简历中不为人知的秘密

 简历中不为人知的秘密 I was deeply shocked by a recent survey that suggested 30 per cent of job applicants² embellished⁴ the truth or lied on a curriculum vitae. Can the figure really be that low? I had always assumed CVs were riddled⁵ with evasions⁶, half-truths and downright whoppers. As a cynic, the news that 70 per cent of workers are scrupulously⁷ honest has shaken my lack of faith in my fellow humans. The only consolation⁸ is that people often fib in anonymous⁹ surveys, just as they do on résumés, which means the real proportion may be higher。

　　最近一项调查显示，有30%的求职者在简历中美化事实或者造假，这让我深感震惊。这一数字真的可能这样低吗？我向来认定，简历中充斥着遁辞、半真半假的事实和彻头彻尾的谎话。作为一名怀疑论者，这则70%的员工都谨严正直的消息，动摇了我对人类的信心缺失。唯一能让我聊以自慰的是，人们通常在匿名调查中扯些小谎，就像他们在简历中那样，而这意味着，真实的比例可能会更高。 

　　One prediction rang true from the research by the Chartered Institute of Educational Assessors. It was that the incentive¹⁰ for mendacity is growing, as unemployment balloons and competition for jobs rises. In coming months recruiters will therefore be bombarded with CVs making claims more misleading than the kind that got Corpus Christi college disqualified from the BBC’s University Challenge。　　把口译笔译站点加入收藏夹

　　英国教育评估人特许学会(Chartered Institute of Educational Assessors)所做的研究中，有一个预测听上去真实可靠：随着失业人数迅速膨胀，及就业竞争加剧，说谎的动机在不断增强。因此，在未来数月内，招聘者将接到大量内容不实的简历，这些简历的欺骗性要比导致牛津大学圣体学院(Corpus Christi college)被取消由英国广播公司(BBC)主办的《大学对抗赛》(University Challenge)比赛资格的造假严重得多。

　　It was the same during the downturn of the early 1990s. Then, one acquaintance obtained a graduate traineeship¹¹ at a large bank by bumping his third-class degree up to a 2:1. A journalist colleague meanwhile admitted to me that his degree from a top university was entirely¹² fictional¹³. Another contemporary explained away a year lost to bone idleness by telling prospective¹⁴ employers that he had been writing a field guide to the wild flowers of the Pyrenees. I might have lied on my own CV, if an east coast Scottish upbringing had not lumbered¹⁵ me with the subliminal¹⁶ conviction that I would burn for eternity¹⁷ in hell if I did。

　　这与上世纪90年代初经济下滑时期的情况相同。当时，我的一个熟人在将他的三等学位抬高至二等一级(2:1)学位后，得到了一家大银行培训生一职。一位记者同僚同时向我承认，他的顶尖大学学位完全是捏造的。另一位同龄人在解释游手好闲浪费掉的一年时光时，搪塞称他在写一本有关比利牛斯山脉野花的野外指南。倘若不是苏格兰东海岸的成长教育让我在潜意识里坚信，如果我造假，就会在地狱里永世受折磨，我可能也这样做了。

　　Charles Thomas of Kroll, a company whose services include background checks on job applicants, says that inaccuracies on CVs divide into three main groups. First, there are honest mistakes, typically made when candidates muddle¹⁸ dates. Second, there is deliberate fibbing about qualifications. Mr Thomas says: “A lie told 20 years ago to get a job can become part of the liar’s reality. So he tells it again when he switches jobs, even though he has become a successful finance director。” Third, applicants close up suspicious gaps in their employment history. In one case investigated by Kroll, a candidate turned out to have spent a three-month gap in prison for fraud。

　　服务内容包括求职者背景调查的Kroll公司的查尔斯？托马斯(Charles Thomas)表示，简历不实大体分为三类。第一种是无意造成的错误，通常是求职者搞混了日期。第二种，是故意在资历方面撒些小谎。托马斯表示：“一个在 20年前为得到某份工作而撒下的谎，可以变成说谎者现实生活的一部分。那么当换工作时，他还要再讲一遍，尽管他已成为一名成功的财务总监。”第三种，求职者为了填补工作经历中可疑的空白。Kroll调查过的一件案例中，一位求职者有3个月的空白被证明是因欺诈罪而关在监狱中。

　　About 65 per cent of businesses take up references for shortlisted job applicants, according to research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. Fewer than half said they found out anything useful. This is hardly surprising now that the fear of litigation prevents past employers from saying anything more revealing than: “Yes, Derek worked for us. He has a beard and knows a bit about databases。” Less than 40 per cent of businesses bother to check academic and professional qualifications。

　　英国特许人事和发展协会(Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development)研究表明，约65%的企业会参看入围求职者的推荐信。不足一半的企业表示，能从中得到一些有用的信息。这并不令人惊讶，由于担心会惹上官司，昔日的雇主们不会揭露真相，除了：“是的，德里克(Derek)曾为我们工作。他留着胡子，对资料库略懂一些。”不足40%的企业会费心核查教育和职业资历。

　　How can the honest candidate compete?　　

 　  The recession means that one job advertisement in a broadsheet newspaper can attract up to 700 applicants, reports Owen Morgan of Penna, a human resources consultancy. A junior HR officer will typically whittle¹⁹ these down to a long list, spending no more than 15 seconds examining each CV. The helot may simply run a key word search on CVs submitted electronically, freeing up a few minutes for a fag break. Kerwin Hack²⁰, a counsellor at HR consultancy Fairplace, therefore suggests larding CVs with phrases extracted from the job ad。

　　诚实的求职者怎样去竞争？人力资源咨询公司Penna的欧文？摩根(Owen Morgan)报告称，经济衰退意味着，报纸上一个招聘广告能吸引多至700名申请者。人力资源部门的低级员工通常会精减出一份初选名单，他们阅读每份简历的时间不超过15秒。这个没地位的人可能仅对电子版的简历进行一下关键词搜索，空出来几分钟时间抽支烟。人力资源咨询公司Fairplace顾问克尔温 ?哈克(Kerwin Hack)从而建议，从招聘广告中摘取语句来点缀简历。

　　When I last encountered Mr Hack, he was discouraging a redundant²¹ investment banker from using the words “I really need the money” in an application for a new job. The cultural artefact that is the CV is undergoing rapid change, so there are other elements applicants may safely omit. Date of birth is one. If you are over 40, you will increase your chance of an interview by leaving this out. You will not get the job, but at least there will be free coffee and biscuits. The “marital status” category is also dropping from use. If you are female, “just married and already ordering nursery curtains” positions you poorly anyway. “Leisure and hobbies” is another superfluity。

　　当我上一次碰见哈克时，他正劝阻一名遭解雇的投资银行家在申请一份新工作时使用“我真的需要钱”这样的字眼。简历这种文化的时代产物正经历着急速的变化，因此有些因素也许能够安全地省略掉。出生日期就是其一。如果你年逾40，为了增加获得面试的机会，你可以剔除这一点。你不会得到这份工作，但至少会有免费的咖啡和饼干。“婚姻状况”这一栏也别留着。如果你是女性，“刚刚结婚，并已准备要孩子了”怎么都会让你陷入悲惨的境遇。“业余爱好”也是多余的。

　　What troubles my moralistic soul most about résumé fraud is that the perpetrators often do the jobs they misappropriate rather well. The academic qualifications of Patrick Imbardelli, Asia boss of InterContinental Hotels, were exposed as bogus only during routine checks triggered by his elevation²² to the board. Colleagues described Neil Taylor, whose fake degree secured him a ?115,000 salary as chief executive of an NHS trust, as “highly competent”。

　　有关简历欺诈，在道义层面令我最郁闷的是，说谎者往往把不正当得来的工作做得相当出色。只有在晋升入董事会而带来的常规核查中，洲际酒店集团 (InterContinental Hotel)亚洲区首席执行官殷德利(Patrick Imbardelli)的学历才被曝光是伪造的。尼尔？泰勒(Neil Taylor)的假学历让他获得了一份年薪11.5万英镑的工作——英国国民保健服务(NHS)一家信托公司的首席执行官，但同事们形容他“高度胜任”。

　　Crooks²³ and Walter Mittys are always with us. However, the averagejob applicant¹ would be more inclined to honesty if more companies displayed it themselves. Instead, recruitment is often an orgy of hyperbole. In its job advertisement the solid, ordinary business with offices in Birkenhead becomes “a dynamic, market-leading multinational”. The solid, ordinary candidate responds as “a passionate²⁴ customer champion and intrapreneur”. Desire burns ever hotter on both sides, with promises of meteoric²⁵ career advancement²⁶ and soaring sales performance. But the infatuation expires in the cold light of the first morning that the new recruit reports for work. After coition, all animals are sad, as the Romans used to say. It would be better to restrain expectations and avoid such disappointment. And employers should check successful candidates’ qualifications. It only takes five minutes。

　　我们身边总不缺骗子和幻想狂。但如果更多的企业自己也表现得诚实，一般的求职者也会更倾向于诚实。而事实上，招聘常常是没边儿的夸张。在招聘广告里，一家位于伯肯黑德的踏实的普通企业，变成了“具有活力的、市场领先的跨国企业”。而实诚的普通求职者则回应以“一名充满激情的客户维护者和内部创新者 ”。随着令人眼花缭乱的事业提升和志向远大的销售业绩等承诺，双方的渴望都燃烧得愈发炽烈。但这种醉心痴迷在新员工第一天报到的寒冷气氛中就烟消云散了。就像罗马人曾说的那样，激情过后，任何一种动物都会感到悲伤。最好还是抑制期望，避免这种失望。而雇主应当核查一下求职成功者的简历。这只需要5分钟。

　　Words and Expressions

　　Embellish³: v. 美化，修饰，润色

　　Be riddled with: 布满，充满，The report was riddled with errors. 这篇报道错误百出

　　Whopper: n. 弥天大谎

　　Fid: v. 撒小谎

　　Mendacity: n. 谎言，虚假

　　Subliminal: adj. 潜意识的

　　Fag: n. 香烟

　　ordering nursery curtains: 暗指准备要生孩子了

　　Superfluity: n. 多余物

　　Misappropriate: v. 盗用，挪用

　　Bogus: adj. 假的

　　Intrapreneur: n. 内部创新者，大公司之获得充分自由及财务支持以开创新产品、新服务、新制度，而且不必遵守公司经常习惯的职员

1 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。

2 applicants   

申请人，求职人( applicant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were over 500 applicants for the job. 有500多人申请这份工作。
• He was impressed by the high calibre of applicants for the job. 求职人员出色的能力给他留下了深刻印象。

3 embellish   

v.装饰，布置；给…添加细节，润饰

参考例句：

• I asked him not to embellish the truth with ideas of his own.我要他不对事实添油加醋。
• Can you embellish your refusal just a little bit?你可以对你的婉拒之辞略加修饰吗？

4 embellished   

v.美化( embellish的过去式和过去分词 )；装饰；修饰；润色

参考例句：

• The door of the old church was embellished with decorations. 老教堂的门是用雕饰美化的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The stern was embellished with carvings in red and blue. 船尾饰有红色和蓝色的雕刻图案。 来自辞典例句

5 riddled   

adj.布满的；充斥的；泛滥的v.解谜，出谜题(riddle的过去分词形式)

参考例句：

• The beams are riddled with woodworm. 这些木梁被蛀虫蛀得都是洞。
• The bodies of the hostages were found riddled with bullets. 在人质的尸体上发现了很多弹孔。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 evasions   

逃避( evasion的名词复数 )； 回避； 遁辞； 借口

参考例句：

• A little overwhelmed, I began the generalized evasions which that question deserves. 我有点不知所措，就开始说一些含糊其词的话来搪塞。
• His answers to my questions were all evasions. 他对我的问题的回答均为遁词。

7 scrupulously   

adv.一丝不苟地；小心翼翼地，多顾虑地

参考例句：

• She toed scrupulously into the room. 她小心翼翼地踮着脚走进房间。 来自辞典例句
• To others he would be scrupulously fair. 对待别人，他力求公正。 来自英汉非文学 - 文明史

8 consolation   

n.安慰，慰问

参考例句：

• The children were a great consolation to me at that time.那时孩子们成了我的莫大安慰。
• This news was of little consolation to us.这个消息对我们来说没有什么安慰。

9 anonymous   

adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的

参考例句：

• Sending anonymous letters is a cowardly act.寄匿名信是懦夫的行为。
• The author wishes to remain anonymous.作者希望姓名不公开。

10 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

11 traineeship   

受训练的情况[时间]，受训者的地位[津贴]

参考例句：

• The traineeship is an 18-month accelerated program. 受训期是为期18个月的加速培养过程。

12 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

13 fictional   

adj.小说的，虚构的

参考例句：

• The names of the shops are entirely fictional.那些商店的名字完全是虚构的。
• The two authors represent the opposite poles of fictional genius.这两位作者代表了天才小说家两个极端。

14 prospective   

adj.预期的，未来的，前瞻性的

参考例句：

• The story should act as a warning to other prospective buyers.这篇报道应该对其他潜在的购买者起到警示作用。
• They have all these great activities for prospective freshmen.这会举办各种各样的活动来招待未来的新人。

15 lumbered   

砍伐（lumber的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• A rhinoceros lumbered towards them. 一头犀牛笨重地向他们走来。
• A heavy truck lumbered by. 一辆重型卡车隆隆驶过。

16 subliminal   

adj.下意识的，潜意识的；太弱或太快以至于难以觉察的

参考例句：

• Maybe they're getting it on a subliminal level.也许他们会在潜意识里这么以为。
• The soft sell approach gets to consumers in a subliminal way.软广告通过潜意识的作用来影响消费者。

17 eternity   

n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷

参考例句：

• The dull play seemed to last an eternity.这场乏味的剧似乎演个没完没了。
• Finally,Ying Tai and Shan Bo could be together for all of eternity.英台和山伯终能双宿双飞，永世相随。

18 muddle   

n.困惑，混浊状态；vt.使混乱，使糊涂，使惊呆；vi.胡乱应付，混乱

参考例句：

• Everything in the room was in a muddle.房间里每一件东西都是乱七八糟的。
• Don't work in a rush and get into a muddle.克服忙乱现象。

19 whittle   

v.削（木头），削减；n.屠刀

参考例句：

• They are trying to whittle down our salaries.他们正着手削减我们的薪水。
• He began to whittle away all powers of the government that he did not control.他开始削弱他所未能控制的一切政府权力。

20 hack   

n.劈，砍，出租马车；v.劈，砍，干咳

参考例句：

• He made a hack at the log.他朝圆木上砍了一下。
• Early settlers had to hack out a clearing in the forest where they could grow crops.早期移民不得不在森林里劈出空地种庄稼。

21 redundant   

adj.多余的，过剩的；(食物)丰富的；被解雇的

参考例句：

• There are too many redundant words in this book.这本书里多余的词太多。
• Nearly all the redundant worker have been absorbed into other departments.几乎所有冗员，都已调往其他部门任职。

22 elevation   

n.高度；海拔；高地；上升；提高

参考例句：

• The house is at an elevation of 2,000 metres.那幢房子位于海拔两千米的高处。
• His elevation to the position of General Manager was announced yesterday.昨天宣布他晋升总经理职位。

23 crooks   

n.骗子( crook的名词复数 )；罪犯；弯曲部分；（牧羊人或主教用的）弯拐杖v.弯成钩形( crook的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The police are getting after the crooks in the city. 警察在城里追捕小偷。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cops got the crooks. 警察捉到了那些罪犯。 来自《简明英汉词典》

24 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。

25 meteoric   

adj.流星的，转瞬即逝的，突然的

参考例句：

• In my mind,losing weight is just something meteoric.在我眼中，减肥不过是昙花一现的事情。
• His early career had been meteoric.他的早期生涯平步青云。

26 advancement   

n.前进，促进，提升

参考例句：

• His new contribution to the advancement of physiology was well appreciated.他对生理学发展的新贡献获得高度赞赏。
• The aim of a university should be the advancement of learning.大学的目标应是促进学术。