Dear Annie: My division recently got a new top manager, who will be overseeing a restructuring of the organization after the first of the year, with a couple of new, bigger roles being created. I am one of the people here who is in line for a promotion. But now I wonder if I’ll get the job I’m expecting, because I overheard my boss on the phone saying that his team has retained a search firm to look for candidates from outside the company. Obviously, this is pretty upsetting news. Should I ask him why they’re looking outside, or — since I heard about the headhunter by accident — at least try to find out what my chances are? What do you think? — On Tenterhooks

親愛的安妮：我的部門最近來了一位新主管，他將負責明年伊始的機構重組，屆時將會出現(xiàn)幾個高層職位空缺。我很可能有機會升職。但現(xiàn)在我不知道自己是否還能得到期待已久的新工作，因為我偶然聽到老板在電話里說，他的團隊雇傭了一家獵頭公司，正在從外部尋找相應人選。這顯然是個令人沮喪的消息。我是否該正面詢問老板為什么要從外部尋找候選人?因為我是偶然間聽說的獵頭一事。又或許我至少應該嘗試了解一下自己是否還有機會?您怎么看?——O.T.

Dear O.T.: It’s interesting that you consider yourself “in line for” a promotion. The new executive in charge of your division may see things differently. “When I retained a search firm to look outside for candidates, it was sometimes because I had ‘inherited’ people who weren’t ideal for what I wanted to get done,” says Rose SpanoIannelli, who held a series of executive jobs before co-founding recruiting firm Spano Pratt. “With a new leader, internal candidates are often at a disadvantage.”

親愛的O.T.：有趣的是你認為自己“很有可能”得到升職。但你所在部門的新主管可能有不同看法。露絲•斯帕諾•伊安內(nèi)利表示：“當我聘用獵頭公司從外部尋找職位候選人時，有時候是因為現(xiàn)成的那些‘接手人’，并不是能夠按照我的設想完成工作的理想人選。面對新上任的領導者，內(nèi)部人選往往會處于不利地位。”伊安內(nèi)利曾擔任過多個高管職位，后來與其他人合作成立了獵頭公司Spano Pratt。

Not only that, but higher-ups at your company may see next year’s overhaul as calling for skills that in-house candidates don’t have, or at least haven’t proven. “Businesses that are changing fast often want to find someone who can show experience at executing the strategy they see for the future, rather than people who have excelled in the past, particularly if an outside hire can bring new revenue opportunities,” says Iannelli. “So even the best internal candidate is not always the best person for a new role.”

不僅如此，你所在公司的高層可能認為，明年的重組需要一些內(nèi)部人選所不具備或至少尚未展示出來的能力。伊安內(nèi)利說道：“處在快速變革的公司通常希望尋找具有執(zhí)行未來戰(zhàn)略經(jīng)驗的人，而不是那些過去很優(yōu)秀的人，尤其是通過外部招聘可能給公司帶來新的收入機會。所以，即使最優(yōu)秀的內(nèi)部人選，也并非總是一份新職務的最佳人選。”

Ominous as that sounds, keep in mind that companies’ reasons for bringing in a recruiter usually go beyond searching for outside talent. Here are four of them:

雖然聽起來有些令人沮喪，但你要記住，公司之所以聘用獵頭公司，通常不是只為尋找外部人才那么簡單。以下是聘用獵頭公司的四個理由：

Talent benchmarking.Even with promising candidates in-house, an outside search “can be a way of comparing internal talent with what’s available on the open market,” says Iannelli. “How do you know you have the best unless you look?” It doesn’t necessarily mean an outside candidate will get the job, in other words; only that hiring managers are curious about who’s out there.

人才基準調(diào)查。伊安內(nèi)利認為，即便公司內(nèi)部有前途無量的人選，進行外部搜索“可以將內(nèi)部人才與公開市場里的人才進行對比。沒有經(jīng)過對比，你如何知道公司內(nèi)部擁有最佳人選?”從另一方面來說，這也意味著外部人選不一定能得到這份工作;只是招聘經(jīng)理對人才市場的情況比較好奇而已。

Competitive intelligence. Without revealing anything proprietary, so-called passive candidates — that is, people already working, often for competitors — can be a valuable source of knowledge. Iannelli notes that meeting with these folks can “give the organization, and hiring managers, a clearer understanding of the marketplace in their industry.”

競爭情報。所謂的被動候選人通常正在為競爭對手工作，他們不需要披露任何專有信息，對于公司而言也是寶貴的知識來源。伊安內(nèi)利表示，與這些被動候選人交流可以“讓公司和招聘經(jīng)理對行業(yè)和市場有更清晰的了解。”

Sharpening the employment brand.“Meeting recruiters and external candidates is usually the equivalent of entertaining strangers,” says Iannelli. “Explaining your company’s culture to people who are unfamiliar with it is a helpful exercise, because it forces hiring managers to sharpen the message about why someone might want to work there.”

提升雇主品牌。伊安內(nèi)利說道：“接觸獵頭和外部候選人，通常相當于在招待陌生人。向不熟悉公司的人介紹你的公司文化，是一種有益的練習，因為它迫使招聘經(jīng)理必須言簡意賅地傳達為什么人們可以考慮來這里工作的信息。”

Answering outsiders’ questions about what success in a given role would look like, she adds, can help define the job by “creating measurable requirements that might otherwise be overlooked.” That may be especially true in the case of jobs that haven’t existed until now, like the new roles your company’s restructuring will create.

她補充道，當外部人員詢問一個職位如何才算成功時，回答這個問題可以幫助你確定這個職位“以往可能被忽視的可計量要求。”尤其是之前不存在的職位更是如此，比如你的公司重組后創(chuàng)造出的新崗位。

Refining the company’s mission.Iannelli has seen some clients use a search as “a professional development tool for hiring managers and search committees,” she says. “Revisiting and defining the company’s mission and core values every now and then is useful. It can provide confidence in management’s day-to-day decisions” — or cause some of those decisions to be re-examined in a different light.

完善公司的使命。伊安內(nèi)利表示，她的幾位客戶將獵頭公司作為“招聘經(jīng)理和遴選委員會的職業(yè)發(fā)展工具。時常完善和確定公司的使命與核心價值，對公司很有幫助，可以為管理層的日常決策提供自信”——或者從不同的角度重新審視這些決定。

None of this tells you, of course, whether you’ll get the promotion you’re hoping for. The only way to get a clue about that is to sit down with your boss and, without putting him on the spot, have a candid discussion about your future. If you don’t get the job you have your eye on, what does he see you doing instead (assuming, of course, that you’re willing to stay)? How do you fit into the restructured organization? This is doubtless not the last chance you’ll have to move up, so try to take the long view and focus on this as “an opportunity for professional development,” Iannelli suggests. Good luck.

當然，本文并沒有明確你能否得到自己期待已久的升職。要弄清楚這件事，唯一的方法就是與上司坐下來，在不讓對方為難的情況下，坦誠討論一下你的未來。如果你最終并未得到那份心儀的工作，他認為你可以做什么(當然，前提是你還愿意繼續(xù)留在這里)?你如何融入到重組后的公司?這肯定不是你最后的升職機會，所以伊安內(nèi)利建議，盡量將眼光放長遠，把這件事作為“一次職業(yè)發(fā)展的機會。”祝你好運。