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Confidence Game
家庭主妇停止工作后丧失信心
In California on a business trip last month,I met a mom with two kids who'd graduated from business school in the late 1990s.
上个月，在加利福尼亚的一次商务旅行中，我遇见了一位有两个孩子的母亲。
She'd been home with the kids for five years, she explained,but was looking to go back.
她在20世纪90年代末毕业于一所商学院。她解释说自己离职在家照顾孩子已经5年了，但现在正打算重返职场。
I assumed she'd return to the field she'd entered after business school.
我以为她会回到从商学院毕业以后所从事的领域。
I want to go into something non-profit, she said instead.
她却说:我想从事一些非赢利性的工作。
Now, I firmly believe that nonprofit careers are tremendously rewarding,but my heart sank a bit from the ambivalence etched on my new friend's face.
虽然，我现在还是坚信，从事非赢利性的工作是非常有好处的，但当我看到这位新朋友脸上挥之不去的矛盾表情，我的心沉了一沉。
I suspected I knew what she was thinking.
我觉得我知道她在想什么。
Over the years, I've studied working and stay-at-home moms,
多年来，我一直在研究职场妈妈和全职妈妈。
I've met dozens of successful former lawyers and businesswomen in a range of lucrative fields who lose their confidence after staying home for a few years.
我碰到过很多成功女性，有的是成功的律师，有的是一些赢利性行业中的商界精英，但她们在家待了几年后都失去了信心。
They assume they can't return to their original fields,despite their successful track records.
她们认为自己不能再回到原来的领域，尽管她们曾经在那些行业取得过成功。
They erroneously think going into teaching,social work or nonprofit foundations will be easier.
她们误以为当老师，做社会工作或到非赢利的基金会工作会容易一些。
More often than not,these women use I'm thinking of entering nonprofitas code for I've lost confidence in my ability to return to my professionso my only choice is find a less competitive field.
通常情况下，这些妇女会用我想从事非赢利性的工作来表示我已经失去了我一起工作领域的信心，因此我唯一的选择是找到一个竞争不那么激烈的领域。
The reality is they'd be better off staying in their original field.
但现实情况是她们最好还是从事原来的行业。
Teaching and social work require years of education and certification.
当教师与从事社会工作都需要多年的教育和认证。
Due to naivety or arrogance,some former businesspeople don't realize high-level nonprofit posts are just as competitive and sought after as top business jobs.
由于天真或傲慢，一些从前的商场中人并没有意识到高层次的非赢利职位同样竞争激烈，就像商场中的高级职位一样备受追捧。
It's tougher than many women believe to convince potential employers that private sector achievements are transferable to education and nonprofit arenas,and why, suddenly in mid-life,you heard a different calling that you will take as seriously as your former career.
要想说服潜在的雇主相信你在私营部门取得的成就可以转化为教育或非赢利行业所需的能力，以及为什么你到了中年时突然听到了另一种召唤，想从事不同的工作，并且会和你以前工作时同样认真，这比许多女性想象的要困难的多。
Many stay-at-homes would be better off if they confronted the biggest hurdle preventing women from returning to their chosen industries:lack of confidence,the most critical ingredient in any job hunt.
许多全职妈妈倘若面临着使她们无法回到她们所选行业的最大障碍:缺乏信心是，这对她们反而是件好事。
A recent New York Times article highlighted this reality and business schools' growing success teaching confidence by helping stay-at-home moms brush up on outdated skills.
最近《纽约时报》的一篇文章强调了这一现实，并特别提到了一些商学院在通过帮助全职妈妈重温过时的技能，从而使她们重拾信心方面取得了越来越大的成功。
The biggest issue facing them was not whether their skills were rusty;rather, it was the confidence that they had lost while not working,explained the Times article.
她们所面临的最大问题不在于她们的技能生疏荒废了，相反，问题在于她们在不工作期间失去了信心。《纽约时报》上的这篇文章解释说，
You should never apologize for being out of the market.
你不应该因为离开过市场而感到抱歉。
