职场敲门砖：简历加求职信

 　　Why a good CV and a good covering letter are important

　　简历和求职信的重要性
　　A CV gives you the chance to present your personal details in the best possible light. You can sell your skills, abilities and qualifications to a large number of employers, as it is the most flexible and convenient way to make applications.
　　一份好的简历是展示你个人信息的绝佳机会。你可以向大量的雇主推销你的技能、能力和资格，这是最灵活便捷的方式投递申请。
　　That being said, many large companies use their own application forms and will not accept CVs. They feel if they can design their own application form, it will bring out your essential qualities and weaknesses; in a CV you can avoid your weaker points. What’s more, because you have to spend quite a lot of time to fill out an application form, this, in itself, is an example of your commitment. Just sending the same generic 1 CV to a variety of prospective 2 employers doesn’t show this.
　　有人提出，很多大公司都使用自己的申请表格，而不接受求职信。雇主认为使用自己的申请表，可以很快地指导应聘者是否具备必要地素质和缺点；而在简历中应聘者可以避免自己的劣势。并且，因为你花了大量的时间填写申请表，这是承诺的佐证。而只是单纯地给潜在雇主发通用简历显然是做不到这一点的。
　　Bearing this in mind, when should you use a CV? The first reason is, of course, when the employer asks you for one! Next, when the employer doesn’t specify 3 the format 4 and simply states to whom the application should be made. Finally if you are sending out applications that are purely 5 speculative 6; the employer hasn’t actually advertised a vacancy 7 but you hope there may be one.
　　请记住什么时候应该使用简历。首先当然应雇主的要求。其次雇主没有规定格式，但是说明了收取申请表的对象。最后是你只是随机地投递简历，即雇主并没有贴出广告说有职位空缺但是你希望得到工作的机会。
　　Remember the person who has to read your CV. He or she may have a hundred from which to narrow down a handful of interviewees. This is a tedious task and if your CV is unclear, badly laid out and full irrelevant 8 information he or she will move on to the next one. Use short paragraphs, bullet points and a clear, logical layout to make it easy to read. There is no single best way to write a CV, as it is your document, you can structure as you wish. In fact, for creative jobs you could try to be innovative 9, but remain within a basic framework that obeys the following rules. A CV should be informative 10, concise 11 and carefully laid out, accurate in grammar and spelling and, finally, targeted on the job you are applying for.
　　清楚到底是谁看你的简历。或许他需要 从几百名中的应聘者中筛选出几位。这是一项乏味的工作，如果你的简历陈述不清、布局紊乱、到处是无关信息，那么筛选者将会立刻看下一个应聘者。故而要使用短句、标明要点并使用清晰合理的布局易于阅读。制作简历并没有固定最好的方法，你可以随心所欲地编排你的文档信息。事实上，作为一项创意性的任务你可以尝试创新，但是要保留一定的基本框架并遵循以下几点:简历内容必须翔实，简洁，布局精心，语法拼写正确，最后还需是针对特定职位的申请。
　　Equally important is your covering letter; it is the first page and will most likely be read before your CV. It demonstrates your writing style and makes a specific statement to the employer that your generic CV lacks. It will point out the information in your CV that matches you for the job and gives you the chance to make a statement about yourself and your suitability. The CV is a rigid 12 structure and the cover letter should give a personal touch. You might be tempted 13 to think that the most personal letter would be handwritten but in fact, unless asked, it is better to use a word processor. These days, increasingly, recruiters ask applicants 14 to email their details, so handwritten cover letters are a thing of the past. However there are some companies that many want a sample of your handwriting; it is possible they employ graphology, which is the study and analysis of handwriting. They should tell you if they are going to analyse your letter for clues into your personality and abilities, so don’t worry.
　　你的求职信同样重要，因为它是雇主看你简历前最先看的资料。它可以展示你的写作风格，并向雇主说明你的这份简历是有别于一般的通用简历的。它可以带出你简历中与申请职位相匹配的信息，并且是你展示自我和现状的好机会。简历是刚性结构，而求职信更具个人特性。你可能会误解个人信件应该要手写，其实勿需问，最好是使用下文字处理器。现在越来越多的雇主要求应聘者给他们发电子邮件，所以纸质的申请书已成过去式。都是依旧有些公司需要保留一份你的手写稿，可能是因为他们在雇佣中使用笔迹学，即需要通过研究和分析手写稿。他们会告知你他们是否会通过你的笔迹研究你的个性和能力，所以你不用担心。
　　Commitment (noun) Sincerity, seriousness
　　Generic (adj) Applying to all the members of a group
　　Format (noun) Layout, general appearance
　　Speculative (adj) Showing curiosity, questioning
　　Narrow down (verb) Define clearly
　　Interviewees (noun) People who are to be interviewed
　　Tedious (adj) Boring
　　Bullet points (noun) Items printed in a list, after a centred dot
　　Innovative (adj) Showing new methods or ideas
　　Rigid (adj) Not flexible, stiff
　　Handwritten (adj) Written by hand, not typed or printed
　　Graphology (noun) Study of handwriting as a means of analyzing character
　　Analysis (noun) Investigation