It's great if we enjoy our work and, even if we don't, it occupies a lot of our time. 你想過換工作嗎？招聘會一場接一場，求職者應聘了一家又一家。那麼，如何提高求職成功率呢？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? 彆着急，接下來的內容就是幫助你從衆多的應聘者中脫穎而出。
這次我們將聽到在校生小劉和公司經理之間的一段面試對話。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. 有備而來，則無往而不利。就讓我們看看英語面試中經常出現的一些問題。
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?
暫且不評論小劉的表現是否出色，讓我們先來看看小劉的同學Sam面對同樣的面試官，同樣的問題，他是如何應答的吧。
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.： 理論的，理論上的
2. trial： 測試，試驗
下面是面試官對Liu 和 Sam 在各個方面表現的紀錄。對比看來，孰優孰劣，立刻顯現。
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 （靈活性、適應性） 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 （求職動機） 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.
通過觀看面試考官的記錄卡，我們看出Liu的表現比Sam好得太多了。
首先， a good job candidate must have strong motivation.小Liu事先了解了要面試的公司並且表達了這個公司將在他的職業生涯中佔據重要地位的想法；而Sam的原因卻蒼白無力。似乎只要離他學校近的公司他都會考慮。
其次，Also, a good job candidate should have practical showed his skills by presenting his designs of a water pump. Yet, Sam seemed to attach little importance to this skill.
最後，Another quality we are looking for in a job candidate is his ability to work with others. Liu在他的研究小組處於領導地位，而Sam幾乎沒有介入小組的項目研究。
接下來，我們打算送給大家一份禮物：17Deadly （致命的） Interview Mistakes Job Seekers 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. 不要遲到。
2 Indicate you are late because the directions you were given were not good. 即使遲到也不要把不認識路當成藉口。
3 Look disheveled and inappropriately dressed. 衣着要整潔得體。
4 Slouch in your seat. 坐姿要端正。
5 Don't maintain good eye contact with the interviewer. 要與面試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?" 不要問面試的公司是哪個行業的。
7 Don't make a connection between your skills and the needs of the employer. 一定要把自己掌握的.技能同所要應聘的崗位相掛鉤。
8 Brag about how great you are, but neglect to cite evidence of your accomplishments. 不要炫耀自己的戰績而不給出實例。
9 Respond in an unfocused, disorganized, and rambling manner. 說話回答問題要講求條理。
10 Remain low-key and display no enthusiasm for the job. 要對應聘的工作表現出充分的熱情。
11 Answer most questions with simple "yes" and "no" answers. 不要僅僅用“是”或“不是”去回答問題。
12 Appear desperate for a job-any job. 適當表達對應聘職位的渴求。
13 Call the interviewer by his or her first name, or use the wrong name. 注意正確地稱呼面試官。
14 Badmouth your current or former employer. 不要說領導的壞話。
15 Ask, "How am I doing? Are you going to hire me?" 不要問這兩個問題。
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. 不要在面試之初就不假思索地報出想要的薪酬。
17 When asked, "Do you have any questions?", reply "No." 當面試者問你還有何問題的時候，千萬不要說沒有問題。
最後需要提醒大家注意的是，英式英語和美式英語對於“簡歷”的稱呼是不同的。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. 求職英語就先聊到這裏。求職只是邁出了職業生涯的第一步，如何做好工作，成功實現自我纔是我們更該關心和注目的，祝大家事業有成！