20 Things US Graduates Should Do Before Landing A Good Job
給美國大學畢業生就業前的二十個忠告
1. "Get out of the library. You can have a degree and ahuge GPA and not be ready for the workplace. A student should plan that collegeis four years of experience rather than 120 credits," says William Coplin,professor at Syracuse University and author of the book, 10 Things Employers Want You to Learn in College.
第一，走出圖書館。就算有了學位和很高的GPA你也不見得就為工作做好了準備。學生應該有規劃，校園四年的人生經驗比120個學分更重要。
Tips: 在美國大學裡，課外活動常常和功課一樣重要，通過課外活動可以得到很多課本外的知識。
2. Start a business in your dorm room. It's cheap,Google and Yahoo are dying to buy your website, and it's better than washingdishes in the cafeteria. Note to those who play poker online until 4 a.m.: Gambling isn't a business. It's an addiction.
第二，從宿舍開始做生意，這很便宜。雅虎、谷歌都會爭先恐後地買你弄出來的網站，這比餐館裡洗盤子好多了。至於那些通宵在線玩撲克的人，記住賭博不是生意，賭博是癮。
Tips: 要想創業可從大學同步開始，不見得需要大量的啟動資金。大學有大把的時光和大量的人力及知識資源。
3. Don't take on debt that is too limiting. This is nota reference to online gambling, although it could be. This is about choosing astate school over a pricey private school. Almost everyone agrees you can get agreat education at an inexpensive school. So in many cases the debt from aprivate school is more career-limiting than the lack of brand name on yourdiploma.
第三，別債務纏身。這和在線賭博關係不大，雖然可能有關係。這是關於應該選擇一所州立大學而不是昂貴的私立學校的問題。幾乎所有人都同意在不那麼貴的學校裡也能得到良好的教育。所以從個人前途上看，無債一身輕比花錢買個名牌文憑要有利得多。
Tips: 不要僅僅盯著大學排名，需要選擇適合自己的學校，才會有更大的發展。
4. Get involved on campus. When it comes to career success,emotional intelligence -- social skills to read and lead others -- get youfarther than knowledge or job competence, according to Tiziana Casciaro,professor at Harvard Business School. Julie Albert, a junior at BrandeisUniversity, is the director of her a capella group and head of orientation thisyear. She hones her leadership skills outside the classroom, which is exactlywhere to do it.
第四，積極參加校園文化活動。哈佛商學院的Tiziana Casciaro教授在談到事業的成功，情商――閱讀和領導別人的社會技能――均來源於在大學做合唱團的指揮和領導，在那裡獲取的能力要遠遠超過你的學識和工作能力。這在美國文化中，是所謂「領袖素質」的基礎。
Tips: 通過校園活動，可以學會怎麼理解、幫助別人，滿足別人的需要和別人溝通。找工作時會被別人另眼相看。千萬不要認為這些僅僅是校園生活而已。
5. Avoid grad school in the liberal arts. One in fiveEnglish PhDs find stable university jobs, and the degree won't help outside theuniversity. "Schooling only gives you the capacity to stand behind a cashregister," says Thomas Benton, a columnist at the Chronicle of HigherEducation (who has an English degree from Yale and a tenure-track teachingjob.)
第五，避免在文理學院中讀研究生。五分之一的英語博士可以在大學裡找到穩定的工作，走出校門（找工作），學位沒有任何幫助。ThomasBenton（一位高等教育紀事報專欄作家，擁有耶魯大學英語學士學位和一個任期的田徑教學工作）說：大學僅僅是給你一個站在收銀機後面的能力。
Tips: 除非你離了學術不能活，讀博士對實際工作毫無幫助。在美國博士不見得比本科更好找工作。與中國情況相反，中國有很多公司，碩士生以下不要。不能拿中國的經驗去套國外的生活哦。
6. Skip the law-school track. Lawyers are the mostdepressed of all professionals. Stress itself does not make a job bad, saysAlan Kreuger, economist at Princeton University. Not having control over one'swork does make a bad job, though, and lawyers are always acting on behalf ofsomeone else. Suicide is among the leading causes of premature death amonglawyers.
第六，Alan Kreuger（普林斯頓經濟學家）說：跳出法律學校的軌跡。律師是所有職業中最壓抑的。本身有壓力的工作並不代表是一份壞的工作。律師總是代表別人去爭利，沒有辦法掌控自己的工作，是一份壞工作。自殺是律師中第一號非正常死亡的原因。
Tips: 收入高不代表是好工作。人的一生不僅僅只有工作。
7. Play a sport. People who play sports earn more moneythan couch potatoes, and women executives who played sports attribute much oftheir career success to their athletic experience, says Jennifer Cripsen ofSweet Briar College in Virginia. You don't need to be great at sports, you justneed to be part of a team.
第七，參加體育運動。調查表明，大學從事體育運動的人，畢業後比那些不沾體育的同學明顯收入高。美國人從事體育不僅是鍛鍊身體，而且是培養競爭的才能和領袖素質。一個大學運動隊的隊長到華爾街找工作，優勢不可限量。
Tips: 生命在於運動。美國大學裡的體育生需要完成與其他人一樣的學習，訓練通常是每天都要佔3~4小時（我孩子告訴我，體育校隊的人每天下午4點到7點進行訓練，天天如此）。這也是美國大學一視同仁的特色，這樣畢業出來的人難道不更優秀嗎?
8. Separate your expectations from those of yourparents. "Otherwise you wake up and realize you're not living your ownlife," says Alexandra Robbins, author of the popular new book "TheOverachievers." (Note to parents: If you cringe as you read this list,then you need to read this book.)
第八，別按著父母的期待生活。「否則你醒來後會發現你過的不是自己的日子。」
Tips:父母有父母的生活經驗，但孩子有孩子的喜好。按照自己的人生去生活，自己會感覺更快樂些。
9. Try new things that you're not good at. "Ditchthe superstar mentality that if you don't reach the top, president, A+, editorin chief, then the efforts were worthless. It's important to learn to enjoythings without getting recognition," says Robbins.
第九，做一些你並不擅長的新事物。你對自己未必了解，這是蘇格拉底給人類的教誨。「如果你沒有達到頂峰、做總統、得A+、做主編，看起來你做得毫無價值，沒有達到巨心得狀態。重要的是要學會享受沒有得到認可的事情。
Tips: 請給自己一個機會。什麼自己不擅長這個，不擅長那個，作繭自縛。很多人二十年後會生活在自己完全沒有設想過的現實中。
10. Define success for yourself. "Society definessuccess very narrowly. Rather than defining success as financial gain oraccolades, define it in terms of individual interests and personalhappiness," says Robbins.
第十，以自己為中心來定義成功，「社會上成功的定義非常狹隘，相比較收益和榮譽的定義，成功應該定義為個人的興趣和幸福感更重要。以自己為中心來定義成功，別以外在的東西（比如金錢）來定義成功。
Tips: 生活需要自我調節，幸福來源於自我感覺。（是不是有點阿Q？）
11. Make your job search a priority. Jobs do not fall inyour lap, you have to chase them. Especially a good one. It's a job to look fora job. Use spreadsheets to track your progress. And plan early. Goldman Sachs,for example, starts its information sessions in September.
第十一，好工作要自己去找，不要等著天上掉餡餅，尤其是好的工作。找工作本身就是一件工作，你應該用表格記錄找工作的過程。並且要提前規劃。比如說高盛從9月份就開始招工信息通報會。
Tips: 幸福來源於自己去追求。等待將會一無所獲。
12. Take a course in happiness. Happiness study isrevolutionizing how we think of psychology, economics, and sociology. How to behappy is a science that 150 schools teach. Preview: Learn to be moreoptimistic. This class will show you how.
第十二，選修關於"幸福"的心理課程。幸福的研究來源於我們對心理學、經濟學和社會學的思考。如何快樂是一門學科，超過150個學校都在進行這一方面的教學。學會積極樂觀的態度。
Tips: 幸福是一門需要用心去體驗的學問。用愉快的心態去迎接社會的考驗。
13. Take an acting course. The best actors are actuallybeing their most authentic selves, says Lindy Amos of communications coachingfirm TAI Resources. Amos teaches executives to communicate authentically sothat people will listen and feel connected. You need to learn to do this, too,and you may as well start in college.
第十三，上表演課。美國社會整個就是個舞臺，從教授、政治家、企業總裁，到律師、將軍、記者，不會表演就很難出頭。與人溝通，使人聆聽並感受的學習不妨從大學就開始學習。
Tips: 這就是我們常聽到的情商的重要性。社會是由人組成的，交流溝通無時不在。而方法和基本常識我們需要儘早的去學習。
14. Learn to give a compliment. The best compliments are specific, so "good job" is not good, writes Lisa Laskow Lahey,psychologist at Harvard and co-author of How the Way We Talk Can Change theWay We Work. Practice on your professors. If you give a good complimentthe recipient will think you're smarter: Big payoff in college, but biggerpayoff in the work world.
第十四，學會讚美別人。哈佛大學心理學家Lisa Laskow Lahey在How the Way We Talk Can Change the Way We Work一書中說道：最好的恭維應該是具體的，像「工作好」並不是一種好的讚美。如果你給別人一個好的讚美，你會被認為是一個聰明的人（這樣的效果，在學校裡會有很大的好處，在工作的世界裡你的收益就會更大）。
Tips: 在生活中，既要當好演員，也要當好觀眾。很多時候我們總是感覺和別人有距離，其實就是缺那簡單的幾句問候和一個擁抱。學會感恩，你將生活的更快樂。
15. Use the career center. These people are experts atpositioning you in the workforce and their only job is to get you a job. Howcan you not love this place? If you find yourself thinking the people at yourcollege's career center are idiots, it's probably a sign that you really,really don't know what you're doing.
第十五，使用就業指導中心。美國大學一個重要部門就是求職諮詢機構。專業人員幫你分析自己的長短，以及就業市場，幫助你準備面試，修改申請信。
Tips: 不需要一切都靠自己打天下。學校是你的後盾，有很多資源可以利用的。
16. Develop a strong sense of self by dissing collegesthat reject you. Happy people have 「a more durable sense of and aren't asbuffeted by outside events,」 writes Sonja Lyubomirsky of the University ofCalifornia-Riverside. When bad things happen, don't take it personally. This ishow the most successful business people bounce back quickly from setback.
第十六，被拒後應該坦然以對。快樂的人自己定義自己，不會用外在指標定義自己。當不好的事情發生的時候，不要太在意。學會如何從失敗中走出來。
Tips: 成功的人就是那些學會了如何快速從失敗中站起來，再去奮鬥的人。
17. Apply to Harvard as a transfer student. Sure, peoplehave wild success after going to an Ivy League school, but this success is no granderthan that of the people who applied and got rejected. All people who apply toIvy League schools seem to have similar high self-confidence and ambition, evenif they don't get in, according to a study by Kreuger.
第十七，以轉校生的身份申請哈佛。人們從常春藤名校畢業無疑會取得巨大的成功，但是那些申請後被拒的學生也不差。所有申請常春藤名校的人，即使不能入校就讀，也都有同樣的自信和野心。
Tips: 成功的人有一顆永不言敗的心。
18. Get rid of your perfectionist streak. It is rewardedin college, but it leads to insane job stress and an inability to feelsatisfied with your work. And for all of you still stuck on number 6, aboutditching the law school applications: The Utah Bar Journal says that lawyersare disproportionately perfectionists.
第十八，不要過分追求完美，不要給自己不必要的壓力。生活不止是工作，學習，它還有很多很多。
Tips: 生活是豐富多彩的，要去熱愛人生。
19. Work your way through college. Getting involved instudent organizations counts, and so does feeding children in Sierra Leone orsweeping floors in the chemistry building. Each experience you have can growinto something bigger. Albert was an orientation leader last year, and sheturned that experience into a full-time summer job that morphed into a positionmanaging 130 orientation leaders. A great bullet on the resume for a junior incollege.
第十九，要靠打工讀完大學，積累工作經驗。通過打工你會認識很多人，每一份工作，都會給你經驗的積累。領導才能的鍛鍊就是從這些打工的過程中獲得的。
Tips: 大部分中國學生做不到，甚至認為打工沒有必要，其實打過工的人才會真正珍惜生活。打工僅僅是學習的一種手段，通過打工，你會學到更多課本以外的使用知識。
20. Make to do lists. You can't achieve dreams if youdon't have a plan to get there.
第二十，把你的目標列成表，因為你沒有計劃就不可能成功。不要整天沒事幹老胡思亂想，只有真正的行動才能拯救你！
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