翻译随笔(2)——摆脱首份工作综合征

看到下面这篇文章时，立即被吸引住了，很想知道首份工作综合征是如何摆脱的，要知道一般的文章碰到这种难道级别的，我都不会往下看，但是太想知道作者所要表达的意思了，无奈，硬着头皮翻译完了，献给大家。

I was on the wrong side of the demand curve: the supply of economics graduates vastly outstrips the number of traineeships for economists. This was my epiphany during my second year reading the dismal science. Seeking an alternative path, I found myself in the careers centre, taking a job suitability test. While indulging in the great university pastime of fantasising about my potential future importance to society, I confessed all manner of preferences and tendencies. Was I actually meant to be a surgeon? Maybe a barrister? Perhaps a chief executive? The test disagreed on all counts. I would make an excellent prison warden, it declared.
我曾经处于需求曲线错误的一边：经济学毕业生的供给量远远超过了给经济学家提供的培训生岗位。这是我在读这个沉闷科学第二年的感悟。为了寻找另一条道路，我来到了一家就业中心，进行了一个职业适应性测试。然而沉溺于大学的娱乐活动中，幻想着自己未来对社会的重要性，承认了各种各样的偏好和趋势。是否实际上我命中注定会成为一名外科医生？或者律师？亦或者是CEO？测试表明这些都不行，但是我将会成为一名优秀的监狱看守员。
Despite the fact that I went on to make a career out of ignoring such advice, or perhaps because of it, I’m often asked for job guidance. A recent referral, a friend of a friend, was telling me over a drink the other week about how he was thinking of leaving the media sector. The job is far from miserable, but he spends considerable amounts of time doing things he doesn’t like, he explained. He had tentatively concluded that a job in finance — an industry I’ve worked in — might be a better idea. But what did I think? Should he move?
尽管实际情况是，我再没有听从此类建议的情况下，事业有了成就，或许也就是因为它，我经常被要求给予他人职业指导。最近的可参照的例子就是，我一个朋友的朋友，在前几周的某天喝酒的时候跟我谈了他想离开媒体业的想法。他解释道，工作其实并不悲惨，但是他却花了大量的时间去干自己不喜欢的事。他当时断定进入金融行业（我曾经工作过的行业）也许会更好。但是我是怎么想的呢？他应该离开吗？
Leave, I told him. Try something else. Finance or otherwise.
离开，我告诉他。尝试其他行业。金融或其他。
He’s been at the same company doing substantially the same job since he graduated several years ago. He is still young and has limited financial commitments. But the thing that worried me most was that he seemed to be suffering from what I call “first job syndrome”. It’s where a person starts behaving like a beaten down puppy with the only employer they’ve ever known. Loyal to a fault, the syndrome’s sufferers are shy to ask for what they want and easily discouraged from further action if they don’t get it. A lack of confidence causes them to believe that no one else will have them or value them as much as their current employer. And, in some cases, they think it will be just as bad wherever they go, partly because everywhere else seems like a foreign country that may or may not even exist. They can at times be as delusional as restaurateurs who think that jam jars are the next wineglass.
自从他前几年毕业之后，他就一直在同一家公司做实质上同样的工作。他还年轻，还没有太大的财务负担。但是最让我担心的是他似乎患上了我所说的“首份工作综合征”。这种患者开始会表现出行为举止像一只被打倒的小狗，跟着他们认识的唯一的雇主。过分的忠诚于雇主，这种症状的患者羞于要求他们想要的东西，并且当他们没能如愿得到的时候很容易气馁而放弃采取进一步的行动。缺乏信心导致他们相信，除了现在的雇主，没有人愿意雇佣他们或者重视他们。并且，他们认为在有些时候无论他们走到哪里都如现在一般糟糕，部分的是因为其他地方对于他们来说似乎就跟国外一样，或者是压根就不存在的地方。他们有时候就像把果酱罐当成玻璃酒杯的餐馆老板一样妄想。
My view that those afflicted by first job syndrome are better off moving may make me sound like an over-entitled millennial. But being at the upper bound of the demographic, I’ve observed most of my peers’ progress in the job market for more than a decade. First jobbers are disadvantaged by having an information set that’s much smaller than people who’ve moved jobs. Experiencing the willingness of other companies to employ, integrate and teach you are valuable data, particularly for the less confident.
我的建议是那些被首份工作综合征所折磨的患者最好离开，这样可能使我听起来像是一个十足的“千禧一代”。但是作为上层人士，我观察我的大多数同事的职场进展已经超过10年了。没有跳过槽的人由于所掌握的信息量远少于跳槽者而处于不利地位。体验过被其他公司雇佣，整合和培训的经历是你宝贵的数据，尤其是对于那些缺乏自信的人。
Management at companies who continue to employ people in their first job may also find the lack of information difficult. It can be hard to figure out the value to place on a person’s skills if they’ve never applied them somewhere else.
那些想继续雇佣首份工作的公司管理人员也可能会发现缺乏信息会比较棘手。如果这些人从来没有在其他地方应用过自己的技能，那么将很难发现这些技能的价值。
I’ve long believed that it was a gift of the financial crisis that most of my 2007 analyst class at a global bank were laid off. As interns the previous summer, most of them had witnessed the time when the industry was still completely drunk on its own self-perceived awesomeness. Going suddenly from a well-paid job to no job at all worked out fine for many, as they often followed paths they enjoyed more anyway.
我2007届分析师班的大部分同学都被一家全球银行解雇了，而我一直以来都相信这是一个金融危机带来的礼物。作为上一年夏天的实习生，他们中的大多数都目睹了金融业完成沉醉于自己为是的高贵中。突然从待遇丰厚的工作到失业对于许多人来说根本就是好事，因为他们往往已经走上了他们喜欢的道路。
It looks to have worked out for a colleague’s banking analyst class of 2000 too, according to research he did. Having a good degree, a bit of time at a decent employer, interview skills and a willingness to take a pay cut all count for something.
根据一个同事的研究，看起来跟他参加的2000届的银行分析班差不多。有一个好学历，在一个比较体面的雇主那里工作一段时间，面试技巧和降薪意愿都是有价值的。
It follows that the best advice for graduates may be to get their first job with a good employer in a sector where it’s normal to leave after a couple of years. Consultancy, banking, professional services like the Big Four, are all great places in this regard.
因此，对于毕业生来说最好的建议就是在一个工作两年左右就离开也是很正常的部门中，找一个好雇主作为自己的第一份工作。就这一点而言，咨询业、银行、“四大”之类的专业服务机构都是好地方。
Knowing that one could leave a job and find another gives a sense of freedom of choice. With it comes a satisfaction, even joy. It can also make tough times more bearable and it’s something I wish that every person suffering from first job syndrome could experience.
知道可以辞职去找另一份工作会给人一种选择自由的感觉。随之而来的就是满足感，甚至是喜悦。它可以让人更能忍受艰难时刻，我希望每个患有首份工作综合征的人都有此种体验。
Having written this, it’s probably obligatory to state that I’m rather happy with the current job. But then I know that I could leave to become a prison warden. If I wanted to.
写到这里，可能有一点需要说一下，我对于当前的工作相当满意。但是我也知道，我可以离职去当一名监狱看守员，如果我想的话。