職場雙語:求職申請石沉大海怎麼辦?
Dear Annie: The last time I looked for a new job, about four years ago, the most discouraging part of the process was applying for a position, even going through more than one interview, and then hearing nothing back. Now, it's happening again. I applied for an opening at a company where I've always wanted to work. They called me in for an interview, which I think went really well, about three weeks ago. I've followed up by phone and email a few times to reiterate my interest since then, but I've heard nothing. Nada. Not a peep.
親愛的安妮：我上一趟找新工作的時候，大約是四年前，求職過程中最讓人氣餒的就是你申請了某個崗位，甚至還進行了不止一輪面試，可之後就沒有任何迴應了。現在這種情形又重現了，一家我素來希望能加入的公司有崗位空缺，我申請之後，對方大約三週前打電話找我面試，我覺得面試相當順利。此後我又用電話和郵件聯繫對方數次，重申我對這份工作的興趣，可是沒有收到對方任何迴應。哪怕一個字也沒有。
Meanwhile, another company has offered me a job that I guess would be okay — better than where I am now, anyway — and I don't know what to do. I could accept this offer, but then what if the company I'd really prefer finally gets back to me? How long should I wait before assuming I didn't get that job? — In the Dark
同時，另一家公司向我提供了一個工作機會，我估摸着這也不錯——至少可以改善我現在的處境——我不知道該怎麼做。我本可以接受這份邀約，可如果我真正偏愛的那家公司最終又聯繫我，那怎麼辦呢？等多長時間之後我就該推測自己沒能獲得那份工作呢？——困惑之人
Dear I.D.: Maddening, isn't it? I hear this question constantly, sometimes even from people who have flown clear across the country for a round of interviews and then have heard…nothing — not even an email that would take 20 seconds to send, saying for instance, "Thank you for meeting with us. The job has been filled, but we will keep you in mind for future openings," or words to that effect.
親愛的困惑者：這簡直讓人發瘋，不是嗎？我經常聽到這個問題，有些人甚至是從美國這邊飛到那一邊，以參加幾輪面試，然後還是……全無迴應——甚至連一份電子郵件回覆都沒有，儘管此類回覆其實只需20秒鐘就能發送，比如可以這麼說：“感謝您與我們見面，該崗位已有合適人選，但我們今後有合適崗位時，會優先考慮您”，或者意思差不多的表述。
Absolute silence is rude, inconsiderate, and makes people mad. "It's human nature to expect some kind of response," says Chris Forman, CEO of an application-tracking site called StartWire. "And when candidates feel an application has vanished into a black hole, especially if they've put considerable effort into it, they get p.o.'ed."
而這種絕對的沉默既粗魯又無禮，讓人極爲不滿。“人們都希望有某種形式的回覆，這是人類的天性，”求職申請追蹤網站StartWire的首席執行官克里斯•弗曼指出，“如果求職者感到其申請墜入黑洞，特別是在他們投入了大量努力的情況下，不免深感憤怒。”
Demoralizing as it is for job hunters, leaving people hanging is bad for companies too. "What HR people and hiring managers are just starting to realize is that neglecting to let candidates know where they stand is damaging their companies' reputations and their brands," Forman says. A new StartWire survey found that 77% of jobseekers think less of a company that leaves them in the dark, and more than half would decline to buy or recommend that company's product or service.
“讓人乾等着”不僅會影響求職者的情緒，對公司也沒好處。“人力資源專員和招聘經理什麼時候才能開始認識到這個問題呢，不及時告知求職者進展會損害其所在公司的聲譽和品牌。”弗曼稱。StartWire進行的一份新調查表明，77%的求職者對將其矇在鼓裏的公司評價有所降低，超過一半人還會拒絕購買該公司產品或服務，也不會向他人推薦之。
Moreover, the Internet exponentially increased disgruntled candidates' ability to spread the bad word. "Before the Internet, if a company treated you shabbily, you'd tell maybe 10 people about it," says Forman. "Now, you can post your experience on sites like , , and Facebook, and tweet all your followers. A negative experience can quickly go viral."
此外，互聯網指數級地放大了不滿求職者散佈不利言辭的能力。“互聯網誕生之前，如果一家公司對你不厚道，你或許能向10個人陳述該經歷，”弗曼指出，“如今，你可以在、及Facebook之類的網站發佈自己的遭遇，並在Twitter上講給所有關注者聽，一次負面的體驗可能很快就傳遍網絡。”
He adds that a typical big company starts with an average of about 30 applications for each opening it fills, "so if you hire 1,000 people a year, you're interacting, for better or worse, with roughly 30,000 candidates. And alienating 30,000 potential customers, plus all their online contacts, is not very smart."
他補充說，通常，一家大公司每有一個崗位空缺，平均就能收到約30份求職申請。“因此，如果你每年招聘1000個人，那你差不多要和3萬個求職者——具體數字或可增減——打交道，疏遠3萬個潛在顧客再加上他們所有的網上聯繫人，恐怕不太明智。”
The irony is that it doesn't have to be this way, again because of the Internet. Over the past five years or so, most large employers have adopted sophisticated web-based recruiting tools, which have built-in features that keep track of the status of each candidate's application.
頗具諷刺意味的是，同樣基於互聯網，僱主其實可以避免上述問題。過去五年來，多數大公司都採用了完善成熟的基於網絡的招聘工具，其中內置有追蹤每個求職者當前情況的功能。
"These features work the same way as when, for example, you order a book from Amazon (AMZN). The system tracks when it leaves the warehouse, when it goes on a truck, when it's en route for delivery to you, and so on," says Forman. "So the problem isn't that employers don't know where your application stands, how many other people are in the running, or whether the job has been filled. They know precisely."
“舉例來說，這些功能的運作方式其實與亞馬遜處理圖書訂單的方式類似，系統追蹤記錄圖書離開倉庫的時間、搬上卡車的時間、在途送往顧客手中的時間，等等，”弗曼表示，“因此，問題不是僱主們不知道你的申請進度如何，以及有多少人正在競爭該崗位或者是否已有合適人員。他們清楚得很。”
They just don't tell you. StartWire's research shows that only 33% of Fortune 500 companies pass along any of the data they have on hand to candidates, even though 90% of job seekers surveyed said that getting that feedback would make their job hunt "less frustrating," and 96% said they would be more likely to apply for a job at a company where they know they'll be kept informed. "Companies that are notorious for 'application black holes' lose out on potential star employees," Forman says.
他們只是不告訴你。StartWire的調查顯示，儘管接受調查的求職者中，有90%表示收到回饋能使求職過程“不那麼令人氣餒”，96%表示更願意到一家自己知道將及時被告知進度的公司去應聘，可只有33%的《財富》美國500強公司會將他們手頭擁有的任何信息轉發給求職者。“那些以‘求職申請黑洞’而著稱的公司，可能會錯過潛在的明星僱員。”弗曼如是說。
With all that in mind, how long should you wait before concluding that you didn't get that job you really want? As a general rule of thumb, a job stays open for about 45 days. "So if you know when the opening was first posted" — one of the many kinds of data that StartWire collects from about 5,600 employers and makes available to its users — "count 45 days from that date, and if you've still heard nothing, you can assume you didn't get it," Forman says.
瞭解了上述情形後，你需要等多久才能確定自己沒能得到這份真心想要的工作呢？大體上說，經驗法則表明一份職位空缺約持續45天。“因此，你應瞭解該空缺信息首次發佈是什麼時候”——StartWire收集5600家僱主的衆多信息，並向其用戶提供，其中就涵蓋了上述問題的答案——“從那天起數45天，如果還沒有任何迴應，你就可以假定自己沒能成功了。”弗曼稱。
In your case, since it's been three weeks since your interview, it's still about three weeks too early to give up. But is the employer who did make you an offer willing to wait that long for your decision?
就你的情況而言，由於你面試後已過去了三週，現在放棄還爲時過早，可以再等三週。可是，那家向你發出錄取通知書的公司願意等你那麼久，讓你慢慢下決定嗎？
Probably not, so at this point, "you should contact the company where you'd prefer to get hired and let them know you have another offer," advises Annie Stevens, a managing partner at Boston-based executive coaching firm ClearRock. "Frame this as a courtesy to them, and invite them to make a counteroffer."
在當前形勢下或許不會，“你應當聯繫自己更想加入的那家公司，讓對方知道你有另一份錄用通知在手，”總部位於波士頓的經理人培訓公司ClearRock的管理合夥人安妮•史蒂芬斯建議，“要把這說成對他們的一種禮貌，並請他們提出反要約。”
What if you do that and still hear nothing? "If you don't receive a counteroffer within two days," says Stevens, "then take the other job and make the best of that opportunity."
如果你這麼做了，然後還是沒有迴應呢？“兩天內收不到反要約的話，”史蒂芬斯表示，“就接受另一份工作吧，充分利用好那個機會。”
Good luck.
祝你好運！
Talkback: Have you applied for a job (or more than one) and been left in the dark as to whether you're still in the running for it? If you're a hiring manager, do you agree that applicants should wait 45 days before giving up? Leave a comment below.
讀者交流：您是否有過申請一份工作（或者不止一份），然後被晾在一邊，根本不知道自己還有無機會的經歷？如果您是招聘經理，您是否認同求職者應當等待45天之後再放棄希望？敬請在文後發表評論。譯者：小宇
