New employees are often expected to be energetic and motivated at the beginning of their careers. However, from the newbies' perspective, a guarantee of time off and a reasonable work-life balance might be more important.

　　人们总是期望新员工能在入职之初充满活力、积极进取。然而从职场新人的角度来说，他们可能更看重足够的休假保障及工作与生活间的合理平衡。

　　At a job fair at Huazhong University of Science and Technology last week, staff from Gree Electric Appliances Inc. were surprised to hear that overtime payments and the number of days off, instead of salary, had become the top concerns of applicants.

　　在上周的华中科技大学招聘会上，格力电器的招聘人员惊奇地发现加班费和休假天数取代工资，成为求职者首要关注的问题。

　　Zhang Jingyi, a 23-year-old graduate from Beijing Foreign Studies University, also prioritized work-life balance when she looked for a full-time job.

　　23岁的北京外国语大学毕业生张静怡（音译）在选择一份全职工作时，也优先考虑工作与生活的平衡。

　　She used to intern at a private PR company. Her boss assigned tasks regardless of her study load or work-rest schedule. Once, her boss messaged her at 0:30 AM to inform her of new work.

　　她曾在一家私营公关公司实习。老板安派工作时，根本不考虑她的学习任务或作息安排。一次老板在午夜零点三十分时发短信给她，告知她新的工作。

　　"Now I don't care whether I can get a high salary or top work performance. I'll be satisfied if I can go back home on time most days," said Zhang.

　　“现在我不在意收入高低或工作业绩出色与否。如果大部分日子可以按时回家，我就很满足了。”

　　Release the pressure

　　释放压力

　　Many people would prefer an "easygoing" job to a well-paid but stressful one.

　　许多人更倾向于找到一份轻松惬意的工作而非那些收入高、压力大的工作。

　　In a MyCOS survey this May, 55 percent of 150,000 college student respondents wanted a job at state-owned enterprises and institutional units. Foreign companies usually offer higher salaries, but only won the hearts of 28 percent of respondents.

　　今年五月麦可思公司所做的调查显示，在受访的十五万大学生中，有55%的人想在国企和事业单位工作。尽管收入很高，但只有28%的受访者愿意去外企工作。

　　But during interviews, Zhang was not as bold as the students at the Gree campus recruitment who asked directly about days off and overtime payments.

　　但面试时，张静怡（音译）没有像参加格力校园招聘的同学那样，直接大胆地询问休假天数及加班费这些问题。

　　"I dare not give the impression of not being motivated or hardworking enough," Zhang said.

　　张静怡表示：“我不想给人留下不够积极和勤奋的印象。”来自北京国际MBA，现为拉法基瑞安水泥有限公司人力资源经理的夏宇飞（音译）称，求职者应该做好心理准备，因为上班要比上学时忙得多。

　　Fitting in

　　融入新环境

　　"In order to blend into the workplace as soon as possible, newbies need to enrich their knowledge and skills in both professional work and interpersonal communication," said Xia. "And that comes from practice."

　　夏宇飞说：“为了能尽早融入工作环境，职场新人要具备丰富的专业知识，并洞悉人际交往技巧，而这两者都来要从实践中获得。”

　　However, applicants won't be discriminated against for pursuing a work-life balance.

　　然而，那些寻求工作与生活合理平衡的求职者也不会受歧视。

　　"Concerns over days off doesn't indicate that the jobseeker is lazy or unmotivated, as long as the issue is raised in a skillful way," said Xia.

　　关注休假并不意味着求职者懒惰、不够主动积极，只要询问时讲究技巧就可以。

　　It's unwise to directly ask "Do I need to work overtime?", said Xia. You may sound as if you are more concerned about your social life rather than the job itself.

　　夏宇飞表示，直接问“是否需要加班？”并不是明智的做法。这可能会让人觉得你更注重自己的社交生活而非工作本身。

　　Xia suggests a more skillful way to raise the question: "I believe that your company, as one with standardized operation, must have well-developed rules about overtime work and corresponding payments. I'd like to have some knowledge about the rules."

　　夏宇飞建议可以更巧妙地提出这一问题：“我相信作为一家规范操作的公司，贵公司一定对加班及加班费有完善的制度，我想对此做一下了解。”

　　Also, when HRs raise such questions and probe your attitude, you’d better not say "No" directly, suggests Xia.

　　夏宇飞还建议，当人事提出此类问题来探究你的态度时，最好不要直接拒绝。

　　"Wise jobseekers will first make it clear that they are willing to sacrifice their spare time for work if necessary," said Xia. "But they will be smart and imply that they would like to finish work 'on time within the office hours'. The HR can read between the lines."

　　夏宇飞称，聪明的求职者首先要表明，如果必要，他们愿意为了工作牺牲空暇时间。但是他们会巧妙地暗示自己更愿意在工作时间内按时完成工作。而人力资源人员显然能读懂你的意思。

　　To go viral

　　原意是“像病毒一样传播”，引申为“快速传播”，多指通过互联网。

　　Within one week of uploading the video clip to the Internet, the video had gone viral and had already been seen by over one million people.

　　这段视频传到互联网上还不到一周，就已经快速传播开了，目前已有上百万人看过这段视频。

　　To do a 180

　　“发生180度转变”，即“变得完全相反”。

　　When the client did a 180 and decided to go after a completely different target audience, our hard work over the last six months was completely wasted.

　　当客户改变主意，决定去追逐一个完全不同的目标消费群体时，我们过去半年的辛苦工作都变成无用功了。

　　To climb the corporate ladder

　　意为“在事业上慢慢发展”。

　　To the shock of friends and family, Alex decided after 10 years of climbing the corporate ladder at the law firm that it was time for a change. He quit his job and started his own business.

　　在律师事务所打拼了10年之后，Alex决定做出改变，他辞去了这份工作并开始了自己的事业。这一决定令他的朋友和家人感到吃惊。

　　To go down the drain

　　意为“失败，前功尽弃”。

　　All of his hopes and dreams of one day becoming the company’s CEO went down the drain when the company went bankrupt.

　　随着公司的破产，他所有的希望以及有朝一日成为公司总裁的梦想都破碎了。

责任编辑：cheery