暑期大片：实习照亮未来

    第二条“小”建议更容易操作，也更简单。那就是要讨人喜欢。就是这么简单。要做到风趣、乐观、友善、可靠、充满正面能量、快乐、令人愉快、擅长聊天，比如聊体育、天气，甚至《复仇者联盟》（The Avengers），或公司里所有人喜欢的话题。如果同事要玩垒球，一定要参加，并争取上场。要让公司里的人认识你，让他们听到你爽朗的笑声，让他们看到你的真性情。当然，有个别人智力超群，他们的个性如何已经不那么重要，也没必要讨好谁。但这种人绝对是凤毛麟角，而且他们大部分人根本不需要暑期实习，因为在18岁之前，他们就已经是百万富翁了，名下早有许多专利或应用程序。

    我们必须再说说暑期实习的最后一件待办事项，这件事不用带到工作中，在自己的廉租房内就可以完成。牧师、作家特里•A•史密斯曾证实，人们最快乐的时刻就是当他们在“命中注定的领域”工作时。所谓“命中注定的领域”是指，你所擅长的独特领域，与你内心深处真正感兴趣的、能激发你的领域之间的交叉地带，那一块绚丽的情感和智力区域。对此，我们无比赞同。我们经常和家里正在上大学的孩子讨论“命中注定的领域”，他们在跟我们打招呼的时候甚至会说：“谢谢，我今天在自己命中注定的领域感觉很好。你怎么样？”

    当然他们是在开玩笑，但实际上，拿同样的问题问问自己并不是一件坏事。所以，今年暑假，一方面要在极端情况下超额完成任务，赢得他人的好感；同时还要认真思考，你即将踏上的职业道路能否为你提供机会，让你能同时从事自己擅长、喜爱的事情。因为，只有既是自己擅长、同时也是自己喜爱的工作才是你真正想要从事的工作，才是你的最终归宿。

    但是，亲爱的暑期实习生们，向理想前进的第一步就是要在实习岗位上拿出一份漂亮的成绩单。

    译者：刘进龙/汪皓

    Our second "little" piece of advice is both easier and simpler. Be likable. Just that. Fun, upbeat, friendly, authentic, filled with positive energy, happy, agreeable, chit-chatty about sports and the weather and The Avengers, or frankly, whatever everyone at your company likes to be chit-chatty about. Get in the game and play, even literally, if there's a softball game to be had. Let people know you. Let them hear you laugh. Let them see your humanity. Sure, some people are so freakishly smart, their personalities don't matter and they don't have to make the kind of nice we suggest. But those people are rare, and most of them don't need summer internships anyway because they're millionaires by age 18, with a couple of patents or apps to their name.

    Finally, we would be remiss if we didn't mention one last summer to-do item, which is not to take place at work but rather in the privacy of your own cheap rental. The pastor and author Terry A. Smith makes the case that people are happiest when they are working in their "Area of Destiny" -- that gorgeous piece of emotional and intellectual real estate that exists at the intersection of what you're uniquely good at and what deeply interests and excites you. We couldn't agree more; indeed, we talk about "Area of Destiny" so often with our own college-aged kids that they've been known to greet us by saying, "My area of destiny is fine today, thanks, how's yours?"

    They're joking, but it's not a bad question to ask yourself. So this summer, while you're over-delivering and winning likability points in extremis, also think long and hard about whether you're on the road to a career that someday will give you the chance to simultaneously do what you're good at and what you love. Because that is the place you want to land. It's where you belong.

    And the first step in that direction, dear summer intern, is getting an A on the job right now.