Not only was the role lower in level than my other options, but it was entirely unclear what the job was in the first place. 这份工作不仅级别比其他职位低，更重要的是我连这份工作的内容是什么都不清楚。

　　Eric responded with perhaps the best piece of career advice that I have ever heard. 施密特给了我最好的建议：

　　He covered my spreadsheet with his hand and told me not to be an idiot (also a great piece of advice). 他用手盖住我的电子表格，告诉我不要犯傻了（同样是很好的建议）。

　　Then he explained that only one criterion mattered when picking a job—fast growth. 他解释道，当选择一份工作时只有一个标准是重要的，就是它是否能让你快速成长。

　　When companies grow quickly, there are more things to do than there are people to do them. 当公司快速发展时，要做的事情就会多到人手不够；

　　When companies grow more slowly or stop growing, there is less to do and too many people to not be doing them. 而当公司发展放缓甚至停滞时，就会人浮于事；

　　Politics and stagnation set in, and everyone falters. 公司里开始钩心斗角时，其发展也会停滞，每个人都会动摇。

　　He told me, "If you're offered a seat on a rocket ship, you don't ask what seat. You just get on." 他告诉我：“如果有人邀请你上一艘火箭，你不要问上去之后坐哪儿，你只要上去就可以了。”

　　I made up my mind that instant. 这番话让我当即就下定了决心。

　　Google was tiny and disorganized, but it was a rocket ship. 当时谷歌公司的规模很小，公司结构也还没理顺，但它就是一艘火箭。

　　And even more important to me, it was a rocket ship with a mission I believed in deeply. 最重要的是，我已经深深地认同了这艘“火箭”的使命。

　　Over the years, I have repeated Eric's advice to countless people, encouraging them to reduce their career spreadsheets to one column: potential for growth. 多年来，我不断地向无数人重复埃里克·施密特的建议，鼓励他们将事业选择的指标归结为一点：成长潜力。

　　Of course, not everyone has the opportunity or the desire to work in an industry like high tech. 当然，不是每个人都有机会或是希望在高科技这类行业里工作，

　　But within any field, there are jobs that have more potential for growth than others. 但在任何一个领域里，都存在能激发你的成长潜力的工作。