How Flexible Should You Really Be?
實際情況下你該妥協到什麼程度才可以？
In tough times, job-seekers are often advised to be flexible about issues from commute length to salary to job title. But while it's true that you have to be realistic, some compromises may end up hurting you more than they help.
經濟危機時期，求職者通常都會被建議從上班時間，到薪資，到工作職位等方面要懂得靈活變通。雖然說你是要現實起來，但是有時候妥協帶給你的傷害遠比幫助要大。
"I don't believe that you just cave and take anything," said Mary Jeanne Vincent, a career coach in Monterey, Calif., and owner of WorkWise. "I have an underlying philosophythat you always sell value."
加州蒙特利的”WorkWise”公司的老闆Mary Jeanne Vincent，同時也是一位職業教授，他說：“我不認為一旦妥協了就能夠得到任何東西，我會在潛意識裡認為你總是在廉價出賣價值。”
Steve Levin, CEO of Leading Change Consulting & Coaching in Portola Valley, Calif., draws a distinction between what he calls "healthy resiliencyand begrudging compromise." One is a reasonable response to a challenging market. The other is a self-defeating trade-off.
加州波托拉維利的“Leading Change Consulting & Coaching”公司總裁Steve Levin明確定義了“良好的彈性和吝嗇的妥協”的分界線。一邊是對市場變化做出的合理應對，而另一邊就是弄巧成拙的交易。
To tell the difference, experts suggest asking these six questions:
專家建議通過以下的六個問題來分辨這其中的差異：
1）How badly do you need money? If you're about to lose your home or are having trouble putting food on the table, you may need to take whatever job is offered.
你有多需要錢？如果你馬上就要失去家庭了或連吃飯都成問題了，你可能就需要接受一切提供給你的工作了。
2）Will the job make you miserable? Taking a job that's not right for you increases the risk that you'll be laid off again within a few months -- something that can make it even harder to find the next job. If you will feel resentful rather than excited about the job, you might be better off continuing your search.
這份工作是否會讓你痛苦？如果選擇一份不適合你的工作的話，那你在幾個月之後會感到厭煩的機率就更大。有時候這一點甚至讓你很難再找到下一份工作。如果你對這份工作的感覺是痛苦大過於興奮的話，你最好還是繼續找其他工作吧。
3）Can you explain why you're taking it? If you take a job that's less than your previousone, you'll need to be able to explain this apparent step backward the next time you're looking. Saying you couldn't find anything else is not likely to impress an interviewer.
你能解釋清楚你接受這份工作的原因麼？如果你選擇的這份工作還沒不如上一份，那麼在下次找工作的.時候你就要解釋得了退步的理由。如果你的理由是你找不到其他工作的話，這是不會給面試官留下深刻印象的。
But if you have a good reason for taking a position -- to gain experience in a new industry, for example, or to learn a new skill -- a step down doesn't have to hurt you.
但是如果你對接受該職位有很好的理由的話，如，為了在一個新行業學到經驗、為了學到技能等，那麼暫時，稍微差一點的選擇不會給你帶來什麼損失。
4）What's most important to you? Perhaps you'd be willing to take less money as long as you got the title and authority you wanted. A longer commute may be morepalatableif you can telecommute some of the time.
對於你來說什麼才是最重要的？也許你為了得到想要的職位和權力願意接受報酬少一點。如果你可以時不時在家裡遠端辦公的話，長時間的工作時間也許對你來說是更好的選擇。
"You really need to do all this thinking -- what are the tradeoffs you are willing to make in order to be employed?" said Libby Pannwitt, principal of the Work Life Design Group in San Carlos, Calif.
“Work Life Design Group ”是加州的聖卡洛斯的一家公司，其主要負責人Libby Pannwitt說： “你確實需要全方面考慮事情，為了被錄取，你願意做出什麼樣的讓步？”
5）Will this job help in the long term as well as the short term? Consider what you'd like to be doing several years from now -- and whether this job could help you get there.
這份工作帶給你的長期效益是否會如短期效益那樣好？考慮下從現在開始幾年以後你該幹什麼，而這份工作是否可以幫助你實現這個目標？
"I really believe that a lot of people panic and get anxious about short-term needs and forget all about their long-term goals," Levin said. If a job will give you an important new skill, for example, it may be worth making other trade-offs to take it.
“我相信有很多人對短期需求的恐慌和焦慮讓他們忘記了長期目標。” Levin說。如果一份工作能讓你學會重要的新技能，那麼，它也許就值得你為之做出其他的妥協。
"In a knowledge-based job market, learning is your quickest pathway, your best investment," Levin said.
Levin還說：“在以知識為基礎的求職市場上，學習才是最佳的捷徑，最好的投資。”
6）What is the alternative? To know how flexible to be, you have to know the market. Long-term unemployment is hard on both careers and finances.
有什麼其他選擇？想要知道自己該有多靈活，你先要了解市場。長期的失業對職業生涯和資金來說都是件困難的事情。
If you decide to wait for a better job, "What are you doing with your time while you're waiting?" Levin said. "If you aren't working for someone else, then work for yourself - by treating your job search as a full-time endeavor."
如果你決定要等一份更好的工作。Levin 說：“那麼你在等待的時間裡打算幹什麼呢？如果你不是為別人工作，那就通過盡力找工作來為自己工作吧。”