2019-12-16 Weird job interviews 奇怪的工作面试

想找到一份新工作并不那么容易。你需要先搜寻一个合适的职位，如果进展顺利，你可能会被邀请前去参加面试。对一些人来说，这是恐慌开始出现的时候，因为你将面临困难的面试问题，同时你必须证明自己的能力。但是，在面试中，如果你没有被问及为什么想要这份工作，而是被要求站起来跳个舞，你会怎么想呢？本期 “随身英语” 告诉你一些人不得不面对的奇怪面试。

Vocabulary: employment 词汇：就业

Finding a new job isn’t always easy. You search for a suitable vacancy, send in an application form and if that goes well, you might be invited for an interview. For some, this is when the panic sets in – you’re going to be faced by a panel of strangers who’ll fire difficult questions at you, and you’ll have to actually prove yourself. But how would you feel if, instead of being asked why you want the job, you’re asked to stand up and dance?!

From the perspective of a company, it wants to hire the right person because they can make a big difference to the success of the organisation. It therefore needs to test a candidate in the most appropriate way to discover how suitable he or she may be. A good interview process should involve rigorous screening of job applicants and effective questions that every applicant gets asked. But that’s not always the case.

Alison Green is an author and creator of the workplace advice column ‘Ask a Manager’. She told the BBC that some companies “give their interviewers little or no training and often leave them completely on their own when it comes to figuring out what to ask job candidates.” She mentions that some interviewers are too casual and some focus on building a good rapport and end up hiring the candidate they just ‘clicked with’, regardless of their skills and abilities.

An inexperienced interviewer may think it’s clever to ask ‘if you were an animal, what kind would you be?’ That has been asked, Alison Green says, but in reality this has no connection with the job. And there have been inappropriate requests, such as one job seeker being asked to show the interviewer the inside of her handbag to demonstrate how organised she was. Talking of inappropriate, the BBC heard from a number of people who were surprised by the questions they were asked in an interview. Mature student Kevin Helton said that “the interviewer asked, ‘you used to be in the Army, how many people have you killed?’”

But as Alison Green points out, while a candidate might feel at the mercy of an interviewer, they are able to question why they’re being asked something, and while the interviewer might be making judgements, the candidate can also make their own judgement and decide if this is really the career move they want to make!

词汇表

vacancy 职位空缺
interview 面试
prove yourself 证明自己的实力
perspective（思考问题的）角度
hire 雇佣
organisation 组织，团体
candidate 候选人，应试者
screening 筛选
applicant 申请人
interviewer 面试官
training 培训
figure out 想出
casual 不在意的，漫不经心的
rapport 融洽，和谐的关系
clicked with 一拍即合的，与……产生共鸣的
skills and abilities 技能与能力
inexperienced 缺乏经验的
inappropriate 不适合的，不恰当的
job seeker 应聘者
at the mercy 听命于……，任凭……摆布
judgement 判断，评判
career move 职业发展

测验与练习

1. 阅读课文并回答问题。

1. According to the article, what can make a big difference to the success of a company?

2. What is the problem with interviewers just trying to develop a good rapport with the candidate?

3. In one interview, how did the interviewer want to find out how organised a candidate was?

4. True or false? Only the interviewer is able to make judgements about the person they are interviewing.

5. According to Alison Green, what is the problem when an interviewer has little or no training?

2. 请在不参考课文的情况下完成下列练习。选择一个意思合适的单词填入句子的空格处。

1. His in-depth knowledge of how cars work made him a perfect _______ for the job as a mechanic.

interviewer            candidate                 job seeker                vacancy

2. We have a great boss, she has a fantastic _______ with all the team and she even buys them cakes sometimes!

perspective            screening                 rapport                     organisation

3. Our flight is delayed but we’re _______ of the weather – there’s nothing we can do.

at a mercy             on the mercy            at the mercy             of the mercy

4. I’m working so much, my house is a mess so I’m going to have to _______ a cleaner.

hire                       applicant                   perspective               interview

5. I met my wife on a blind date. As soon as started talking, I just _______ her.

clicks with             clicked on                  clicked at                 clicked with

答案

1. 阅读课文并回答问题。 

1. According to the article, what can make a big difference to the success of a company?
A company wants to hire the right person because they can make a big difference to the success of the organisation.

2. What is the problem with interviewers just trying to develop a good rapport with the candidate?
Some interviewers focus on building a good rapport and end up hiring the candidate they just ‘clicked with’, regardless of their skills and abilities.

3. In one interview, how did the interviewer want to find out how organised a candidate was?
An interviewer at one company asked to look the candidate’s handbag to see how organised she was.

4. True or false? Only the interviewer is able to make judgements about the person they are interviewing.
False. While the interviewer might be making judgements, the candidate can also make their own judgement and decide if this is really the career move they want to make!

5. According to Alison Green, what is the problem when an interviewer has little or no training?
She said that some companies give their interviewers little or no training so they don’t know what questions to ask the candidates.

2. 请在不参考课文的情况下完成下列练习。选择一个意思合适的单词填入句子的空格处。

1. His in-depth knowledge of how cars work made him a perfect candidate for the job as a mechanic.

2. We have a great boss, she has a fantastic rapport with all the team and she even buys them cakes sometimes!

3. Our flight is delayed but we’re at the mercy of the weather – there’s nothing we can do.

4. I’m working so much, my house is a mess so I’m going to have to hire a cleaner.

5. I met my wife on a blind date. As soon as started talking, I just clicked with her.