1 . My students frequently ask me how I planned out my career to become president of Fidelity Investments. I always tell them, “There was no grand plan; I backed into my career one step at a time.” In this tough economy and ever-changing world, it is more important than ever to smartly evaluate each step in your career. To prepare for whatever surprises lie ahead, try to make choices today that will maximize your options in the future.
Gaining transferable (可转移的) knowledge begins with the choices you make at school. You want your education to provide you with the necessary skills and expertise to succeed in a wide variety of jobs.
Once you have finished your formal education, search for jobs that will allow you to further expand your transferable knowledge—to help you find your next job. Let’s say you take a job putting together airplane leases. Within a few years, you could become the world’s expert on the subject.
Remember gaining transferable knowledge is only one piece of the puzzle.
Of course, you can build your network to some degree without changing jobs.
| A．You can make yourself more attractive. |
| B．Gain transferable expertise and form close bonds with your colleagues. |
| C．Your next step should help you expand your web of personal relationships. |
| D．This later helped me evaluate and start business units throughout the world. |
| E．You can attend conferences or participate in committees at trade associations. |
| F．This means that you need to make smart choices about the courses you will follow. |
| G．However, this narrow expertise probably won’t help you in any other line of work. |
2 . When trying to make a successful career, which is better: being a generalist or a specialist? Inother words, should you generalize and know a little about a lot of things?
Natasha Olinger, a human resource expert, talks about the benefits of both. She said Generally speaking, the common wisdom is that it's always better to specialize and then you can demand a higher salary.
To explain her idea, linger uses a fairly commons situation-choosing a restaurant
If you go to a restaurant that only serves sushi, you can expect high quality products, and you also should expect to pay more. If you go to a place that serves sushi, tacos and pizza, the quality of the sushi may not be so great, but the prices will probably be lower.
Olinger suggests thinking about the size and type of business you would like to work for.
Also, companies that are just getting started often need people who are able to perform many different tasks. For example, your job description may be that of a graphic designer, but you may also have to do some writing, Larger companies can be just the opposite. They often need specialists-experts in a given field But perhaps the best solution is a mix of generalization and specialization.
| A．Or should we combine these two with each other? |
| B．Some career planners call this a "t-shaped" career |
| C．Say you want to eat a favorite Japanese meal: sushi. |
| D．Olinger says the world of work is not all that different |
| E．Small businesses often need people who can do many things |
| F．Olinger also warns that the world of work is more complex than this |
| G．Or should you specialize and have a deep understanding of only one area |
3 . Perhaps at one point in time, it was acceptable to start any letter or e-mail with “To Whom It May Concern.”
Grammarly uses the example of needing to write a letter of recommendation, for a colleague who will have to make several copies to distribute to interviewers,
If you do happen to find that using “To Whom It May Concern” is appropriate, don’t make grammar mistakes, for example, letters or punctuation.
| A．However, it maybe interesting. |
| B．Those times have changed, though. |
| C．Making mistakes in writing will surely get you low scores. |
| D．It’s also very impersonal, which some employers might not appreciate. |
| E．In that circumstance, sending and receiving letters is more of a formal greeting. |
| F．You might want to take note of other common errors you might be committing, too. |
| G．But according to Grammarly, there are four times when it’s OK to use this greeting. |
