想找到一份新工作並不那麼容易。你需要先搜尋一個合適的職位，如果進展順利，你可能會被邀請前去參加面試。對一些人來說，這是恐慌開始出現的時候，因為你將面臨困難的面試問題，同時你必須證明自己的能力。但是，在面試中，如果你沒有被問及為什麼想要這份工作，而是被要求站起來跳個舞，你會怎麼想呢？本期 “隨身英語” 告訴你一些人不得不面對的奇怪面試。
Vocabulary: employment 詞匯：就業
Finding a new job isn’t always easy. You search for a suitable vacancy, send in an application form and if that goes well, you might be invited for an interview. For some, this is when the panic sets in – you’re going to be faced by a panel of strangers who’ll fire difficult questions at you, and you’ll have to actually prove yourself. But how would you feel if, instead of being asked why you want the job, you’re asked to stand up and dance?!
From the perspective of a company, it wants to hire the right person because they can make a big difference to the success of the organisation. It therefore needs to test a candidate in the most appropriate way to discover how suitable he or she may be. A good interview process should involve rigorous screening of job applicants and effective questions that every applicant gets asked. But that’s not always the case.
Alison Green is an author and creator of the workplace advice column ‘Ask a Manager’. She told the AYYBLOG that some companies “give their interviewers little or no training and often leave them completely on their own when it comes to figuring out what to ask job candidates.” She mentions that some interviewers are too casual and some focus on building a good rapport and end up hiring the candidate they just ‘clicked with’, regardless of their skills and abilities.
An inexperienced interviewer may think it’s clever to ask ‘if you were an animal, what kind would you be?’ That has been asked, Alison Green says, but in reality this has no connection with the job. And there have been inappropriate requests, such as one job seeker being asked to show the interviewer the inside of her handbag to demonstrate how organised she was. Talking of inappropriate, the AYYBLOG heard from a number of people who were surprised by the questions they were asked in an interview. Mature student Kevin Helton said that “the interviewer asked, ‘you used to be in the Army, how many people have you killed?’”
But as Alison Green points out, while a candidate might feel at the mercy of an interviewer, they are able to question why they’re being asked something, and while the interviewer might be making judgements, the candidate can also make their own judgement and decide if this is really the career move they want to make!
詞匯表
vacancy 職位空缺
interview 面試
prove yourself 證明自己的實力
perspective（思考問題的）角度
hire 雇傭
organisation 組織，團體
candidate 候選人，應試者
screening 篩選
applicant 申請人
interviewer 面試官
training 培訓
figure out 想出
casual 不在意的，漫不經心的
rapport 融洽，和諧的關系
clicked with 一拍即合的，與……產生共鳴的
skills and abilities 技能與能力
inexperienced 缺乏經驗的
inappropriate 不適合的，不恰當的
job seeker 應聘者
at the mercy 聽命於……，任憑……擺佈
judgement 判斷，評判
career move 職業發展
測驗與練習
1. 閱讀課文並回答問題。
1. According to the article, what can make a big difference to the success of a company?
2. What is the problem with interviewers just trying to develop a good rapport with the candidate?
3. In one interview, how did the interviewer want to find out how organised a candidate was?
4. True or false? Only the interviewer is able to make judgements about the person they are interviewing.
5. According to Alison Green, what is the problem when an interviewer has little or no training?
2. 請在不參考課文的情況下完成下列練習。選擇一個意思合適的單詞填入句子的空格處。
1. His in-depth knowledge of how cars work made him a perfect _______ for the job as a mechanic.
interviewer candidate job seeker vacancy
2. We have a great boss, she has a fantastic _______ with all the team and she even buys them cakes sometimes!
perspective screening rapport organisation
3. Our flight is delayed but we’re _______ of the weather – there’s nothing we can do.
at a mercy on the mercy at the mercy of the mercy
4. I’m working so much, my house is a mess so I’m going to have to _______ a cleaner.
hire applicant perspective interview
5. I met my wife on a blind date. As soon as started talking, I just _______ her.
clicks with clicked on clicked at clicked with
答案
1. 閱讀課文並回答問題。
1. According to the article, what can make a big difference to the success of a company?
A company wants to hire the right person because they can make a big difference to the success of the organisation.
2. What is the problem with interviewers just trying to develop a good rapport with the candidate?
Some interviewers focus on building a good rapport and end up hiring the candidate they just ‘clicked with’, regardless of their skills and abilities.
3. In one interview, how did the interviewer want to find out how organised a candidate was?
An interviewer at one company asked to look the candidate’s handbag to see how organised she was.
4. True or false? Only the interviewer is able to make judgements about the person they are interviewing.
False. While the interviewer might be making judgements, the candidate can also make their own judgement and decide if this is really the career move they want to make!
5. According to Alison Green, what is the problem when an interviewer has little or no training?
She said that some companies give their interviewers little or no training so they don’t know what questions to ask the candidates.
2. 請在不參考課文的情況下完成下列練習。選擇一個意思合適的單詞填入句子的空格處。
1. His in-depth knowledge of how cars work made him a perfect candidate for the job as a mechanic.
2. We have a great boss, she has a fantastic rapport with all the team and she even buys them cakes sometimes!
3. Our flight is delayed but we’re at the mercy of the weather – there’s nothing we can do.
4. I’m working so much, my house is a mess so I’m going to have to hire a cleaner.
5. I met my wife on a blind date. As soon as started talking, I just clicked with her.
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填表領取25分鐘真人外師課＋英文程度分析
