(huì)壓低聲音，然后說(shuō)‘嗯，是的’，而不是把要說(shuō)的話說(shuō)完。例如，有的人在講述實(shí)習(xí)經(jīng)歷時(shí)會(huì)說(shuō)，‘我從事過(guò)一些數(shù)據(jù)分析和營(yíng)銷研究，還有，嗯，是的?！闭?qǐng)勿這么做?！熬毩?xí)講完整的肯定句。自信的演講方式可以掩蓋諸多個(gè)方面的問(wèn)題?！?/p>
2. 不要相信拼寫檢查功能。
都德利說(shuō)：“你還需要有一封漂亮的求職信，如果可能的話，抬頭直接寫上面試官的名字，并借此告訴面試官為什么自己是這份工作的不二之選?！比缓笞屑?xì)檢查求職信和簡(jiǎn)歷，尋找錯(cuò)誤。不幸的是，拼寫檢查幫不了什么忙。都德利指出：“拼寫檢查經(jīng)常難以區(qū)分‘their’或‘there’與‘they’re’。你不能放過(guò)任何一個(gè)細(xì)微的紕漏?！?/p>
3. 需要記住的四個(gè)詞。
為了回答面試官經(jīng)常提出的各種行為問(wèn)題，在與面試官對(duì)話時(shí)至少講述一個(gè)你可以從四個(gè)方面來(lái)介紹的故事：情形、任務(wù)、行動(dòng)和結(jié)果。都德利說(shuō)：“面試官可能會(huì)問(wèn)：‘講一講當(dāng)你遇到問(wèn)題時(shí)你是怎么解決的。’描述一下當(dāng)時(shí)的情形，為什么會(huì)如此困難，你自己都做了什么，以及結(jié)果如何?！痹诶硐肭闆r下，它應(yīng)該是一個(gè)有關(guān)團(tuán)隊(duì)工作和如何解決問(wèn)題的故事，但并不一定就得是轟轟烈烈的壯舉，例如在自己手臂受傷的情況下帶領(lǐng)高中長(zhǎng)曲棍球隊(duì)贏得了全美比賽。都德利說(shuō)：“小故事就行，哪怕只是你課程中的一個(gè)團(tuán)隊(duì)項(xiàng)目。目的在于讓面試官了解自己如何應(yīng)對(duì)挑戰(zhàn)，以及自己在受聘之后會(huì)如何對(duì)待工作。”
4. 遮蓋自己的刺青。
在去某個(gè)機(jī)構(gòu)開始工作之前，人們對(duì)于機(jī)構(gòu)能夠接受（或不接受）哪些事物沒(méi)有明確的概念，因此都德利建議人們?cè)诿嬖嚨拇┲虬绶矫娌扇 氨Ｊ鼗蛑辛ⅰ钡牟呗?，其中包括一些明顯的印跡。都德利表示，“除非你是面試加入Soho最時(shí)髦的發(fā)廊，那么請(qǐng)移除或遮掩刺青和穿刺。往小了說(shuō)，這些事物會(huì)分散注意力，往大了說(shuō)，它們會(huì)讓你出局?！彼€表示，我們還可以從另一個(gè)角度看待這個(gè)問(wèn)題：“有關(guān)自身個(gè)性打扮的任何物品，如果你對(duì)其積極影響沒(méi)有把握，那么這些物品都有可能帶來(lái)消極影響?！闭l(shuí)會(huì)需要這些東西？
5. 寫兩封感謝信。
在每次面試完成之后，盡快寫一封簡(jiǎn)短的郵件，感謝面試官給予的面試機(jī)會(huì)，并簡(jiǎn)單重申自己對(duì)這份工作的激情。然后用不同的措辭，手寫一封感謝信，通過(guò)平郵來(lái)郵寄。（請(qǐng)?jiān)俅沃貜?fù)檢查拼寫錯(cuò)誤。）為什么要寫兩封，一封難道不夠嗎？都德利解釋說(shuō)，此舉反過(guò)來(lái)會(huì)影響競(jìng)爭(zhēng)。她說(shuō)：“如果招聘經(jīng)理已經(jīng)為一份工作面試了12、20或60個(gè)人，而且你的名字在此之后兩次出現(xiàn)在他/她眼前，而不是只有一次或者一次都沒(méi)有，那么你被他們記住的概率就要大得多?！比缓?，被聘用就有希望了。（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）
安妮·費(fèi)希爾是職場(chǎng)專家和問(wèn)答類專欄作家，是《財(cái)富》雜志21世紀(jì)工作生活指南專欄“Work It Out”的作者。 譯者：馮豐 審校：夏林 |
Graduating from college this spring? Congrats! And, if you started job hunting last fall and have gotten nowhere so far, cheer up. It isn’t just you. A new report from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) suggests that the job market for 2019 grads is a bit peculiar, in two ways.
First, hiring managers seem to be getting pickier. Slightly more than 40% of college seniors who were interviewed in the fall got offers. That’s a drop of more than 5% from the number of 2017 graduates who had been offered jobs the previous autumn, which in recent years has replaced spring as prime recruiting season. At the same time, students were “more selective,” too, the NACE survey says. Even among those students who received offers, fewer accepted them, opting instead to keep looking. As you may have noticed, many of them are now out there competing with you.
So how do you stand out from the crowd? High grades, extracurriculars, and internships are great, of course, but “it’s the ‘soft’ skills that are much harder to find,” says Denise Dudley, a longtime corporate trainer who frequently speaks on college campuses and coaches students on what she calls career readiness. Dudley also wrote a smart, useful new book called Work It!: Get In, Get Noticed, Get Promoted. “If your ‘people skills’ outshine your competition’s, you’re in demand.”
Another NACE poll backs up that view. Asked what they’re seeking in new grads, 82% of hiring managers and HR pros ranked communication skills at Number One, closely followed by problem-solving and the ability to work with a team. Analytical and quantitative skills, hot as those are these days, came in fifth on employers’ wish lists.
“Interviewers don’t expect new grads to have tremendous technical expertise,” notes Dudley. “At this point, they’re much more focused on who you are and how you present yourself.” With that in mind, she offers these five tips to land a job:
1. Listen to yourself.
Better yet, enlist someone else who will tell you honestly how you come across. “Speaking articulately is essential,” Dudley says. In particular, avoid widespread Gen Z tics like “upspeak”—ending a statement with an upward intonation, as if it were a question. Another unhelpful habit is “‘um, yeah’, where you trail off and say ‘um, yeah’ instead of finishing what you’re saying,” Dudley says. “For instance, someone describing an internship will say, ‘I did some data analytics and marketing research and…um, yeah. ’” Don’t do that. “Practice speaking in complete declarative sentences. A confident speaking style can cover a multitude of sins.”
2. Don’t trust spellcheck.
“You need a killer cover letter—addressed by name, if possible, to the person who will be interviewing you—that tells why you believe you’d be a terrific hire,” Dudley says. Then go over it, and your resume, looking for mistakes. Unfortunately, spellcheck is no help. “A common mistake is mixing up ‘their’ or ‘there’ with ‘they’re’,” notes Dudley. “You want to get every single little error out.”
3. Remember the acronym STAR.
To answer the kinds of behavioral questions that interviewers often pose, go into the conversation with at least one story you can tell in four parts: Situation, Task, Action, Result. “An interviewer will probably say something like, ‘Tell me about a time when you faced a problem and how you resolved it’,” Dudley says. “Describe the situation, why it was difficult, what you did about it, and how it turned out.” Ideally, this should be a tale of teamwork and problem-solving, but it doesn’t need to be anything hugely dramatic like, say, leading your high school lacrosse team to statewide victory despite your broken arm. “Small examples work—even from a team project in a course you took,” says Dudley. “The point is to give the interviewer a picture of how you respond to challenges, and how you’d be on the job if the company hired you.”
4. Tone down your tats.
Before you start working somewhere, you usually won’t have a clear idea yet of what’s acceptable (or not), so Dudley advises erring on the side of “conservative or neutral” in the way you dress for interviews. That includes ink. “Unless you’re applying to the hippest hair salon in Soho, remove or hide tattoos and piercings,” she suggests. “At best, they’re distracting, and at worst, they’ll put you out of the running.” Another way to look at this, she adds, is that “anything in your personal style that you don’t know for sure is a positive could be a negative.” Who needs that?
5. Write two thank you notes.
As soon as you can, follow up on every interview with a brief email thanking your interlocutor for his or her time, and briefly reiterating your enthusiasm for the job. Then, in somewhat different words, write a handwritten thank-you to send via snail mail. (Again, double-check both for spelling errors.) Why two notes, when one would probably do? It comes back to minding your competition, Dudley explains. “Let’s say the hiring manager has interviewed 12, or 20, or 60 people for this job,” she says. “If your name pops up in front of him or her twice afterward, instead of just once or not at all, you’re far more likely to be remembered.” And then—here’s hoping—hired.
Anne Fisher is a career expert and advice columnist who writes “Work It Out,” Fortune’s guide to working and living in the 21st century. |
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