Finding your first job is easy.

第一份工作好找。

You send in your resume for a position to which no one else is applying.

你投简历到一个没人申请的职位。

You get a call back right away, have a successful interview (during which you are promptly¹ offered the job) and of course you’re offered the salary to last a lifetime. Nothin’ to it. Dream on.

马上会接到电话通知、面试成功（立刻被提供工作），获得了持续一生的薪水。一帆风顺。

继续做梦吧。

A more likely scenario² might look something like this: You send out multiple copies of your resume to several different positions that have hundreds of other applicants³.

更有可能的情况也许是这样的：你发出许多份简历，申请不同的职位，这些职位有数百位申请人。

Maybe (if you’re lucky) you’ll hear back from five employers. Of those five, you might get two or three interviews, none of which will go as seamlessly as you think.

也许（幸运的话）你会从五位雇主那里得到消息。在那五个中，你也许获得两、三次面试机会。而没有一个会和你想象的一样好。

After waiting several weeks in career purgatory⁴, you may or may not get an offer for a job that is closer to a nightmare than a dream and that pays just enough to foot the bills.

在“职业炼狱”煎熬数周后，你也许会得到一个更像噩梦而不是美梦的工作机会，而且薪水刚刚糊口；也许你连这样的机会都得不到。

“Although the job market is a little shaky right now, recent grads don’t want to settle, either,” says Kristen Fischer, author of “Ramen Noodles, Rent and Resumes.” “Many recent graduates feel like taking a job is a life or death decision. While every job will impact their career, they have to remember that a first job is a stepping stone. Chances are that it won’t be an ideal situation or their dream job, but it can provide the foundation for a fulfilling career.”

《速食面、房租、简历》一书作者Kristen Fischer说：“虽然就业市场此刻有些不稳，应届大学生也不愿将就就业，许多应届毕业生把一份工作看成生死抉择。虽然每一份工作都会对他们的事业产生影响，但是他们要记住第一份工作只是一块跳板。它可能不完美也不理想，但是能为实现抱负打基础。”