高考放榜日 | 如今，高考高分对职业成功到底还有多重要？

How Critical Is A High Gaokao Score To A Person’s Career Success These Days?

今天，成千上万的年轻人会收到他们的高考成绩。有的人会为高分而庆祝，为满足了父母，所爱的人以及社会大多数的期待而长舒一口气。然后，很多人会收到达不到自己和其他人预期的成绩而感到失落，对未来感到忐忑不安。对这些人来说，我想告诉他们，你的未来并不像你想的那么糟。

Today, millions of young people will receive their Gaokao results.  Some will celebrate their high score and relief from meeting the expectations of their parents, loved ones, and much of the society.  Many others, however, will receive scores that fall short of their expectations and the expectations of others.  Many will feel overwhelming disappointment and uncertainty about their future.  For these people, I want to tell them that your future doesn’t look as bad as you might think.

当你的高考成绩决定了你的未来

When Your Gaokao Score Determined Your Future

在继续之前，我必须先说清楚，我出生在美国，因此从未面对过高考这样令人害怕的挑战。我从未经历过这样的压力：在年仅18岁的时候就要通过一场考试来决定我的未来。我年轻的时候不怎么服管，很可能让我的父母和所有对我的未来寄予厚望的人失望了。因此，我肯定不是什么高考的权威人士。

Before I go on, I need to say that I was born and raised in the U.S., so I’ve never faced the daunting challenge of studying for the GaoKao exam.  I’ve never experienced the pressure of being just 18 years of age and having a single event determine my future.  Given my lack of discipline when I was younger, I’d have likely disappointed my parents and all those who had high hopes for my future.  So I’m certainly no Gaokao authority.

但是，作为一家20年来在中国保持领先地位的猎头公司的创始人和CEO，我对这里的招聘以及人才市场很有发言权。我十分了解哪种人、哪些能力、哪些品质能够在不同行业、职位以及公司取得成功。在这方面我可以跟你们进行分享。

However, as the founder and CEO of a leading recruitment firm in China for the past 20+ years, I do have a very good view of the employment and talent market here.  I know a lot about the kinds of people, capabilities, and qualities that are important for achieving success today across many industries, professions, and companies.  It’s this perspective that I can share.

大概10年到20年以前，放下其它所有事情，一心备战高考并获得好成绩是有意义的。进入顶尖学校对于拥有光明的未来很重要。和现在相比较，当时顶尖大学的文凭能让你在毕业后追求相对较少的职业选择，比如获得硕士学位，能为政府工作，或是进入非常技术性、科学性或分析性的行业。

Perhaps 10-20 years ago, it made sense to put aside everything else to prepare for and score well on the Gaokao exam.  Getting into a top school was critical to having a bright future.  A degree from a top university allowed you to pursue a relatively smaller number of career options after graduation compared to today, such as getting a graduate degree, working for the government, or pursuing a profession that’s highly technical, scientific, or analytical in nature. 

中国的职业市场有大变动

Big Changes Going On In China’s Job Market

其实，大多数职业道路仍是如此。当今翻天覆地的经济现状造就了与以往极为不同的职业环境。现在，年轻的职场人士可以追求更商业性、更以客户和服务为导向的工作和事业。这包括快速增长的电子商务，数字营销，社交媒体以及手机应用领域。这也包括了正在增长的消费者服务、餐饮服务、消费者零售、娱乐和旅游、健身与健康，以及教育和培训，在这些领域，软技能、与人社交的能力和传达更好的用户体验才是成功的关键。

Actually, this is still the case for most of these career tracks.  However, today’s shifting economic realities is creating a dramatically different employment landscape, where young professionals can now pursue jobs and careers that are more commercial-, consumer-, and service-oriented in nature.  This includes the fast-growing e-commerce, digital marketing, social media, and mobile applications world.  It also includes the growing consumer services, food services, consumer retail, entertainment & travel, fitness & health, and education & training industries, where soft skills, the ability to engage others and delivering a great user experience are key success factors for your success.  

对于那些高速发展的行业和职业机会，花上千个小时盯着书，背书上海量的信息并不能培养这些市场上找寻的和需要的品质与技能。这并不能为你进入这个职业市场做好准备。这个市场越来越看重那些能够与他人建立联系，影响他人，对快速变化的环境做出反应，想出解决方案，并且一手操办事物的人。

For these fast-growing industry sectors and career opportunities, spending 1000s of hours alone staring at books and memorizing massive amounts of information doesn’t exactly nurture the qualities and skills that are sought and needed.  It doesn’t exactly prepare you for a job market that increasingly values people who can connect with and influence others, respond to fast-changing situations, deliver solutions and build things from nothing.  

那些需求量增高能力与品质

The Rise Of New, Highly Sought Capabilities And Qualities 

我并不是在说，在高考中获得高分不再重要。这当然能为你的未来带来好处，为你带来更多机会。但是，对于那些因为在篮球、足球或其它一些运动上，在上网，网购，看电影，追求爱好上，或是在和朋友出去玩这些事上花了太多的时间而没能取得好成绩的高中生来说，我想告诉他们，他们并没有失去一切。你的EQ，社交技能，用户和消费者意识可能已经得到发展，而这正是现在雇主所寻求的。

I’m not trying to say that scoring well on the Gaokao is no longer important.  Of course, this will benefit your future and bring you more opportunities.  But for those high school kids who didn’t score well on this year’s Gaokao because, instead of studying, they spent a little too much time playing basketball/soccer/some other sport, surfing the internet, shopping online, watching movies, pursuing a hobby, or just hanging out with friends, I want to tell them that all is not lost.  Fortunately, the emotional intelligence, social skills, and user & consumer sense that you may have developed instead happen to be highly sought by employers today.   

比如，在我们的客户中，我们发现对拥有优秀沟通技巧和用户/消费者意识的营销/营销沟通/PR人士的需求，对拥有强大的问题解决技能的咨询和服务人士的需求，对拥有优秀的人际交往能力的HR和人才发展人士的需求，对拥有敏锐的市场意识和商业技能的商业开发和产品管理人士的需求，对拥有强大的产品和营销意识的线上/线下业务相关人士的需求，以及对了解用户体验的生活方式行业（如娱乐、运动、健身&健康等）人士的需求正在增长。

For instance, among our clients, we see the growing need for marketing/marketing communications/PR professionals with good communication skills and user & consumer sense, for many kinds of consulting and service industry professionals with strong problem-solving skills, for human resources and talent development professionals with good people skills, for business development and product management professionals with good market sense and business skills, for offline & online business professionals with strong product and marketing sense, and for lifestyle industry professionals (e.g. entertainment, sports, fitness & health, etc.) who understand user experience.   

虽然我们的招聘顾问仍会考虑候选人的教育背景，但在这些职位上，我们并不会强调这一点。胜任这些职位需要的大部分职责和关键要求都是基于在商业环境中，以及在与他人沟通时所发展的品质和技能。

While our recruitment consultants still notice a candidate’s education background, we don’t emphasize it for these positions.  Most of the responsibilities and key requirements to handle them are based on qualities and skills that are developed through the exposure to business situations and by interacting with others.

当下更多的职业成功获得方式

More Ways To Achieve Your Career Success Today

比如，我们就把一个没上过顶尖大学，只上过二线城市一个还不错大学的候选人放到了BAT公司的社交媒体管理职位上。由于他对数字营销的热情，以及强大的用户意识和创造性的沟通技能，这位候选人得以在其他毕业于更好大学的候选人中脱颖而出。

For instance, we recently placed a candidate who went to a good but not top school in a 2nd tier city for a social media management position in a BAT.  Because of his passion for digital marketing, strong user sense and ability to communicate creatively, this candidate was able to beat out many other candidates from much better schools. 

因此，虽然想必在高考中获得理想成绩仍是大家很想要的结果，但也要记住，现在还有很多选择。这些选择也能让你在高考失利的情况下追求事业上成功。所以，如果你认识的哪个年轻人觉得未来一片灰暗，告诉他们不要太过苛责自己。要让他们记住，时代在变，拥有光明未来的关键成功要素也在变。

So while getting a high score on the Gaokao exam is, of course, still a highly desirable result, keep in mind that there are many more options today for pursuing a successful career that can be achieved without a high Gaokao exam score. So if you know any young people who may be feeling that their  future just turned dark today, tell them not to be too hard on themselves.  Instead, let them know that times are changing and so are the key success factors for having a bright future.