18岁选错专业，人生就完了吗？两次高考、转行，以及重新开始

第一

非常早！！

终于更新了！

这期真的太好了，听得津津有味！我最近也总结了自己出社会以来的工作经历，同样经历过转行和挫折，所以对两位主播所聊的特别有同感。回头来看，跟随自己的热情和好奇心，的确会付出很多代价，但这些选择让我们成长为更加勇敢、更不惧改变的人。

哈哈被Yao翻牌了，开心开心开心。美好的一天从翻牌开始哈哈。第一次点进gossip English其实是玫瑰的战争那期，因为正好我也一直在学英语，我也刚看完这个剧。结果发现真的太有趣了，而且都听得懂，还会有知识点总结，每次都是听的意犹未尽，完全不觉得学英语是枯燥的事。希望两位可爱的主播一直把这档播客做下去呦！

【转录13/29】【36:30-41:04】 So, it really opened my eyes to different cultures, and I learned to respect differences, and be much more open minded, and accepting of people who are different from me. Because we are atheist, right? And I'm also a meat eater. But they have different religions. And some of them are vegetarians. So, at first, I didn't understand about the concept of being a vegetarian, but now I understand. So, I think this is a big change for me. Wow, that sounds amazing, and I think that's also one of the reasons we wanted to do what we are doing. Yes, because it gives us the chance to talk to people from different backgrounds and different cultures and to hear how they see the world. And I guess for both of us, English has never really been the end goal. It's more like a path and a tool that opens up a much bigger world for us. Yes. 那其实刚才我们讲到那个，就是作为什么珠三角独生女，家人不想让我出省，但是刚才Wing就提到一个很好的一个观点，就是说他们不想让你出省，但为什么选择让你出国？ 因为出省太近了，所以要走远点。 其实当时也有很多原因啦，但是我也很惊讶我家人当时允许我去出国。我觉得出国这段经历的话，因为其实我们当时出国的人真的并不多。我不知道你那时候多不多，但是在我身边真不多。 我印象中，在我大学里面，大概是5%-10%的人出去深造。 对。 然后在我高中的时候，那个比例是高于10%的。就很多人直接出去读本科。 你别忘了你来自于哪里？侨乡。 好像也对哦。 对，从小就是你们就有那种出国，因为各种亲戚都在国外是吧？ 对啊。 对，所以其实因为 Wing 她本来就来自一个侨乡，所以但我的城市就不一样，所以我其实当时并没有很多人选择出国。我当时拥有的信息也非常非常少。所以我觉得我当时我家人允许我出国也是一个很勇敢的一个决定。那讲起出国这段经历的话呢，其实在我出国之前的话，我只会煮水煮面。然后有一次在我的朋友鼓励下，我决定我去尝试一下做那个红烧肉。他是一个专业厨师，你知道吗？他告诉我说最后你要收汁。但我当时对收汁这两个字没有任何概念，我就以为要烧干。然后最后把整个锅都给烧了。但是出国了之后，那没有办法，因为出去吃实在是太贵了。说实话我们当时吃中餐的话都是那种只能说庆祝的时候才能吃得起的。就春节呀，或是什么过大节的时候才说我们出去壕一顿吧。就不是开玩笑啊，就是我今年去英国的时候，同样也是那样子，一碗牛肉面就13块5英镑，就折回人民币就是100多一碗。所以我们当时真的是只能说庆祝大节的时候才能出去吃，然后平时都是自己做饭。 你还别说，就是今年去英国嘛，我想吃青菜。你知道广东人都喜欢有绿叶，就要有绿叶的才叫菜。然后我我们在那个亚洲餐厅里面，我就想点个菜心。啊。好像3根还是4根，十几磅。 真的吗？ 对啊，就三四个。我就说我在广州那边真的可以吃到吐了。你为什么不去那个超市那直接买那个，然后就生吃？ 菜心不能生吃吧？ 哦对，菜心啊，看啊不是，菜心确实会比较贵，因为它是进口的，它好像当地是没有的种。 应该是，笑死。 哎，对啊 所以所以我就是说，就是因为这段经历，所以我就变成了一个厨子，回来之后就我家人都很惊讶。哎，怎么出国之前都不会做，然后回国之后，然后好像什么东西都可以尝试做一做。 挺好的。 我还当时，很感谢当时我还是喜欢发朋友圈，或者是喜欢发那 Instagram ，我现在还记录了我当时第一顿做的饭。 惨不忍睹。 哇哦，我要看。

【转录14/29】【41:05-45:17】 我等一下给你看一下，我真的是很搞笑。那然后呢？其实讲回来我们最重要的目的还是要去读书嘛。其实大家还是会觉得去读一两年的话是不是时间太短了，就什么水硕啊，或者是什么的。但其实真的很紧张，就是一个作业接一个作业，然后做完之后就开始考试，考完试之后放假。所以他们就是那种 work life balance， 他就是集中一段时间去搞学习。然后搞完这段学习之后，然后就可以放松一下，然后又继续搞下一段。我当时选择我那个学校的话，除了是因为它其实排名还 OK，然后师资也 OK。但有一个很大原因就是它提供一个工作机会，一个实习的机会。我当时是有机会可以进入一些比较好的企业，就学校它会专门有一个老师，然后他就会帮我们去对接。我告诉他我想去哪里的话，他就会帮我去联系。这就是利用那个校友网络。只是我们国内其实我不太清楚有没有，但是他们那边就很喜欢用那个领英嘛， LinkedIn。有很多校友就在不同的公司里面，所以他们就通过校友网络就看一下能不能帮我们这种后辈。然后联系一下。那我就进入了一家公司叫Kellogg's，就家乐氏。它其实是一个非常非常大的一个麦片公司，但在国内可能是因为我们这饮食习惯问题吧。所以他也没有说占据一个很大的一个市场。那我当时进入那个公司之后，才知道原来整个公司只有3个亚洲人。我不是说中国人呐，我说亚洲人呐。然后其他基本上就来自于西班牙、墨西哥、英国，还有其他一些欧洲国家，反正就是很多元。所以我当时除了有，可以体会到当地的一个工作，那然后也认识了很多不同背景的一些朋友，我觉得这是一个很很重要的一个经历。嗯，但是我觉得其实出国学习对我影响最大的并不是说我学的有多好，或者是我的厨艺有多精湛。我觉得更多的是影响我的三观，就是我一直如果生活在这个地方的话，可能我会有自己的局限性。但是我在英国的时候遇到了很多来自不同国家、不同背景，然后不同宗教文化的一些朋友之后。就真的让我会打开眼界，接触到不同的文化。就刚才我有讲到，我就是跟印度的朋友玩的很好。其实这几年的话，我那些印度朋友来中国，他们都会来找我。就虽然我们已经毕业很久了，然后其实也很少联系，但是我们还是那个情谊还是在的。然后Wing，你也上次也帮我，跟我一起去接待一下我那个印度朋友，是不是？ 对啊，很好玩的一个朋友。 对对，所以我就当时会了解到，其实他们会有不同的宗教，然后不同宗教就会有不同的思维模式，还会有不同的一些宗教礼仪。那包括因为他们宗教的话，可能有一些人是肉食者，也有可能是一些是素食主义者。以前我们就不理解嘛，就是为什么有人只喜欢吃菜呀？或者是什么的。但是后来跟他们深入接触之后，我就慢慢去理解了为什么他们会这么去做。然后也让我整个人变得更加的开明吧。所以我觉得这是这段留学经历带给我一些东西。 So, I'm wondering after all these experience you have overseas, do you think what you study actually prepare you for the first job? Well, because for me, it's not really. Well, do you wanna hear the truth? Of course, come on. Only about truth here. Yeah, well, so actually what I studied had almost nothing to do with my first job. But my experience studying abroad made me pretty certain that I wanted to work for a multinational company. I felt like I really suited that kind of environment, and that I'd fit in quite well there. How about you?

【转录15/29】【45:18-47:24】 Well, when I graduated, of course. My family wanted me to take the “safe job”. You know, the traditional safe route, like state-owned company, stable job, that whole thing. But I did what you did. I joined a foreign software company in the architecture and construction industry. Sort of related to my degree. But once I started working, I realized, oh, I basically need to learn everything again. Yeah, I totally agree with you. Because when I entered the company, and everything started from scratch. Yeah, totally. It was partly because I join a software company, even though I'd study civil engineering. But I also realized very quickly that what you learn at university and what a company actually needs from you can be completely different. Every company has its own priorities, and its own way of doing things. At my company, having technical knowledge alone wasn't enough. You also needed good English, strong presentation skills, and the ability to explain complicated things clearly to clients. I still remember I intern there for three months. And before I could officially become a full time employee, I had to pass a presentation test entirely in English. It wasn't just a Powerpoint presentation either. I had to do a live software demo in front of the whole department. And while I was presenting, they could deliberately create problems for me to see how I handle them on the spot. So, what kind of problems? Did they interrupt you halfway? Well, Like unplugging the projector. Seriously?

【转录16/29】【47:25-50:01】 Yeah, I'm serious. I'm not joking. You know, you are presenting and everything poof, gone, and you just had to keep going. They just wanted to see how you handled pressure and unexpected situations. It's a bit like the stress tests you sometimes get in interviews now. Except at that company, they didn't just test you through questions. They did it while you were actually giving the presentation. So, your hands were busy controlling the software. Something could suddenly go wrong. And at the same time, you still had to keep talking, stay calm, and explain everything clearly. Oh, oh my god. OK. So that sounds like a real test. Yeah, but looking back, I learned so much at that company. Wow, that's great to hear. You have to, right? Yeah and here's another funny part. My starting salary was terrible. Most of my classmates were making much more than I was, because China's property market was booming at the time. A lot of people went straight into real estate or construction companies. And they were earning pretty good money. But I remember thinking I'm not sure I want to just chase whatever is hot right now. I'd rather learn something that might still be useful later. And even back then, a long long time ago, I already felt the property marketing look a little bit like a bubble. So, instead, I joined a company working on something called BIM, Building information modeling. Back then BIM was still very new in China, We would talk to major developers and contractors. And sometimes we literally had to start by explaining what BIM even was. So I had to keep learning all the time. It wasn't just because I was working for a software company. The whole thing we were doing was still relatively new, which meant I had to learn a lot, learn fast, and more importantly, figure out how to learn efficiently. Yeah, because it's a completely new concept. You have to explain a very complicated concept to someone in a simple way. I think that's the biggest challenge.

【转录17/29】【50:02-52:15】 Yeah, I really learn a lot from that company, and especially from the people I worked with. A lot of my colleagues were incredibly smart. And being around them pushed me to learn much faster than I probably would have otherwise. Anyway, my point is, the starting salary was low. But I felt the field had potential, and luckily that bet worked out pretty well for me. Within a little over a year, I got three pay rises. And my salary basically tripled. They actually had to make a special exception for me, because normally salaries didn't increase that quickly. Wow. Oh, wonderful. You are really a fast learner. But I think a big part of that came from the environment I was in. I was surrounded by people who were much more experienced and much better educated than I was. Most of them had study overseas at places like Stanford, UCLA, and US Dallas. Almost everyone had at least a master's degree, and quite a few of them had PhDs. Wow! It also proves that you are very excellent. OK. So that's why you are capable to enter that company. Thank you. But what I… what I wanna say is I'm so lucky to work with them and learn from them, so I can actually watched how they worked, and how they thought, and how they solved problems. And I'm really grateful for that experience, and I'm still good friends with quite a few of them today. Yeah, so I think sometimes somehow in our life you have to take a gamble, because you don't really know if your decision can work out. Yeah, and I think another reason I chose that job was because I was trying to be quite intentional about my career. I wanted to work in an area that had real potential for the future. We sometimes talk about finding the rising industry.就是中文里面的朝阳行业。