经济学人76:面试 Job interviews

 　　Business books;Book Review;Job interviews;Application;

　　商业书籍；书评；面试；申请；

　　Are You Smart Enough to Work at Google? By William Poundstone.

　　《你是否聪明过人能进谷歌》威廉·庞德斯通。

　　Whom to hire is one of the great problems organisation¹-man faces. If he gets it wrong he may be forced to share a confined space for an indefinite period with someone deficient² in wit, aptitude³ and hygiene⁴, with nothing but a flimsy partition for protection. If he gets it wrong in a different way, tomorrow he may be fired by today's meek⁵ applicant⁶. Each industry has its own method for hiring: Britain's spy service sometimes physically⁷ roughs-up new recruits to see how much they enjoy that sort of thing. Candidates for more everyday roles within the civil service are given a bulging⁸ in-tray filled with documents of varying importance, and not enough time to clear it.

　　公司管理人员需要处理的一大难题是应该聘请哪些人。请的人不对，他只得在很长时期内与一个头脑迟钝、天赋不高又不怎么讲究卫生的人共同工作在一个有限的空间，中间只隔了一个薄薄的隔板。如果选错人，今后他亦有可能被今天温顺的求职者炒掉。每个行业自有一套招人的妙招：英国情报组织有时候要在身体上折磨新成员，看看他是否乐在其中。申请普通公务员工作的人会拿到一个文件篮，塞的文件都要掉下来了，里面的文件重要性不尽相同，他们要在很短的时间里整理好文件。

　　To judge by “Are You Smart Enough to Work at Google?”—which combines anecdotes⁹ from current and former employees of Silicon¹⁰ Valley firms, with a potted history of the pop psychology¹¹ and practice of interviewing, and lots of brainteasers of a sort favoured by interviewers at Google— plenty of firms treat graduate recruitment the way Alfred Hitchcock treated blondes. Inexperienced Tippi Hedrens can be made to squirm. They get asked impossible questions by stony-faced interviewers who offer them no feedback or encouragement, leaving the baffled victims feeling stupid and a little sweaty. This approach is used only on people starting out on their careers, when the power of interviewer over interviewee is at its greatest. By the time candidates have more professional experience they can expect to be treated more like Grace Kelly.

　　《你是否聪明过人能进谷歌》一书中的生动事例发生在硅谷很多公司现在或曾经的雇员身上，中间不乏浓缩的通俗心理学历史和面试经验，还有谷歌面试官偏爱的脑筋急转弯-很多公司对待来应聘的毕业生就像希区柯克对待金发女郎一样。毫无经验的蒂比·赫德伦们（Tippi Hedren）也可以被弄得面红耳赤。面试者被面目表情的面试官追问没有答案的问题，既得不到反馈也得不到鼓励，自己既摸不清头脑，又觉得很愚蠢，还有点吃力。这种方法只应用于刚刚步入职场的菜鸟身上，在这类面试者身上面试官的威力是最大的。等应聘者的职业经验更丰富了，他们就会被像格蕾丝·凯利（Grace Kelly）一样对待。

　　At the end of this ordeal¹², once “the package” (a dossier of 40-50 pages on each applicant) has been considered and Larry Page, Google's chief executive, approves the decision, the firm's new employee can boast of working at an interesting place with lots of other clever people. Sometimes, though, the rigorous hiring process does such a good job of signalling that a career at Google is desirable that actually starting work there can be anticlimactic¹³.

　　严酷的考验结束后，一旦“一揽子”档案（每个应聘者都有40-50页厚的档案）通过核实进去，谷歌的行政总裁拉里·佩吉（Larry Page）也通过了决定，新人就可以骄傲地向别人宣布自己将会在这个妙趣横生的地方工作，和其他很多聪明人一起。尽管有时候严格的应聘过程确实有力地证明了在谷歌开展自己的事业是值得的，但是真正开始工作起来感觉可能大相径庭。

　　One former worker in Google's People Ops department (the section other companies call HR), told the author that, within days of leaving university, he went from reading the works of Jacques Derrida, an indecipherable theorist, to processing requests from Google employees wishing to move position within the organisation. He did not see this as a good thing.

　　一个曾在谷歌人类机会部门（其他公司称之为人力资源部门）工作的人告诉作者，在大学里他还阅读深莫测的理论家德里达的著作，一离开大学，就要处理希望内部调职的谷歌职员的要求。他可不觉得这有什么好的。

1 organisation   

n.组织，安排，团体，有机休

参考例句：

• The method of his organisation work is worth commending.他的组织工作的方法值得称道。
• His application for membership of the organisation was rejected.他想要加入该组织的申请遭到了拒绝。

2 deficient   

adj.不足的，不充份的，有缺陷的

参考例句：

• The crops are suffering from deficient rain.庄稼因雨量不足而遭受损害。
• I always have been deficient in selfconfidence and decision.我向来缺乏自信和果断。

3 aptitude   

n.(学习方面的)才能，资质，天资

参考例句：

• That student has an aptitude for mathematics.那个学生有数学方面的天赋。
• As a child,he showed an aptitude for the piano.在孩提时代，他显露出对于钢琴的天赋。

4 hygiene   

n.健康法，卫生学 （a.hygienic）

参考例句：

• Their course of study includes elementary hygiene and medical theory.他们的课程包括基础卫生学和医疗知识。
• He's going to give us a lecture on public hygiene.他要给我们作关于公共卫生方面的报告。

5 meek   

adj.温顺的，逆来顺受的

参考例句：

• He expects his wife to be meek and submissive.他期望妻子温顺而且听他摆布。
• The little girl is as meek as a lamb.那个小姑娘像羔羊一般温顺。

6 applicant   

n.申请人，求职者，请求者

参考例句：

• He was the hundredth applicant for the job. 他是第100个申请这项工作的人。
• In my estimation, the applicant is well qualified for this job. 据我看, 这位应征者完全具备这项工作的条件。

7 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

8 bulging   

膨胀； 凸出（部）； 打气； 折皱

参考例句：

• Her pockets were bulging with presents. 她的口袋里装满了礼物。
• Conscious of the bulging red folder, Nim told her,"Ask if it's important." 尼姆想到那个鼓鼓囊囊的红色文件夹便告诉她：“问问是不是重要的事。”

9 anecdotes   

n.掌故，趣闻，轶事( anecdote的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• amusing anecdotes about his brief career as an actor 关于他短暂演员生涯的趣闻逸事
• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman. 他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 silicon   

n.硅(旧名矽)

参考例句：

• This company pioneered the use of silicon chip.这家公司开创了使用硅片的方法。
• A chip is a piece of silicon about the size of a postage stamp.芯片就是一枚邮票大小的硅片。

11 psychology   

n.心理，心理学，心理状态

参考例句：

• She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
• He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。

12 ordeal   

n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验

参考例句：

• She managed to keep her sanity throughout the ordeal.在那场磨难中她始终保持神志正常。
• Being lost in the wilderness for a week was an ordeal for me.在荒野里迷路一星期对我来说真是一场磨难。

13 anticlimactic   

adj. 渐降法的, 虎头蛇尾的

参考例句：

• Everything after the discovery of the murderer was anticlimactic. 找到谋杀者之后，人们对所有事情的兴趣都突减了。
• The conclusion of the movie was anticlimactic. 电影的结局真没劲。