Curious about that snoring sound coming from your desk drawer? It`s probably just a "sleeping certificate" – a new term entering the lexicon of young Chinese white-collar workers, one that refers to the certificates earned from short-term training programs that hold dubious significance in the professional world.

你会对从抽屉里传出的呼噜声感到好奇吗？这声音可能来自于你的“睡眠证书”——这是中国年轻白领新造的一个潮词，它是指一个人经过短期的培训所考取的证书，而这些证书在职场中到底能发挥多大作用却是一个未知数。

 

Some experts say it`s necessary to "wake up" these certificates and make use of them to bolster one`s job-hunting prospects. This month, with the peak season of job-hunting fast approaching, lots of job-hunters will open their drawers and dust off these credentials.

一些导师认为有必要“唤醒”这些证书并利用其增加求职资本。这个月，随着求职高峰期的快速逼近，许多求职者纷纷打开他们的抽屉，掸去落在他们证书上的灰尘。

 

Wang is one of them. An editor of a website in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, Wang developed an interest in the stock market and in 2009 earned a certificate in securities management after a month-long course.

王先生就是其中之一。他是广东深圳某网站的编辑，曾对证券市场产生了兴趣。2009年，经过一个月的培训后，他获得了证券管理方面的证书。

 

After the Spring Festival and looking to change career tracks, Wang, armed with his certificate, turned to the securities industry to find a new job.

春节过后，期待改变职业道路的王先生怀揣证书，转战证券业，寻找新工作。

 

Some experts believe that activating one`s sleeping certificates is good for assessing one`s career goals and looking for part-time jobs.

一些导师认为，唤醒“睡眠证书”对求职者评估个人职业目标以及寻找兼职工作都有好处。

 

Others, however, think the certificates won`t necessarily come in handy for career development since most certificate holders lack relevant working experiences, which are more highlighted by employers.

但也有人认为，这些证书未必对职业发展有帮助，因为很多持有证书的人都缺乏相关工作经验，而这些经验才是应聘单位更为看重的。

 

Unless they`re made use of right away, however, quite a few white-collar workers will leave their certificates in an unknown corner and forget them.

然而，很多白领会把他们的证书扔在一边，之后就忘了这回事，除非这些证书在考取后能立马派上用场。

 

Lately, however, employers have put more stress on one`s experiences and capabilities rather than certificates, according to Sun, a manager of a brand promotion firm in Guangdong Province. If applicants hold English interpretation certificates, for example, he will ask them to immediately interpret some materials.

不过，据广东某品牌推广公司经理孙先生讲，现在应聘单位侧重于求职者的经验和能力而不是证书。举个例子，如果求职者取得了英语口译证书，他会要求其立即现场口译一些材料。

 

"Some applicants will sell themselves on these certificates even if they have no real foundation and experiences in certain fields," Sun said.

孙先生称：“有的求职者即使在某领域并没有实践经验，但他们还是会利用这些证书来吹嘘自己的才能”。