过度紧张语无伦次

　　If you can’t make it through an interview without crumbling, people are unlikely to believe you’ll be able to withstand the rigors of a normal job. So if you find interviews particularly daunting, work on your pep-talk beforehand. For example, if you find you’re saying things to yourself like, “I’m terrible in interviews, I know I’ll look like an idiot” – that can’t be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Instead, change your mental monologue to something more hopeful, yet still realistic, like “I get nervous during interviews, so I need to practice beforehand, and remember to look at the interviewer and keep breathing.” And do practice, too – that can really reduce your fear.

　　如果你无法平和冷静地通过一场面试，这会很难使别人相信你能禁得起来自常规工作的严格考验。因此，如果你觉得那些面试会使你紧张不安，你可以事先给自己打打气。比如说，即使你心里在想“我知道我在面试中会表现很差，看起来就像个傻瓜”，这也不可能是一个自我实现的预言。相反，把你的内心独白转化成一些更加乐观却不失现实性的话语，就像“我在面试的时候会紧张，所以我要事先练习一下，一定要记得看着面试官，呼吸要平稳，放轻松。”除此之外你还要做一些事前练习，此举能够有效缓解你内心的不安。

　　2. Dominate

　　完全一言堂——说个不停

　　If you know you have a strong personality and tend to talk a lot, coach yourself before you go into an interview to get curious about the interviewer: what he or she might be interested in hearing from you, his or her view of the job and of the company. If you’re in a curious mindset, you’ll be much more likely to listen, and the interview will be a dialogue, vs. a monologue.

　　如果你深知自己个性很强且喜欢滔滔不绝地说话，那你在面试前就要训练自己去揣摩面试官的内心：面试官想听我讲什么？对这份工作还有这个公司是什么看法？如果你在面试过程中处于这样一种好奇的心态，你就会更倾向于去听面试官在说什么，面试就会成为一场对话，而不是一次独白。

　　3. Be sloppy

　　仪表草率

　　Try to find out, before your interview, what’s standard dress at that particular company. But no matter how casual the dress code – don’t be a slob. Having good personal hygiene – clean hair, showered, nails trimmed – and clean, unwrinkled clothing is much more important than whether you’re a little over-dressed or under-dressed. When someone comes to an interview looking like he or she has just rolled out of bed, it communicates lack of respect for the interviewer, the job and the company.

　　在面试前，你要查询一下你所应聘的那家公司的着装规范。但是无论着装要求是多么随意，面试时都不可以不修边幅。要保持良好的个人卫生：头发要理好，事先洗过澡，指甲要修好。还有衣服要干净整洁不可以皱巴巴，这点很重要，不管是打扮郑重还是随意都要注意这点。当一个人去面试的时候看着像是刚起床的样子的话，这会给人以一种这个人并不在意这次面试，也不在乎这份工作，这个公司的印象。

　　4. Throw anybody under any bus

　　拉任何人为你垫背

　　Even if your former employer was terrible, resist the temptation to share any of that with your interviewer. I think sometimes people say dreadful things about their previous job because they don’t think about how it will be perceived, and sometimes because they actually think the interviewer will take it as a kind of compliment (e.g., my last job was horrific, unlike this job…). Trust me, saying negative things about your past work life in an interview will only give the impression that you’re both a complainer and indiscreet. Neither quality will put you on the ‘let’s hire’ list.

　　哪怕你的前任雇主很差劲，你也要克制自己去向面试官说任何有关这方面的事。有些时候人们会抱怨他们之前的工作，是因为他们并没有考虑到这件事会被如何看待，有时他们甚至认为面试官会把这些抱怨当做一种恭维（例如，我的上一份工作很糟糕，不像这份工作……）。请相信我，在面试中这些有关你过去的工作生活的负面话语只能给人以轻率且爱抱怨这种印象。无论是轻率还是爱抱怨，都会使你被排除在雇用名单之外。

　　5. Focus more on perks than on the job

　　关注福利比关注工作本身还多

　　Job seekers are often counseled to be clear about what they need and expect from a job, rather than just taking whatever’s offered. While I agree with that in principle, timing is critical. Many years ago, I conducted a first interview with someone whose only questions, when I asked her what else she wanted to know about the company, were 1) how much vacation will I get, 2) how many sick days can I take, and 3) will I get paid for the time I take off for family emergencies. These are all important things to know, and if I had offered her the job, would certainly be things she should find out before taking it. But to focus on them (exclusive of anything else) in a first interview left me with the sense that she was assessing the job purely as a vehicle for her to get paid time off. I was not inspired to hire her.

　　常有人建议求职者们不要全盘接受这份工作提供的酬劳，而是要清楚明白地知道自己真正需要、真正想要的是什么。我大体上是同意这个观点的，但是时机很关键。很多年前，我在初试时面试过一个女生，当我问她“对公司的事情还有什么疑问”的时候，她问的都是这一类的问题：1.我的假期有多长，2.我的病假有几天，3.如果我因家中急事请假的话是否会给工资。这些事确实很重要，而且她也确实应该在我聘请她之前了解这些事。但是在第一轮面试就关注于这些事（而不是其他），这使我有一种她只是把这份工作单纯地作为一个给她带薪休假的工具的感觉。因此我不太建议雇佣她。

　　6. Be opinion-free

　　毫无主见

　　One manager told me about an interview he conducted where the interviewee was trying so hard to come across as flexible and accommodating, it felt as though he would have agreed with anything the manager said. Of course, most people don’t want to hire folks who are combative or rigid – but they do want people who have a sense of who they are, what they think, and what’s important to them.

　　一位经理告诉我，他在面试中遇到过一位应聘者，他竭力给人以灵活、随和的印象，却让人觉得无论经理说什么他都会附和。当然，大部分人都不想招到好斗分子或者顽固分子，但是他们更希望应聘者能有自我意识，明白自己的所想所要，清楚孰轻孰重。

　　7. Stretch the truth

　　言过其实

　　This is critical. In this era of massive information availability, anything you say about your experience, your past performance, or your education that isn’t accurate can most likely be checked. It’s much better to be upfront about anything that’s less than stellar, and offer a simple (non-defensive) explanation. Unless you’re applying for a job as a con artist, your trustworthiness is an essential quality – and one that every interviewer will want to see and hear.

　　这点很关键。在这个海量信息的时代，你的经历、你过去的表现还有你的学历，你所说的任何事是否属实是很容易被核实的。在你表现不那么完美的事情上最好坦率一些，还要给出一些简单的辩解（而非狡辩）。除非你是申请的工作是当一个骗子，不然的话，诚信是你的必备素质，这也是每位招聘者乐于见到的。

　　8. Be clueless about the hiring company

　　对用人单位一无所知

　　In the age of the internet, there is no excuse for going into an interview not having a solid foundation of knowledge about the company. Knowing nothing about the company you want to work for comes across as insulting and incurious. If you don’t care enough to find out about the company, it’s natural for the interviewer to assume you won’t be that interested in finding out how to do the job well, either.

　　在这个互联网时代，你没有任何借口不在面试前对应聘公司的基本情况做一个了解。如果你对你求职的公司知之甚少，这会让人觉得你对此漠不关心，让人觉得受到了怠慢。如果你不关心公司情况，那么面试官就会自然而然地认为你也不会费心去做好这份工作。