如何走出职业发展的死胡同(3)

　　Always be learning

　　仅靠关系不可能让你走得更远。你还要提前掌握下一个阶段所需要的技能和经验。许多年轻人会因为下面这种左右为难的情况而感到沮丧：要想得到一份你想要的工作，你必须首先证明自己具备该职位所需要的经验，但如果没有机会，你又不可能积累经验。

　　Relationships alone won’t get you far. You also need the skills and experience to advance to the next level in your career. Here’s where many young professionals grow frustrated with the following catch-22: you can’t get the job you want until you can demonstrate experience in that role, but you can’t build the experience without an opportunity.

　　休斯说道：“从小到大，人们都在告诉我们，通过努力工作，你可以做自己想做的任何事情。但许多公司不会因为一个人的潜力而聘用他，他们雇用的是一个人的能力。”

　　“We’ve all grown up being told you can do whatever you want to do [by] working hard,” says Hughes. “But a lot of companies are not hiring for potential … they’re hiring for skills.”

　　有时候，能否得到积累经验的机会，可能取决于你寻找机会的方式。一个新人直白地问：“我该如何进步?”，可能会令在一家公司打拼了五六年的人对他产生不满。相反，可以询问一些更宽泛的信息，帮助你找到积累经验的机会，深入了解公司和部门，以及自己能否适合这家公司等。

　　Sometimes, it can all hinge on how you ask for an opportunity. Someone who’s been grinding away at a company for five or six years will chafe at a newbie who asks bluntly, “how do I advance?” Instead, ask more broadly for information that will help you learn about opportunities to gain experience and learn more about the company, its divisions, and how you fit in.

　　要想了解其他人对你职业素养的看法，可以请求同事评价你的工作或在会议中的表现。他们的意见能够帮助你获得非正式的反馈，SAP的研究显示，超过三分之二的千禧一代希望得到更多这样的反馈。麦金尼斯-戴伊表示，你可能从同事那里了解到，你在办公室里说话声音最大，或者你总是太过安静。

　　To understand how you’re perceived professionally, ask peers for feedback on your work or participation in a meeting, for instance. Their input can help provide the informal feedback that more than two-thirds of Millennials would like in greater amounts, according to the SAP study. You may learn that you’re the loudest voice in the room or have a tendency to be too quiet, McInnis-Day notes.

　　她说道：“一定要清楚自己有哪些方面偏弱，需要加强。”她还鼓励有抱负的员工接受那些可能不怎么炫目或令人兴奋的机会。“通过同级调动来拓展自己的技能。”

　　“Make sure you understand the areas where you are weak and need to develop,” she says, encouraging ambitious workers to be open to opportunities that may not be as flashy or exciting. “Take lateral moves to broaden your skills.”

　　为了得到升职，休斯的一位同事便从自己喜欢的销售岗位调到了运营部门。休斯解释道：“她真正感兴趣的并不是运营，但她对自己当时的工作已经感到厌倦，希望接受新的挑战。”

　　A colleague of Hughes’ moved from the distribution side of the company – which she liked – to operations in order to land a promotion. “Operations is not really her interest, but she was tired of what she was doing and wanted a new challenge,” Hughes explains.

　　一些繁琐的工作或初级任务，可能给你带来意想不到的收获，例如公司如何与客户打交道，不同的部门如何整合等。布拉克建议：“看看自己能否向雇主证明：‘我已经掌握了公司的基本情况，我准备利用这些知识，让自己更上一层楼。’”

　　You may learn something you don’t expect from scut work or entry-level tasks, such as how the organization works with clients or how different divisions fit together. “See if you can showcase, ‘I’ve picked up the fundamentals of our business and I’m ready to utilize them and move to the next level,’” suggests Black.