金融时报：怎么知道自己毕业后适合做什么工作? |双语阅读

“我适合做什么工作呢？” 这是困扰着很多同学的问题，包括我自己。 这周我在阅读《金融时报》时遇到一篇文章， 作者是牛津大学就业指导中心的负责人Jonathan Black，他在回复读者来信时回答了 这个问题。文章后半部分 还收录了一些读者的回复。无论是 作者还是读者的建议都很中肯，许多观点我也非常赞同，分享给大家读一读~希望能带给大家一些启发。

这篇文章的用词很简单，也没有长难 句，我简单地标注了少量大家可能不认识的单词短语，以帮助理解。大家尽量不看译文，习惯纯英文阅读。

This week’s problem 本周的问题

I live in Colombia and I am coming to the end of my degree in economics. I am planning to study further in France, but I am not sure what I will do after that. How do I go about evaluating what kind of job I would like and to which I would be well suited ? Male, 20s

• study further 指“深造”

• go about sth 指“着手做某事，处理某事” (The way you go about a task or problem is theway you approach it and deal with it) ，相当于 tackle sth ，比如我该怎样着手找工作呢？我们可以写作： How should I go aboutfinding a job?

• be well suited tosth 相当于 be appropriate for sth 指“适合做某事”，我们在讲 无人驾驶汽车 那篇文章还学过短语 be ideally suited to sth ，一起来回顾一下原句： ◇ Retirement townsare ideally suited to avs for three reasons, says Oliver Cameron, Voyage’s CEO. Voyage 的 CEO 奥利佛 · 卡梅隆说，有三个原因让养老小镇成了使用无人驾驶汽车的理想之地。

Jonathan’s answer 乔纳森的回答

In Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, the Cheshire Cattold Alice that if she did not care where she wanted to go, it did not matter too much which direction she took — she was sure to get somewhere as long as she walked for long enough.

You probably do care, so before working through the process of generating and refining specific career choices, helicopter up to 10,000 feet from where you can view your overall career map, answer the big questions and set your overall direction.

• refine 指“改进，完善” (to improve sth by making small changes to it)

• helicopter 本义是“直升机”，在这里作动词，表示像坐直升飞机一样“上升”

• up to sth 表示“达到”。

Where, roughly, are you going? What is your aim? How long have you got? Remember that there are no right answers, only the best choice for you, based on what you know now.

Having laid out your overall map, set boundaries and defined your personal targets youcan then turn to practicalities . Before you arrive in France and begin your studies, identify what you are good at, based on your skills and experiences.

• lay out sth 在这里指“设计，制定”，我们在无人驾驶汽车那篇文章还学过 lay out 的另外一个含义：花钱，比如 ◇ Youwon't have to lay out a fortune for this dining table. 你不必为这张餐桌花一大笔钱。

• practicalities 复数名词 practicalities 指“实际事物，实际情况”，我们在去年的精读社学过一篇关于终身教育的文章，里面有这样一句话： It is easy to say that people need to keep learning throughout their careers. The practicalities are daunting. 人们需要终身学习，这一点知易行难。

Write down examples of how you demonstrate key employability skills suchas team work, leadership, and communication.

• write down sth 这个短语大家都认识，指“写下”。再补充一个类似的表达 jot down sth ，指“草草记下” (to write a short piece of information quickly) ，比如 I’m trying to jot down some ideas for the meeting tomorrow but I’m drawing a blank.

You are looking for a potential match to what might suit you now, at this stage in your career; remember that this changes over time .

• change over time 是一个惯用词组，指“随着时间变化”

Your further studies will give you a deeper love of the subject, help yougain a higher qualification, and experience studying in France. In any event , you have a yearto explore options.

• in any event 是一个习语，指“不管怎样，无论如何” (used to say that something will definitelyhappen or be true in spite of anything else that may happen) ，类似的表达还有 in any case , at any rate ，这三个短语都是外刊高频词组。

Your career project might take some time, as at this stage you willprobably be short of information. Go out and meet people, attend talks, go to relevantlectures, watch videos about industries and organisations, seek out websites that cangive you impartial and general careers advice (for example, the open access Oxforduniversity careers website).

• be short of sth 指“缺少某物” (if you are short of something, you do nothave enough of it) ，比如 ◇ Can you lend me acouple of dollars? I'm a little short. 你能借点钱给我吗？我手头有点紧。

• be short of information 指“缺乏信息”，我们在讲考研英语时还讲过形容词 ill-informed ，指“孤陋寡闻的”， well-informed 指“知识渊博的，见多识广的”，一起复习一下。

• seek out sth 指“找出，寻找到” (to try to find someone or something,especially when this is difficult) ，相当于 find sth 。

• impartial 由否定前置 im 和 partial 合成， partial 指“偏袒的，偏向一方的”，其反义词 impartial 指“不偏不倚的，公正的” (not involved in a particular situation, andtherefore able to give a fair opinion or piece of advice)

Over time you can start to discard choices and then choose one. The evidence is that the more focused youare, the more likely you are to achieve your goal.

• discard [dɪˈskɑːd] 相当于 throw away sth ，指“扔掉，丢弃”。

In 1804, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark set off with a compass anddirection, and a general destination of mapping the new Louisiana territories in America. But they had no exact map; their successful expedition took two years, your career will be much longer but, like Lewis and Clark, it is about direction not destination.

• expedition [ˌek.spəˈdɪʃən] 在这里指“远征，探险”，也可表示“远足，短途旅行”

• 这里 direction 和 destination 压了尾韵，读起来朗朗上口，大家可以积累下来。

FT readers respond 英国《金融时报》读者的回复