qiúzhí yǐqián yào zhǔnbèi jiǎnlì hé zuòpǐnjí.

求职 means to seek a job / to look for employment. It is a bit more formal than 找工作, which is the everyday way to say look for a job.

So:

• 求职 = formal, often seen in writing, HR contexts, job ads
• 找工作 = more conversational

In this sentence, 求职以前 means before job-hunting or before applying for jobs.

In Chinese, 以前 often comes after a time word or an action phrase to mean before that time/action.

Pattern:

• Verb / phrase + 以前 = before doing ...
• Time word + 以前 = before ...

So:

• 求职以前 = before seeking a job
• 吃饭以前 = before eating
• 上课以前 = before class / before attending class

This is very normal Chinese word order.

Yes. 以前 and 之前 are both commonly used to mean before.

So these are both natural:

• 求职以前要准备简历和作品集。
• 求职之前要准备简历和作品集。

In many situations, they are interchangeable.
A learner can usually treat them the same in sentences like this.

Here, 要 means need to, should, or must, not want to.

So in this sentence:

• 要准备 = need to prepare / should prepare

Chinese 要 can have several meanings depending on context:

• 我要咖啡。 = I want coffee.
• 明天要上班。 = I have to work tomorrow.
• 求职以前要准备简历。 = Before job-hunting, you need to prepare a résumé.

So you have to judge from context.

Chinese often omits the subject when it is obvious, general, or not important.

So this sentence is basically saying:

• Before job-hunting, [you/one/people] need to prepare a résumé and portfolio.

This sounds natural in Chinese.
It gives general advice, so an explicit subject is unnecessary.

If you wanted, you could add one:

• 你求职以前要准备简历和作品集。
• 求职以前，我们要准备简历和作品集。

But the original version is more general and concise.

A simple way to see it is:

• 求职以前 = time phrase, before job-hunting
• 要 = need to / should
• 准备 = prepare
• 简历和作品集 = résumé and portfolio

So the pattern is:

• [Time phrase] + 要 + [verb] + [object]

Here that becomes:

• 求职以前 + 要 + 准备 + 简历和作品集

This is a very common Chinese structure.

Yes. Both nouns are things being prepared.

• 准备简历 = prepare a résumé
• 准备作品集 = prepare a portfolio

They are joined by 和, so together they form a compound object:

• 准备简历和作品集 = prepare a résumé and a portfolio

• 简历 = résumé / CV
• 作品集 = portfolio

A 简历 lists your education, work experience, skills, and so on.
A 作品集 is a collection of your work, especially useful in fields like design, art, writing, photography, architecture, or media.

So the sentence implies that before applying for jobs, you should prepare both your background summary and examples of your work.

Usually, yes. In this sentence, 和 simply connects two nouns:

• 简历和作品集 = résumé and portfolio

That is a very straightforward use of 和.

A small note: 和 mainly links nouns or noun phrases.
Chinese does not always use it exactly where English uses and, especially between clauses, but in this sentence it works just like and.

Because the sentence is speaking in a general way, not counting specific items.

It is saying prepare résumé and portfolio as categories of things, not:

• a résumé
• one portfolio
• two portfolios

If you wanted to count them, you would use measure words, for example:

• 一份简历 = one résumé
• 一份作品集 = one portfolio

But in general advice sentences, Chinese often just uses the bare nouns.

It can cover both ideas, depending on context.

求职 is broad and can include:

• looking for work
• job-hunting
• applying for jobs
• seeking employment generally

So 求职以前 can be understood as:

• before looking for a job
• before job-hunting
• before applying for jobs

All of those fit the sentence well.

Yes, you can say 在求职以前, and it is grammatical.

• 在求职以前，要准备简历和作品集。

The 在 helps mark the time phrase more explicitly, but it is often omitted because it is not necessary.
The version without 在 is more compact and very natural.

It sounds neutral to somewhat formal.

Why?

• 求职 is a more formal word than 找工作
• 简历
• 作品集

These words are common in professional or educational contexts.

A more conversational version might be:

• 找工作以前要先准备好简历和作品集。

That sounds a bit more everyday.

Because 求职以前 is not a possessive phrase.
It is a fixed type of time expression: action + 以前.

So:

• 求职以前 = before seeking a job
• not 求职的以前

Adding 的 here would be unnatural.

This is similar to:

• 吃饭以前 = before eating
• 睡觉以前 = before sleeping

A few pronunciation notes:

• 求职 qiúzhí
  Both syllables are rising tone: 2nd tone + 2nd tone
• 准备 zhǔnbèi
  zhǔn is 3rd tone, bèi is 4th tone
• 简历 jiǎnlì
  jiǎn is 3rd tone, lì is 4th tone
• 作品集 zuòpǐnjí
  zuò 4th, pǐn 3rd, jí 2nd

Also pay attention to:

• zh in 职 and 准: a retroflex sound, not like English z
• q in 求: like a ch sound with strong airflow, said with the tongue more forward

A word-for-word breakdown is possible:

• 求职以前 = before seeking a job
• 要 = need to
• 准备 = prepare
• 简历和作品集 = résumé and portfolio

But natural English would be:

• Before job-hunting, you need to prepare a résumé and a portfolio.
• Before applying for jobs, you should prepare your résumé and portfolio.

The Chinese sentence is concise because Chinese often omits subjects and articles.

Yes. 准备好 means prepare ... well / get ... ready and emphasizes the completed, ready state.

Compare:

• 要准备简历和作品集。
  = need to prepare a résumé and portfolio

• 要准备好简历和作品集。
  = need to get a résumé and portfolio ready

Both are natural.
准备好 sounds a little more result-focused.