)The benefits of taking a gap year are pretty obvious – the chance to meet lots of new friends, get an incredible suntan, and see some wild, wonderful and exotic locations. However, these aren’t the only advantages to taking that year out before you start work. And, with the job market for graduates still a fairly tough place to be, a well-planned gap year can help give you an advantage over others when it comes to looking for your dream job。

停学休整一年的好处是非常突出的——你可以结识更多新朋友，可以晒出亮丽的小麦肤色，也可以去看看野外天然美妙而具有异国风情的地方。然而，这些都不是工作前休整那一年的唯一好处，并且对于毕业生来说，人才市场还是一个挺残忍的地方，而一个计划周详的休整年则会在你寻找理想工作的时后相比其他人多一个优势。

You may not be able to transfer your ability to ride an elephant or dance all night into a job when you return (or maybe you will…)， but there are other aspects to taking a gap year that provide definite benefits for your CV. Here are a few:

也许当你回归工作轨道的时候，并不足以把你的技能转变为骑一只大象或彻夜的工作(或者也有这个可能....。.)，不过在其他方面上，休整一年确实为你丰富个人的简历带来好处。下面列举了其中一些：

1.Experience。

1. 经验。

A year at the University of Life can be a great addition to your actual university degree, adding the kinds of skills and experience to your CV that you wouldn’t have been able to acquire if you’d jumped straight from finishing your studies into a permanent job。

拥有额外一年体验生活的经历会是大学学位以外的极大附加优势，你能够在简历上增添各种不同的技能与经验，而这些技能和经验，是你在毕业后就马上投入一份长期的工作无法获得的。

You might gain PADI qualifications, teach English as a foreign language, learn how to build homes in hostile environments, or get involved in wildlife conservation – all these skills look great on any CV and can demonstrate commitment and aptitude to a potential employer。

也许你获得了专业潜水教练的资格，教授英语，掌握如何在恶劣的环境建造房子的技能，或者加入到野生动物保护的队伍当中——所有的这些技能都能让你的简历看起来非常吸引，还能够给潜在的雇主一种信任与能力的保证。

If you want to spend a gap year setting yourself up for a specific career, then choose activities that a relevant to that job. There are overseas opportunities for everything from PR and marketing through to medicine – you don’t have to spend the entire time on the beach。

如果你想花一年的休整时间为某一具体职业做好准备，那么就要参与相关的职业活动。有许多从公共部以及市场部获取的海外机会——所以你不必把所有的时间都花在海滩上。

2.You can network as you go。

2. 旅途中建立联系。

When you’re travelling, you tend to meet people. It’s an incredibly sociable way to see the world. Without the pressures of a corporate environment or the expectations that you might feel back home, you can create lots of opportunities for establishing new contacts by really opening up and being yourself。

在你的旅途中，你得与人们打交道。这是一个非常友好的见识世界的方式。没有外在的工作环境或期待的压力，你会感觉到宾至如归，还能通过敞开自己的心扉建立更多新的联系。

Plus, you never know who you might meet when you’re travelling or working abroad – you might come across people who can open up new opportunities, suggest alternative routes into the career you want, or even open the door to an elusive interview with your dream employer。

再者，你永远不知道在你的旅途或出国出差时会遇到什么样的人——也许你会给你提供新机会的人，或者给你理想职业的道路选择提供建议的人，甚至是为你打开一扇通往神秘面试的门的梦想雇主。

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3.Refresh and refocus。

3. 恢复活力与调整目标。

It’s often quite difficult to gain any kind of perspective on your career path when you are buried in exams at university, constantly reminded of the pressures and challenges of taking that next step towards working life. A gap year is the ideal opportunity to obtain genuine perspective, both in terms of what you’ve achieved so far and where you want to go next。

对于你来说，当你沉浸在考试的海洋里的时候，当你不断面对各种为职业生涯规划的压力和挑战的时候，想要看到任何职业道路上的远景是相当困难的。而休整年则是一个让你获取真实远景资讯的理想机会，无论从你已经获取了信息还是你即将前往的下一步的基础上。

Taking yourself out of a familiar environment will shake up your way of thinking and the new perspectives you will come across when you’re travelling might give you some fresh new ideas. If you’re burned out from the stress of the student lifestyle, then you’re unlikely to be in a position to make good decisions – after a year out with plenty of new challenges, new sights and opportunities for relaxation thrown in, you will most likely find yourself refreshed and ready to take on the world。

把自己带离熟悉的环境，可以给你重新思考的角度。以及在旅途的过程中，你很有可能会因为不同的思考角度而让你产生不少新的想法。如果你已经受够了学生生活的压力，那么你就很难以良好的状态做出正确的选择——但通过一年的休整，许多新的挑战，新的景象和放松的机会都扑面而来，这样你会发现你的状态已经恢复了也准备好面对这个世界了。

4.Challenge yourself。

4. 挑战你自己。

It might seem intimidating to set up a gap year that is full of new challenges, such as being away from friends and family for all that time, trying new physically demanding activities, or dealing with language barriers and alternative cultures. However, these tend to be the things that make us grow as people and you will find that you gain enormously in confidence from the kinds of experiences that you’re presented with every day when travelling – in a way that you just wouldn’t if you didn’t take that step。

也许你会觉得停止休整充满新挑战的一年是一件挺吓人的事，也许在这一年里你常常不在朋友和家人身边，尝试新的体力活动，或者处理各种语言隔阂或不同的文化障碍。无论如何，这些事情都能让我们成熟，并且你会发现在旅途的过程中你会从这些经验中获得了极大的自信——以一种你不参与就做不到的方式。

Plus, the great thing about a gap year is that the opportunities for stepping outside your comfort zone are plentiful and tend to arise almost every day. Whether you find yourself agreeing to something you’d never do back home – such as jumping out of a plane – or you just gain the ability to strike up a conversation with just about anyone in a social setting, all of these will play a big part in creating confidence that you can use to bag yourself your dream career。

再者，休整的一年的好处在于，你有相当多的机会走出自己的舒适区，而且这些机会几乎每天都会增长。无论你是否发现自己适合做某些你在家里从未做过的事情——比如从飞机上跳下来——或者你获得了一项在社会场合中与他人交谈的技能，所有的这些都会为你建立起强大的自信心，以此为你的理想事业做好准备。