美国国家公共电台 NPR

 

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

President Trump¹ is well into his presidency², but the White House is lagging far behind when it comes to hiring for key positions across the government. So NPR's Vanessa Romo got a few pro³ tips on how to frame those help-wanted ads.

VANESSA ROMO, BYLINE⁴: When the White House press secretary gave his only on-camera briefing this week, reporters got right to the point, asking if there'd be a new opening at that podium.

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SEAN SPICER: Right here.

ROMO: I'm right here, he said. Then he added this.

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SPICER: But look. It's no secret we've had a couple vacancies⁵, including our communications director, who's gone for a while. We've been meeting with potential people that may be of service to this administration.

ROMO: To say that the Trump administration has a couple of vacancies is an understatement. To put it in perspective, by this point in his first term, President Obama had confirmed 151 appointees, whereas Trump only has 43. And it's not because they're not trying or that these are not lucrative⁶ positions.

It's that, amid the investigations⁷, the low approval rating numbers and notoriously capricious nature of the president, it's been challenging to lure⁸ takers. So removing this from the political realm and looking at this from an HR perspective, the question is, how does an organization entice⁹ top-tier talent when it's embroiled¹⁰ in chaos¹¹?

PETER CAPPELLI: I think it's a pretty good bet for somebody to take over an organization that everybody knows is in big trouble and that expectations are really low.

ROMO: That, surprisingly, is the expert opinion of...

CAPPELLI: Peter Cappelli in a very, very narrow conference room.

(LAUGHTER)

ROMO: He's also professor of management at the Wharton Business School, where Trump took a handful of business classes. Cappelli says you have to think of troubled companies like a sinking ship.

CAPPELLI: And you get on board it, and it sinks. Nobody blames you. If it's sinking, and something nice happens, and it turns around, you get all the credit.

ROMO: Great. But what's the pitch? If he were hiring, Cappelli says this would be his.

CAPPELLI: You're serving your country - job won't last that long. But, afterwards, you will be more valuable.

ROMO: So what kind of people are actually well-suited to work for an organization that's in crisis and a boss who's unfazed by completely reversing course on any given endeavor? According to Cappelli, the best candidates would have a military background, people who...

CAPPELLI: Who are used to accepting direction and executing orders. And they're used to falling on their swords for superiors.

ROM BRAFMAN: So what I would say is the opposite.

ROMO: Rom Brafman says the ideal employee in this situation is one who's flexible and creative. Brafman's a psychologist and co-author of the best-selling book "Sway: The Irresistible¹² Pull Of Irrational¹³ Behavior."

BRAFMAN: If you're intelligent, if you're creative, you don't really want somebody who's always going to tell you what's good and what's bad. And if somebody's telling you that one day something is good and one day something is bad, that creates the opportunity to go with either direction.

ROMO: Why, then, aren't more startup types clamoring to work for the White House? Brafman says behavioral economists¹⁴ call it loss aversion.

BRAFMAN: Let's say you walk in the street, and you find a $100 bill. You'll be happy, but if you lost a $100 bill, you'll be two and a half times more upset than the joy that you would've derived¹⁵ from finding a $100 bill.

ROMO: How does that translate into the workplace? Well, the fear of failure or of being tainted¹⁶ by it outweighs¹⁷ the unknown possibilities of success. But for anyone considering a job, here's a tip from Trump. The poor need not apply for some jobs.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: In those particular positions, I just don't want a poor person. Does that make sense? Does that make sense?

ROMO: I don't know. Does it? Vanessa Romo, NPR News, Washington.

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1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

3 pro   

n.赞成，赞成的意见，赞成者

参考例句：

• The two debating teams argued the question pro and con.辩论的两组从赞成与反对两方面辩这一问题。
• Are you pro or con nuclear disarmament?你是赞成还是反对核裁军？

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 vacancies   

n.空房间( vacancy的名词复数 )；空虚；空白；空缺

参考例句：

• job vacancies 职位空缺
• The sign outside the motel said \"No Vacancies\". 汽车旅馆外的招牌显示“客满”。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 lucrative   

adj.赚钱的，可获利的

参考例句：

• He decided to turn his hobby into a lucrative sideline.他决定把自己的爱好变成赚钱的副业。
• It was not a lucrative profession.那是一个没有多少油水的职业。

7 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

8 lure   

n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引

参考例句：

• Life in big cities is a lure for many country boys.大城市的生活吸引着许多乡下小伙子。
• He couldn't resist the lure of money.他不能抵制金钱的诱惑。

9 entice   

v.诱骗，引诱，怂恿

参考例句：

• Nothing will entice the children from television.没有任何东西能把孩子们从电视机前诱开。
• I don't see why the English should want to entice us away from our native land.我不明白，为什英国人要引诱我们离开自己的国土。

10 embroiled   

adj.卷入的；纠缠不清的

参考例句：

• He became embroiled in a dispute with his neighbours. 他与邻居们发生了争执。
• John and Peter were quarrelling, but Mary refused to get embroiled. 约翰和彼得在争吵，但玛丽不愿卷入。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

12 irresistible   

adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的

参考例句：

• The wheel of history rolls forward with an irresistible force.历史车轮滚滚向前，势不可挡。
• She saw an irresistible skirt in the store window.她看见商店的橱窗里有一条叫人着迷的裙子。

13 irrational   

adj.无理性的，失去理性的

参考例句：

• After taking the drug she became completely irrational.她在吸毒后变得完全失去了理性。
• There are also signs of irrational exuberance among some investors.在某些投资者中是存在非理性繁荣的征象的。

14 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 derived   

vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取

参考例句：

• Many English words are derived from Latin and Greek. 英语很多词源出于拉丁文和希腊文。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He derived his enthusiasm for literature from his father. 他对文学的爱好是受他父亲的影响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 tainted   

adj.腐坏的；污染的；沾污的；感染的v.使变质( taint的过去式和过去分词 )；使污染；败坏；被污染，腐坏，败坏

参考例句：

• The administration was tainted with scandal. 丑闻使得政府声名狼藉。
• He was considered tainted by association with the corrupt regime. 他因与腐败政府有牵连而名誉受损。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 outweighs   

v.在重量上超过( outweigh的第三人称单数 )；在重要性或价值方面超过

参考例句：

• Her need to save money outweighs her desire to spend it on fun. 她省钱的需要比她花钱娱乐的愿望更重要。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Its clarity in algebraic and analytical operations far outweighs any drawbacks. 文化代数和解析运算中的清晰性远远胜过任何缺点。 来自辞典例句