快乐工作 幸福生活

 　　Nothing in career strategy is more important than picking the career field that's right for you. Get that right, and you may be headed to happiness and fulfillment in your work.

　　选择合适的职业领域才是所有职业策略中最重要的一步。只有选对了，你才能获得工作上的幸福和成就。

　　The most straightforward¹ path to that field is to build directly on your capabilities². A great deal of research shows that people who work in areas where they're especially strong accomplish a lot and enjoy the work. By building on your strengths, you'll find the right opportunities. Employers and investors³ will be more likely to bet on you if they think you're up to the challenge —if you really can help them accomplish their goals.

　　根据自己的能力寻找职业方向是最简单明了的办法。大量的研究表明那些在自己擅长领域工作的人能收获更多的成就和乐趣。不断强化自己的优势，你总会找到合适的机会。如果你的确能够帮助老板和投资者达成目标，他们才更愿意在你身上赌一把，赌你能完成挑战。

　　Guide your career by consciously building on your capabilities. Here are three ways to do that:

　　根据自己的能力选择职业领域，下面三个方法可以试一试：

　　1. Recognize your core capabilities. The first step in thinking about a capability⁵-driven career is to understand what to build on. Begin with a self-appraisal. Look for distinctive⁶ talents, skills, and knowledge that will make you highly competitive for certain lines of work.

　　1.认清自己的核心能力所在。要找到基于你能力的职业首先需要了解你到底有哪些能力。对自己进行一个评估吧。找出那些能让你完全胜任某些工作的天分、技能和知识。

　　I'll illustrate⁷ this idea with a computer solutions sales manager. His list might include understanding customers, meeting information needs with computer solutions, coaching junior salesmen, and communicating well verbally. These characteristics are certainly important for that field of work, but they're too general. They're similar to what other sales managers might say about themselves.

　　就拿电脑解决方案的销售经理为例，这份工作需要了解顾客，熟知电脑解决方案的信息，训练初级销售人员以及拥有良好的沟通能力。这都是该职业中重要的技能特点，但似乎又有点过于泛泛之谈，和其他领域的销售经理似乎并没有太大的区别。

　　A more specific list would be a stronger career guide. For example, go beyond "meeting customer information needs with computer solutions" by noting your deep knowledge of how to do that in a specific industry, like your experience with a particular computer solution technology, like integrating iPhone functions with a company website. Don't just jot⁸ down "understanding customers," but also describe your talent for imagining customer problems and needs before the customers even recognize them.

　　那么就需要更加详细的清单来指导职业规划。比如，与其说“满足顾客对电脑解决方案的信息需求”，不如为做好这份工作进行更多的知识储备，比如你在处理某一电脑解决方案时的技术经验，再比如如何将iphone的功能和公司网站有机集合。不要泛泛地说“了解顾客”，而要描述自己能预测顾客会有哪些问题和需要。

　　2. Build targeted capabilities over time. Once you've identified the talents and capabilities you already have, consider what you need for career growth. Your target capability set can be expertise⁹ in a field (like the computer example above) or in a function (like financial analysis or human resources management).

　　2.长期有针对性地培养能力。一旦确认了你已经拥有的天分和能力，那么接下来想想要想获得职业晋升，还需要些什么。你的能力必须是某一领域(比如上述的计算机的例子)或某一职能方面(比如财务分析或者人力资源管理)的专家。

　　How do you build your target capability? Some steps are obvious. You might enroll¹⁰ in a graduate degree program in that area or achieve a qualification certificate. You certainly would work in that area. Other steps are more complicated and can raise dilemmas¹¹. You'd be cautious about accepting an otherwise attractive promotion¹², or a new job offer if it didn't build capabilities in your target area. If you were proactively looking for a new position, you'd focus your search on roles where you'd grow your target skills rather than on the possibilities that seem the easiest.

　　如何有针对性地培养自己的能力呢?有些步骤是显而易见的，你需要在这个领域获得研究生文凭或是拿到资格证书。这样才能在该领域工作。其他的方法就更加复杂甚至让人感到头晕了。如果有一份很好的工作或一次晋升的机会，要求的能力却是自己不擅长的领域，那你就要谨慎对待了。你需要研究一下，新的机会中哪些方面可以让你继续培养自己的专业能力，而不是被“这些要求应该很简单”的可能性所迷惑。

　　In saying this, I'm certainly not arguing against broadening assignments. They can be critical parts of personal development. If an attractive broadening assignment appears, do two things: Think through how that assignment can lead back to opportunities in your target discipline, and if that's hard to envision, ask yourself whether your fundamental strategy is still right for you.

　　这么说并不意味着我反对扩大就业范围。这对个人的发展也是十分关键的一部分。如果诱人的工作机遇来临，不妨做这两件事：想一想它能否让你获得自己核心领域的工作机会，如果仍难以抉择，问问自己，到底适不适合你。

　　3. Add new capabilities to shift direction. If you discover that the skills you have and the direction you're headed isn't your ideal path, you may wish to change fields. In this case, you'll need a different personal value proposition, and it will require new skills and knowledge.

　　3.为跨行工作添加新的技能。如果发现你的技能和工作并不是一个理想的职业选择，你就会希望跨行工作。在这种情况下，你需要完全不同的个人价值陈述，包括新的技能和知识。

　　When making this kind of switch, people sometimes abandon their existing capability base. That's an option, but it often requires a step downward, and the ultimate result is uncertain. Unless you're extremely dissatisfied with where you are, the simpler path is to leverage¹³ what you know to find something new. Take the perspective of an employer or investor⁴ in a new field or function, and imagine what you'd need to add to persuade them to bet on you.

　　要做到这一转化，人们时常需要抛弃自己原有的能力基础。职业转变是一个选择，通常需要退后一步，最终的结果也未可知。除非你对现在自己的处境极度不满，最简单的跳槽方法就是根据自己所知的去发现新的职业领域。站在新领域的老板或投资者的角度看问题，想象一下要想说服他们雇用你，你需要再学哪些技能。

1 straightforward   

adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的

参考例句：

• A straightforward talk is better than a flowery speech.巧言不如直说。
• I must insist on your giving me a straightforward answer.我一定要你给我一个直截了当的回答。

2 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

3 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

4 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

5 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。

6 distinctive   

adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的

参考例句：

• She has a very distinctive way of walking.她走路的样子与别人很不相同。
• This bird has several distinctive features.这个鸟具有几种突出的特征。

7 illustrate   

v.举例说明，阐明；图解，加插图

参考例句：

• The company's bank statements illustrate its success.这家公司的银行报表说明了它的成功。
• This diagram will illustrate what I mean.这个图表可说明我的意思。

8 jot   

n.少量；vi.草草记下；vt.匆匆写下

参考例句：

• I'll jot down their address before I forget it.我得赶快把他们的地址写下来，免得忘了。
• There is not a jot of evidence to say it does them any good.没有丝毫的证据显示这对他们有任何好处。

9 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

10 enroll   

v.招收；登记；入学；参军；成为会员（英)enrol

参考例句：

• I should like to enroll all my children in the swimming class.我愿意让我的孩子们都参加游泳班。
• They enroll him as a member of the club.他们吸收他为俱乐部会员。

11 dilemmas   

n.左右为难( dilemma的名词复数 )；窘境，困境

参考例句：

• They dealt with their dilemmas by mixing perhaps unintentionally an explosive brew. 他们――也许是无意地――把爆炸性的佐料混合在一起，以此来应付困难处境。 来自辞典例句
• Ten years later we encountered the same dilemmas in Vietnam. 十年后，我们又在越南遇到了同样进退两难的局面。 来自辞典例句

12 promotion   

n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传

参考例句：

• The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
• The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级，加了薪。

13 leverage   

n.力量，影响；杠杆作用，杠杆的力量

参考例句：

• We'll have to use leverage to move this huge rock.我们不得不借助杠杆之力来移动这块巨石。
• He failed in the project because he could gain no leverage. 因为他没有影响力，他的计划失败了。