美文選刊 | 網路巨頭的求賢秘訣

Here Are Google, Amazon, and Facebook』sSecrets to

Hiring the Best People

網路巨頭的求賢秘訣

文/莎拉·庫珀 譯/廖白玲

By Sarah Cooper

Google, Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Google, Amazon. These top tech companies each receive over a quadril-lion[1] resumes per year. It』s safe to say they have a good process for choosing the best job candidates. But what is it?

谷歌、臉書、蘋果、亞馬遜，這些頂級科技公司每年各自會收到超過千萬億份的簡歷。可以有把握地說，這些公司為了選出最棒的求職者都有一套完善的操作流程。但那是什麼呢？

[1] quadrillion 一千萬億；千的五次冪

No, it』s not that list of popu-lar Google interview questions you Googled on Google. In fact, their finely tuned[2] hiring process goes way beyond rudimentary[3] queries[4] on algorithms[5] and quantum physics.

不,不是你在谷歌上搜索到的那份流傳甚廣的谷歌面試問題清單。實際上，它們精心調整的招聘程序遠遠不止就演演算法和量子物理學的基本問題提問那麼簡單。

[2] tune 調整，使協調。

[3] rudimentary 基本的；初步的。

[4] query 疑問；詢問

[5] algorithms 演算法。

If you, too, want to hire the world』s best top tech talent, try one of these secret hiring strategies.

假如你也想招到世界上最頂尖的科技人才，嘗試一下這些招聘秘籍中的一種吧。

1. Begin phone screens 15 minutes early, 15 minutes late, or not at all

To find people who are always ready for the job

提前或推遲15分鐘開始電話面試，或者根本不進行電話面試——以找到總是隨時候命的人。

Anyone can answer a series of prob-ing[6] questions when you call them at theexpected time. But what happens if you call them when they』re still sleeping, in Zumba[7] class, or on the toilet? This is how the top tech companies find people who are ready for the job at any moment.

如果在預定的時間給應聘者打電話，任何人都能答出一連串試探性的問題。但是假如你在他們睡覺、上尊巴舞課或上衛生間時打電話，會發生什麼呢？頂級科技公司就是這樣找到可以隨時候命的人才的。

[6] prob-ing 探查性的；追根究底的。

[7] Zumba 尊巴舞。

2. Make the interview schedule as con-fusing and unpredictable as possible

To find people who don』t need in-structions

把面試日程安排得盡量混亂和難以預測——以找到無須指示的人。

Make sure that neither the interview-ers or interviewees have any idea what』s going to happen during the interview. This is a great indicator of who will perform best when no one has any clue what』s going on.

確保面試和被面試雙方都不知道面試時會發生什麼。這是判斷在突發情況下誰將表現得最好的重要指標。

3. Make sure something goes wrong during the presentation

To see how the candidate adjusts to less-than-ideal circumstances

確保在自我陳述環節出點亂子——看求職者如何應對不夠理想的境況。

Purposely set up the candidate』s pre-sentation in a room where the equipment doesn』t work, which is probably any room. If the candidate is able to roll with it[8] and doesn』t mind adjusting, then that』s a good sign he』d be easy to work with. Bo-nus points are given for candidates who have a Plan B, Plan C and Plan D, which comes in very handy[9] in the tech world.

故意將求職者的自我陳述安排在一個設備壞了的房間，任何房間都行。若求職者能夠從容應對並且不介意調整，這就是個好跡象，表明此人將更容易與人合作。有B計劃、C計劃和D計劃的求職者能得到加分，這個本領在科技領域有用得著的時候。

[8] roll with it 從容應對,大事化小。源自美國俚語roll with the punches。

[9] come in handy 遲早有用，派得上用場。

4. During the interview, make a ton of incorrect assumptions

To weed out candidates who are eas-ily annoyed

面試過程中做一大堆錯誤的假設——以淘汰那些容易被惹惱的求職者。

假如求職者的上一份工作。

If the candidate』s last job was at Twitter, say, 「How long were you at Yahoo!?」 Take note of the candidate』s tone when he corrects you. Is he a jerk[10] about it or does he stay cool? This is how tech companies find out what a candidate would be like to work with when the shit inevitably hits the fan[11].

假如求職者的上一份工作是在推特，可以說：「你在雅虎幹了多長時間！？」注意求職者糾正你時的語氣。他是變得幼稚愚蠢還是保持冷靜？科技公司由此判斷在不可避免地遇到大麻煩時與之共事會是什麼樣子的。

[10] jerk〈美俚〉幼稚的人,傻瓜。

[11] when the shit hits the fan 當災難臨頭時。

5. Ask the candidate to solve your own, specific problems

Because you really need help with this problem

讓求職者解決你工作中遭遇的具體問題——因為在這個問題上你確實需要幫助。

Tech companies often have candi-dates solve real problems they are cur-rently facing. This is a good way to get some free help with those problems.

科技公司常常讓求職者解決公司目前面臨的實際問題， 這是就那些問題得到免費諮詢建議的好辦法。

6. Have the interview frequently move between different rooms

To find people who are still excited, even when they』re uncomfortable

頻繁變換面試的房間——以找到即使感覺不舒適也仍然保持活躍的人。

Never let your job applicants get comfortable during the interview. This is how you find people who are uncom-fortably excited and also get around[12] the fact that no conference rooms were available for the entire day.

在面試過程中絕不要讓應聘者感到舒適。這樣能找到在不舒適狀態下仍保持活躍的人，這也解決了會議室一天都被佔用的問題。

[12] get around 克服，解決。

7. Ask the same questions over and over and over again

To test consistency

反反覆復地問同樣的問題——以檢測一致性。

In the tech world, predictability is a good thing. During the interview, don』t worry about asking the same question over and over again because you keep blanking out[13]. This is a great tool for testing the candidate』s consistency. Candidates should only be wildly in-consistent with their answers when in-terviewing for senior roles.

在科技領域，可預測性是優勢。面試過程中，不要擔心自己會因遺忘而反覆發問同樣的問題，這是檢測求職者能否保持一致性的好方法。只有應聘高級職位的求職者才可出現前後答案迥異的情況。

[13] blank out 頭腦一片空白

8. Conduct dual interviews with a good cop / bad cop vibe

To find people who can multi-task under pressure

在一種好警察對壞警察的氛圍中進行雙重面試——以找到能在壓力下完成多項任務的人。

Put the candidate in the middle of a conference room with interviewers at both ends of the table. Is the candidate able to simultaneously direct her at-tention to both interviewers while suf-ficiently answering each question at the same time? Or is she clearly exhausted and wondering why she even agreed to this interview? This is a great indicator of how the candidate will perform dur-ing a crunch[14].

將求職者置於會議室的中間，考官坐在桌子的兩端。求職者在充分回答每個問題的同時還能顧及兩端的考官嗎？還是她明顯感到疲憊，在想她幹嘛要同意來參加這個面試？這能很清楚地了解求職者在危機時刻的表現。

[14] crunch 危急關頭，關鍵時刻，危機時刻。

9. Ask a question, then start typing very loudly

To find people who remain focused despite distractions

提出一個問題，然後開始非常大聲地打字——以找到在受到干擾時仍能集中注意力的人。

Ask the candidate a question. Then, as soon as he starts to answer, start typ-ing loudly. Apologize and say you』re 「listening, just taking notes.」 You could be taking notes, or you could be writ-ing an email to your estranged father, doesn』t matter. See if the candidate can remain focused on the question or if he gets lost. This will help you find candi-dates who don』t let tiny distractions get in the way of finishing the job.

向求職者提一個問題，當他開始回答時，你開始大聲地打字。向他道歉，說你「在聽，只是在做記錄」。你可以做記錄，也可以給疏遠的父親寫一封電子郵件，沒關係。看看求職者是繼續將注意力集中在問題上，還是開始走神。這將幫助你找到不會讓微小的干擾阻礙工作完成的求職者。

10. Three months later, call and offer the candidate a job he didn』t apply for

To find people who are determined

三個月之後，打電話給求職者，提供一份他並未申請的工作——以找到有決心的人。

This is a great way to weed out peo-ple who obviously didn』t really want the job in the first place. Does the candidate fight for the job he wanted? Does he take the offer because he thinks it』s the best he can get? Or does he turn it down because he already found another job months ago? This tactic is a good way to suss that out[15].

這是一個很好的途徑，能淘汰那些顯然最初就不是真正想要這份工作的人。求職者為爭取他想要的那份工作而努力了嗎？他接受這份工作是因為他覺得這是他所能得到的最好的嗎？或者他拒絕了，因為幾個月前他已經找到了另一份工作？這個策略可將這些問題搞清楚。

[15] suss out 弄清楚

（選自《英語世界》2017年第2期）

文拓視野 譯悅心靈
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