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2010-5-30 13:45
My daughter is an Oxford graduate with a business degree and is bilingual in French. She works in marketing for a small company but is looking for something better. She has applied for 20 jobs and has had many interviews but keeps getting rejected. She has asked why and was told by an internet search engine that they were “not obliged to give feedback”. A PR company said she was “very bright” but not “truly committed to a career in PR”. Is there any point in asking for reasons? And what can be done to get her a job?
LUCY KELLAWAY: THE ANSWER No, there is no point in asking for feedback. Most interviewers can't or won't explain their decisions, and why should they? They are not running a careers advice service and giving reasons simply invites future lawsuits. In any case, your daughter has already found out what she needs to know. She didn't get the job because she failed to act as if she was gagging for a career in PR. The reason, no doubt, is that she wasn't gagging for such a career. She is a clever girl and doesn't know if she will like PR for the good reason that she hasn't tried it. Such ambivalence may be sensible, but getting a job doesn't involve sense. It involves looking about 1,000 times keener than you actually are. Before her next interview she should find out as much as she can about the job and the company. This will put her far ahead of most candidates – who can't even be bothered to check the website. She would also do well to get a trusted friend to give her a dummy interview and tell her some home truths about how she comes across. If she can do this, a brilliant future awaits. I couldn't contemplate doing such an exposing thing myself, and I'm twice her age. Some readers have suggested that your daughter's real problem is that she has a pushy mother who writes in on her behalf. I don't think you're necessarily pushy: it's horrid to watch your child fail, and the older the child the worse, as there is little you can do. My guess is you wrote for a simpler reason: you read the FT and she doesn't. In which case, get her a subscription. Even if she doesn't actually read it, a folded pink paper sticking out of her bag is a nice fashion accessory. OUBLIEZ FRAN?AIS First, forget about the French – it has not been a serious business advantage since the 19th century. Second, 20 applications is nothing. What sort of hit rate do you expect? Third, the fact that you are writing on your daughter's behalf suggests that she lacks the extrovert personality required for PR. Fund manager, male, 40s PUSHY MOTHER Why doesn't she want to stay in her current job? Why is she looking for something better? Could it be parental pressure? Central banker, male, 36 OXBRIDGE ARROGANCE As an employer, I get lots of these candidates. They are bright but give me the feeling that they'll leave when something better comes along. I never offer a job to anyone who implicitly assumes our jobs are generic enough to be done by anyone with a 2:1 from a top university. Entrepreneur, male, 37 STOP LOOKING I graduated from Cambridge 23 years ago and took much too long to realise that Oxbridge doesn't fit you for jobs in most organisations. It's not part of the programme to produce people who fit in, and we make other people nervous. Your daughter should stop applying for jobs. She should work independently as a freelancer or consultant. The working relationship is more congenial and the rewards are higher. Consultant, male, 44 IN THE SAME BOAT This sounds familiar. I am bilingual in Russian and English, an accountant and a graduate of Oxford's Sa?d Business School. I have an MSc and an MBA. I have spent three years applying to every investment bank in London, Moscow and New York. Still nothing. Clerk, female, 29 WHAT DOES SHE WANT? Twenty jobs... search engine... PR company: I don't think she knows what she wants to do. In my – occasionally bitter – experience, companies can spot this a mile off. She needs some decent analysis of what she wants and a trip to the careers service. It worked wonders for me. Oxford grad, female, 24 A JOB OFFER She sounds just the ticket for a role I am looking to fill in my small venture capital business. How about it? Entrepreneur, male, 53 我女儿是牛津毕业的，有一个商学学位，而且通晓英语和法语。她目前在一家小公司做市场营销，但正在找更好的工作。她申请了20个职位，面试了很多次，但通通被拒。她曾问过原因。一家互联网搜索引擎公司告诉她，它们“没有义务提供反馈”。一家公关公司表示，她“非常聪明”，但不会“真正专心从事公关业”。询问原因有用吗？她怎么才能找到一份工作呢？
露西•凯拉韦的回答： 没错，寻求反馈是没有用的。大多数面试官无法或不愿解释他们的决定，而且他们也没有义务解释。他们不是职业咨询服务机构，讲出原因只会在日后招致官司缠身。 无论如何，你女儿已经知道了自己需要知道的信息。她没得到这份工作，因为她没有表现出自己很想从事公关事业的样子。毫无疑问，原因就在于她确实也没有很想从事这样的事业。她是一个聪明姑娘，不知道自己是否会喜欢公关工作，原因就是她没尝试过。 这种矛盾心理也许是理性的，但找工作跟理性没什么关系，而是要让你看上去比实际上的心情热切1000倍。在她下次接受面试之前，她应该尽可能地查找关于这个职位和这个公司的信息。这会使她远远领先于大多数应聘者——那些人甚至懒得上网查找信息。 她也可以找一个可信赖的朋友来一场模拟面试，对她的表现提一些逆耳忠言。如果她能做到这一点，光明的未来就在前面等着她。我自己倒不打算做这种暴露自己缺点的事，毕竟我的年龄比她大一倍。 有些读者提出，你女儿真正的问题是，她有一个很要强的妈妈，甚至替她写信提出这个问题。不过我认为，你未必是很要强：看着自己的孩子失败是一件可怕的事，孩子年龄越大就越糟糕，因为你也无能为力。 我猜，你之所以写信来，只有一个简单的原因：你看我们报纸，她却不看。如果是这样，那就也给她订一份吧。就算她实际并不看，但从她的包里探出一卷粉红色的报纸，也是个不错的时尚装饰。 别提法语这茬儿了 首先，把法语这茬儿给忘了吧——自从19世纪以来，会法语就不是一个重要的商业优势了。第二，20份求职申请算不了什么。你指望有什么样的命中率呢？第三，你替你女儿写信，说明她缺乏公关工作所要求的外向性格。 基金经理，男，40多岁 要强的妈妈 她为什么不想待在目前的岗位上了？她为什么要找更好的工作？是不是父母的压力所致？ 央行职员，男，36岁 “牛剑式”(OXBRIDGE，牛津剑桥的合称)自大 作为一名雇主，我遇到过许多这样的求职者。他们很聪明，但给我的感觉是，如果出现更好的机会，他们就会离开。如果有人私下认为我们的工作很一般，任何一个顶尖大学毕业的人都能做好两份这样的工作，那我决不会把这份工作机会交给他。 企业家，男，37岁 别再到处找工作了 我在23年前毕业于剑桥(Cambridge)。我花了很长时间才意识到，牛津剑桥并不会让你适合大多数组织机构中的工作。学校课程不是为了培养合适的人才，而我们还让其他人感到紧张。你女儿应该停止应聘。她应该做一名独立的自由职业者或顾问。那种工作关系更惬意，而且报酬更高。 顾问，男，44岁 同道中人 这听起来很耳熟。我也会两种语言：俄语和英语，目前从事会计工作，毕业于牛津大学赛德商学院(Saïd Business School)。我有一个理学硕士学位和一个MBA学位。我花了3年时间应聘在伦敦、莫斯科和纽约的各家投行。可还是一无所获。 职员，女，29岁 她到底想做什么？ 20次申请……搜索引擎公司……公关公司：我想，她不知道自己想做什么工作。以我的经验判断（有的经历比较痛苦），那些公司一眼就能看出这个问题。她需要对自己的期望进行一些深入分析，并听听职业服务机构的建议。这令我受益匪浅。 牛津大学毕业生，女，24岁 工作邀请 我有一家小型风险资本公司，正在招聘一个职位。听起来她似乎很适合。有意向吗？ 企业家，男，53岁 译者/徐柳 梁鸥 |