本文选自《北外网院》的博客，点击查看博客原文

　　Exciting part-time job experiences used to be something you could tell your classmates about after summer vacation. This year, however, a lot of college students have only a sunburned nose to show their buddies instead of stationery from a big company or a gadget they bought with their extra pocket money。

　　以往每逢暑期结束，同学们都会兴致勃勃地分享自己的暑期兼职经历：有人带来某大公司的办公文具，也有人把自己用零用钱买来的小玩意和朋友们分享。而今年，很多大学生竟带着一个晒黑的鼻头开始了他们的新学期。

　　"You couldn't just look for an office job with air conditioning this summer. Finding a good part-time job is harder than getting into Tsinghua," said Cui Lu, 19, a sophomore in public administration at the Shenyang Institute of Aeronautical Engineering. Cui worked as a waitress at a Pizza Hut in the downtown area, earning only 4.50 yuan an hour。

　　“今年夏天，你不可能找到那种光是在办公室吹吹空调的清闲工作。要找一个好兼职简直比上清华还难。” 沈阳航空工业学院公共管理专业19岁的大二学生崔璐说。暑假期间，崔璐在市中心的一家必胜客打工，时薪只有4.5元。 

　　Many of Lu's classmates were also getting a dose of realism: "They shifted their attention to trivial things like promoting supermarket specials or distributing leaflets on the street."

　　像崔璐一样，很多同学对此问题变得现实起来：“他们转而留意一些琐碎的工作，例如在超市做特惠促销或者到大街上发传单。”

　　The floundering economy had an impact on the "decent" jobs out there and students had to get their bare hands dirty. When things get boring and the pay is less, students explain, you really need to motivate yourself just to get something out of a simple task。

　　受经济不景气影响，以往的“好工作”难觅踪影，学生们不得不放下身段。无聊透顶的工作以及少得可怜的报酬让大家抱怨不断。此时你需要做的，就是鼓励自己尽量从简单的工作中挖掘意义。 

　　Zhao Gang, 19, a junior in marketing at Zhejiang University of Technology, worked as a laborer in a soft-drinks factory in Hangzhou. He just waited for a machine to pack a set of bottles, then carried them to a truck. Zhao worked eight hours a day for 1,000 yuan a month。

　　19岁的赵刚是浙江科技大学大三的学生。暑假期间，他在杭州一家软饮料工厂当工人。他的工作就是等瓶子被机器包装好之后将它们搬运到卡车上。他每天工作8小时，月薪为1000元。

　　But he got more than a bunch of moved bottles. "During the summer holiday, to get more customers, we were always promoting some activity or using some pop star to attract young people, so I paid attention to the labeling of the bottle to see how it changed with the market," said Zhao, "I also paid attention to where they were going to understand the logistics and the pricing."

　　但在赵刚看来，他觉得自己收获的远不止是一堆搬来搬去的瓶子。“暑假期间，为吸引更多顾客，我们会经常举办推广活动，有时还会请明星来打广告以吸引年轻人。我一直在关注瓶子包装上的标签，看它如何随市场情况进行调整，”赵刚说，“我还注意到了它们都是从哪里来了解物流和商品定价信息的。”

　　Those who didn't want to waste their time on what they saw as trivia, tried to find other opportunities. The Internet was one. Huang Shaowen, 21, a junior in mathematics at Zhejiang University, earned 2,000 yuan designing a logo for a food company in Chongqing last week. He bid on the deal through zhubajie.com, a website that opens job offers up for bidding。

　　当然，也有人不想将时间浪费在这些琐碎的事情上，他们努力寻找其它机会。互联网正是其中之一。上周，浙江大学数学系21岁的大三学生黄邵文，为重庆一家食品公司设计了一款商标，他通过提供在线职位竞标的猪八戒网拿下了这单生意，成功赚得2000元。

　　"Some tasks were very simple, renaming a restaurant, say, where you might only get 50 or 60 yuan, but if you kept on doing this, the results weren't small," said Huang。

　　黄邵文说：“网上有很多工作，有的很简单，例如给一个餐馆起名字，你可以赚50到60元不等。但是积累多了，这也是个不小的数目。” 

　　According to Chen Ning, a counselor at Zhaopin.com, students can expect the gloomy part-time job situation to last for some time. Still, students need to know what to look for in a job, no matter whether it's for making some spending money, putting their textbook knowledge into practice, or just avoiding boredom。

　　据智联招聘网职业顾问陈宁介绍，学生兼职市场的暗淡现状预计还会持续一段时间。不过，学生们还是必须知道自己想在工作中得到什么：是赚取更多的零用钱，将课本知识运用到实践中去，还是仅仅为了逃避空虚无聊。

　　"Before you choose any part-time job, even the most basic, you have to think about what you want from it. Assembling computers can help you understand computer science more. Selling detergent in a supermarket can make you more extroverted," said Chen, "If you lose sight of your aim, it`s just a boring task."

　　陈宁还说：“在你选择兼职工作之前，即使是最基础的工作，你也要先想清楚自己要从中得到什么。例如，组装电脑能让你更好地了解计算机科学。在超市卖清洁剂能让你变得更外向。如果你没有一个明确的目标，那工作就会乏善可陈。”