如何在职场少走弯路 避免人生失败？ 《职业生涯指导》为你指点迷津

2000年英语沙龙系列读物第三期美国人士茱莉·康奈利（Julie Connelly）编写的《追逐成功——“职业生涯指导”Career Survival Guide》一文，对各类各级大、中学生毕业生，甚至硕士、博士步入社会就业，实属不可多得的必读文、必修课。总结自己的一生，如果当初接触本文，遵循指点，不至于迷茫、惭愧、挫折当今.......

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追逐成功

——职业生涯指导 （Career Survival Guide）

（沈昂 摘译）

在我们与高管招聘人员、职业教练、学者以及其他一些人进行了交谈的过程中，他们都表示有许许多多，各种各样的自我毁灭的方式。他们了解大公司和小公司中为人行事的种种情况。 然而，归根到底无非是以下五个方面之一。

职场糟糕的表现可统称为“愚蠢至极”（the Fearsome Follie）的五个方面。这五个方面是：你无法融入工作单位的文化氛围；你性格固执，一意孤行（像一只独狼一样行事you operate like a lone wolf）；你不善于推销自己；你将私人烦恼带入工作中；你的态度恶劣，以至于同事们对你敬而远之——宁愿去忍受拔牙痛苦，也不愿与你共进午餐（注释：这里的“gum surgery（拔牙手术）”是一种夸张的比喻。它是为了强调同事们非常不愿意和有这种坏态度的人一起吃午饭，拔牙很让人不舒服、甚至是让人害怕的事情，用这个来对比说明跟这个人一起吃饭，是一件更让人难以忍受的情况。表明对当事人的切骨之恨）。

这些行为中的任何一个都可能毁掉你的职业生涯。令人欣慰的是，你可以通过遵循以下三大策略来克服这些行为，避免跌入职场陷进，助你追逐成功：

精通公司（企业）文化 （Steep yourself in the corporate culture）

也许你自己没有意识到，不过按照纽约人力资源顾问玛丽琳 玛克罗维兹（Marilyn Machlowitz）.女士的说法，除了印在你（胸前吊牌）名片上的工作外，你还有一个工作——“弄清楚公司的文化是什么——即公司重视哪些目标、态度和任务”——然后展现出你已经内化了所学知识（公司文化）的行动（形象）。当高层开始考虑提拔你时，他们会寻找一个肯定的答案来回答那个模糊的问题：“她是我们中的一员吗？”当你的价值观与公司的价值观相符，你喜欢和你一起工作的人，并且尊重掌权的人时，你就和公司达到了很好的契合度。

学会运用办公术语 （Learn the buzz works and use them）

不要害怕向同事和老板提问，并要仔细聆听他们的回答。这样你就会知道什么样的人对你有用，及其原因。语气也很重要。

你没必要像一个申请硅谷高薪职位的女性那样走极端：在面试前两天，她一直呆在大楼大厅里观察来来往往的雇员。她记录下了他们的汽车、穿着和交谈内容。等到面试的时候，她的穿着打扮，言谈举止，就像她早就在这里工作了一样——第二天，她确实得到了这份工作。

在你因为要变成穿灰色法兰绒西装的机器人而感到愤怒之前，要明白以下是一些关于“融入”（入伙）所不能容忍（意味）的情况（适应环境不等于丧失人格）：为了与他人相处而妥协自己的信念，或者做一些你认为有损道德的工作。如果在工作中取得成功需要你做其中任何一件，你应该尽快找一份其他的工作。“融入”也不意味着奴颜婢膝地向老板磕头。那样你会得到“马屁精”的名声，这是几乎每个人都讨厌、蔑视的人。

做一个杰出的反世俗者（操正步 装正人）固然很棒，但这并不能保证成功。融入工作环境的价值在于，你不需要成为天赋或技术专长就能脱颖而出（实现超越: to excel ）以科尔琳为例，她是一位银行经理。虽然不是一个很有创意的人，但她确实有两项杰出的品质。第一是扎实的专业能力，第二是灵活性。她知道老板想要什么，并且办事情不给老板出难题。由于科尔琳的老板信任她，能提供他所需要的东西，于是不断给她压担子。这提高了她的知名度，并迅速地提拔了她。大老板们也开始信任她，她最终成为了少数几个被允许进入俱乐部的女员工之一。

利用友情网 （Use the buddy system）
在职场每个人都需要盟友。除非别人知道你的能力并支持你，否则你无法出人头地（You can’t get ahead）。领路人是另一个丰富的情报资源。事实上，在你的职业生涯中，你会需要好几个领路人。导师的价值不仅在于她能告诉你“在这里我们是如何做事的”，还在于她可以成为你的教练，给你宣传、和支持。

你应该在领路人身上学到什么呢？纽约得罗尔特咨询公司信息技术人才招聘部的全国总监 詹妮弗·莱迈杰建议，要评估自己在公司所处的位置以及你想达到的目标。“然后找到一位高级管理人员，他正在做你将来想要做的工作，理论上来说，他可以帮助你实现目标。为了引起这位要人（a Great One）的注意，”莱梅杰建议，“看看你是否可以自告奋勇（see if you can volunteer to）与她一起完成一个项目。”确保你把工作做好。“这个项目将创造定期交流的机会。然后，随着你们相互了解的加深，找机会常去领路人（make a point of dropping by your mentor’s office）的办公室，向她汇报你的近期进展（keep her up-to-date on）并听取其意见。”

不要担心领路人太忙而无法帮助你。他们在增加因你提供的信息同时，也会站在你的角度，帮助你挖掘公司大量知识储备。而且，当年轻同事钦佩自己并想要效仿时，很少有人不会感到受宠若惊的——不识抬举的。

后附：英语原文

Career Survival Guide

By Julie Connelly

Many and various are the ways of self-destruction,say the executive recruiters, career coaches, academics, and others we spoke to , who shared tales of human behavior at large companies and small. All the stories boil down, however, to one of five themes.

Call them the Fearsome Follie可怕的愚行 You aren’t in step with your workplace culture; you operate like a lone wolf; you fail to market yourself; you bring private traumas into the office; or you develop such a bad attitude that co-workers would rather have gum surgery than lunch with you.

Any one of these behaviors can sink your career. The good news is that you can buoy yourself against them by following these strategies .

Steep yourself in the corporate culture

You may not be aware of it, but according to New York human resources consultant Marilyn Machlowitz（玛丽琳 玛克罗维兹）.女士 You have a job in addition to the one printed on your business card--namely, “ figuring out what the corporate culture is “---what goals, attitudes ,and tasks the company values--” and then projecting an image that shows you’ve internalized what you have learned .” When the Bigs start eyeballing you for promotion, they are looking for an affirmative answer to that nebulous question: Is she one of us?”

There’s a good fit between you and the company when its values match your own, you like the people you work with, and you respect the folks who run the show掌握决策权与控制权

Learn the buzz 时髦的works and use them.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions of your colleagues and your boss. And listen carefully to the answers. You’re looking for information that will let you know what people are valued for and why . Tone matters, too.

You don’t have to go as far as a woman applying for a high-level Silicon Valley job did: For two days before her interview, she stationed herself in the building lobby and watched the employees come and go. She noted the cars they drove, the clothes they wore, and what they talked about. By the time her appointment came, she looked and sounded like she already worked there --and the next day, she did.

Before you get your hackles up大怒 about becoming a robot in a gray flannel suit,here’s what fitting in is not: compromising your beliefs to get along or doing work you find ethically questionable. If succeeding at your job demands either of these, you should find another one as quickly as possible. Nor does getting in sync 保持同步 mean slavishly kowtowing to the boss奴颜婢膝地向老板磕头. You’ll get a reputation as a toady马屁精名声, someone just about everyone despises.

Being a brilliant iconoclast is great, but it’s no guarantee of success. The value of fitting in is that you don’t have to be a genius or a technical whiz to excel. Take Colleen, a banking manager. Though not a very original thinker独创思考者, she did have two sterling qualities. The first was rock-solid competence过硬的能力. The second was flexibility灵活性. She knew what the boss wanted and didn’t give him a hard time about doing it. Because Colleen’s boss could trust her to provide what he needed, he kept giving her more responsibility, which increased her visibility and led to tapid promotion. The Bigs also began to trust her, and she was one of the few girls eventually allowed in the clubhouse.

Colleen’s boss could trust her to provide what he needed, he kept giving her more responsibility, which increased her visibility and led to tapid promotion. The Bigs also began to trust her, and she was one of the few girls eventually allowed in the clubhouse.

Use the buddy system Every one needs allies in the corporate world. You can’t get ahead unless other people know your capabilities and are rooting for you .

A mentor can be another rich source of intelligence. 丰富的智力来源Indeed , you may need several over the length of your career. A mentor is invaluable极其重要 not only for what she can tell you about “how we do things here at Whizzsprochet”but also because she can be your coach and advocate.教练与帮助者

What should you look for in a mentor? Jennifer Lemaiger, national director of information technology recruiting for Deloitte Consulting in New York. Suggests assessing where you are in your career at the company and where you’d like to be. “Then identify a senior person who is doing the job you want to do someday and who can , in theory at least, help you reach your goals. To call yourself to the attention of such a Great One, “see if you can volunteer to work on a project with her.” Lemaigre suggests. “And be sure you do a good job.” “The project will create opportunities to speak regularly . Then ,as you get to know each other, make a point of dropping by your mentor’s office to keep her up-to-date on your progress and ask for advice.

Don’t worry about mentors being too busy to help you. They offen derive获得 取得 as much satisfaction from the process as you do. They get to tap a vast store of company knowledge on your behalf while adding new information from you. Moreover , it’s a rare person who isn’t flattered when a younger colleague admires and wants to be like her.