Synopses & Reviews
“How many jobs are out there, in this economy?”
“Where do I go from here with my life?”
These are some of the questions at the forefront of the modern job-searcher’s mind. And they are thoroughly and thoughtfully answered with all-new chapters in the 2011 edition of What Color Is Your Parachute?, the best-selling job-hunting book in the world for more than three decades--in good times and bad. A longtime fixture on best-seller lists, What Color Is Your Parachute? features life-saving information that is updated each year to cater to the specific requirements of today’s job market.
Career guru Richard N. Bolles leads job-searchers to find meaningful work. He asks, WHAT skills do you most love to use? WHERE--in what field--would you most love to use them? And HOW do you find such jobs without depending on agencies, ads, and online postings?
This book is not only about finding a job in hard times, it’s also about finding your passion. In the words of Fortune magazine:
“Parachute remains the gold standard of career guides.”
What Color Is Your Parachute? is the world’s most popular job-hunting guide, with 10 million copies sold, in more than 20 languages. Written by career guru Richard N. Bolles--who coined the terms “informational interviewing” and “transferable skills”--this New York Times and BusinessWeek best seller answers such questions as:
“What are the five best--and worst--ways to search for a job?” See chapter 3 (starting on page 31).
“What are the most helpful job sites on the Internet, out of the thousands that are out there?” See pages 53-54.
“What interview questions can I expect to be asked, and how do I answer them?” See chapter 6 (starting on page 93).
“I want to use a resume. What should I include?” See chapter 5 (starting on page 71).
“I haven’t a clue how to do salary negotiation. Help!” See chapter 7 (starting on page 121).
“There are no jobs out there, so I’m thinking of starting my own business. Where do I begin?” See chapter 9 (starting on page 147).
“Since I’m out of work, I’d like to use this opportunity to find more purpose and sense of mission in my next job. How do I do that?” See pages 15, 179, and 269.
“What are the ten biggest mistakes made during interviews?” See page 92.
“How is the way employers hunt for people different from the way people hunt for employers?” See page 44.
“How do I figure out what my best skills are?” See pages 201+.
“If I decide I need some career counseling, how do I avoid getting ‘taken’?” See Appendix b (starting on page 288).
“I had a job dealing with manufacturing. Now it’s gone. How do I find jobs in related fields?” See page 45.
“I’d like to emphasize my traits in my next job interview, but I don’t have ‘a trait vocabulary.’ Got any lists?” See page 50.
“I have a handicap. How can I get around it, in interviews?” See page 57.
“I am painfully shy. I dread interviewing. What can I do?” See page 62.
“I want to use a resume. What should I include?” See Chapter 5 (starting on page 71).
“In general, what are employers looking for?” See page 48.
“How long should I expect my job-hunt to last?” See page 32.
“I’m over fifty. What special problems do I face when I go job-hunting? ” See chapter 10 (starting on page 167).
“I’m just starting on my job-hunt. I know ‘networking’ is important. I haven’t got a network. How do I build one from scratch?” See page 86.
PARACHUTE has all the answers you’re looking for and more. It’s the guide that millions of job-hunters have turned to for more than three decades.
Synopsis
How many jobs are out there, in this economy?
Where do I go from here with my life?
These are some of the questions at the forefront of the modern job-searcher's mind. And they are thoroughly and thoughtfully answered with all-new chapters in the 2011 edition of What Color Is Your Parachute?, the best-selling job-hunting book in the world for more than three decades--in good times and bad.
A longtime fixture on best-seller lists, from New York Times to BusinessWeek, What Color Is Your Parachute? has sold more than 10 million copies and has been translated into 20 languages around the world. Its life-saving information is updated each year to cater to the specific requirements of today's job market.
Career guru Richard N. Bolles leads job-searchers to find meaningful work. He asks, WHAT skills do you most love to use? WHERE--in what field--would you most love to use them? And HOW do you find such jobs without depending on agencies, ads, and online postings?
This book is not only about finding a job in hard times. It's about finding your passion. In the words of Fortune magazine:
Parachute remains the gold standard of career guides.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
Synopsis
1. There Are Always Jobs Out There
The job-market is a mess, right now. People have lost jobs they thought would go on forever. Whole households have been plunged into financial ruin. Hunting for a job is like looking for a needle in a haystack. The future, to many people, looks bleak. Welcome to Normal.
Yes, this is what always happens after a Recession. It's just been worse, this time, because this has been a bad Recession. Really really bad. There's still a tremendous amount of misery, out there. When you talk to those who are unemployed, as I do constantly, you feel the kind of pain that strikes at the very heart of why people want to live. Or not live. So many souls are living quiet lives of desperation. Their job is gone. Their home is gone. Their dreams are gone. Their savings are gone. Their plans for retirement are gone. Their hope is gone. And they feel heartbroken, abandoned, forgotten. To see what disastrous events in the economy, like a Recession, or disastrous events in nature, like the Gulf oil spill, have done to so many people's lives, is to weep. You hear discouragement and despair, on every side:
There are no jobs out there, I know, I looked. I went on the Internet every single day. After two months, I gave up.
I'm hearing all the experts say we are entering into a jobless recovery. They say some people are just going to have to get used to being permanently unemployed. I think they're right. I can see a grim future ahead for me. It is the death of all my dreams; all I'll have after this is a series of regrets.
I heard there are six people out of work for every vacancy that appears; those odds mean my situation is hopeless.
With the labor market so tough for the foreseeable future, even if I find a job, I imagine it will have to be one that I settle for; there is no hope of my ever finding work that I could feel passionate about, or find anything remotely approaching a 'dream job.'
I always thought you were supposed to start your job-hunt by learning all you can about the job-market: what the hot jobs are, what vacancies are posted by employers on the Internet, and so on. I was taught that you have to take the job-market as the given, and then try to depict yourself as one who matches that given. But with this awful recession we are just coming out of, this doesn't seem to work at all. Employers simply aren't posting any vacancies. Hot jobs are nonexistent. I'm thoroughly bummed out.
These, and similar sentiments, circulate in the media in the air, and in the blogosphere, 24/7.
All we want, now, is relief. We want the government to do something. And create jobs. Don't just sit there; do something And we will sweep out of power any government that does not make Jobs their number one priority, and come to our rescue.
How Jobs Get Created
The unfortunate news is that Recessions--not this bad, but bad enough--come around regularly in history, and recovery from them always works the same way: it is not the government, or employers who pull us out of our tailspin. No, it is the consumer who re-creates the job-market (and therefore jobs) after a Recession ends;
Synopsis
“If I were job hunting, I would pick up a copy of this book without hesitation.”
--FOXBusiness.com, 8/25/10
“There’s Parachute, and then there’s all the rest. . . . A life-changing book.”
--Career Planning and Adult Development Journal
“Parachute is still a top seller and it remains the go-to guide for everyone from midlife-crisis boomers looking to change their careers to college students looking to start one.”
--New York Post
“What Color Is Your Parachute? is about job-hunting and career-changing, but it’s also about figuring out who you are as a person and what you want out of life.”
--Time
“Ideally, everyone should read What Color Is Your Parachute? in the tenth grade and again every year thereafter.”
--Anne Fisher, Fortune
“It was one of the first job-hunting books on the market. It is still arguably the best. And it is indisputably the most popular.”
--Fast Company
From the Trade Paperback edition.
Synopsis
Thoroughly revised for 2011, a handy job-hunter's guide explains how to identify one's personal goals and interests and reveals how to apply that information toward obtaining satisfying employment, with tips on interviews, salary-negotiation techniques, career searching online and more, in a guide that reflects the current market. Simultaneous.
About the Author
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RICHARD N. BOLLES has led the career development field for more than thirty-five years. A member of Mensa and the Society for Human Resource Management, he has been the keynote speaker at hundreds of conferences. Bolles was trained in chemical engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and holds a bachelor’s degree cum laude in physics from Harvard University, a master’s in sacred theology from General Theological (Episcopal) Seminary in New York City, and three honorary doctorates. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife, Marci.
Table of Contents
Preface: In This Internet Age, Why Do Job-Hunters Still Want a Printed Book?
xIn Gratitude xv
A Grammar Note xix
Part I
Finding a Job . . .
1 There Are Always Jobs Out There 3
2 Where Do I Go from Here with My Life? 15
3 Once You Know Exactly What You Are Looking For:The Five Best Ways to Look for a Job 31
4 Once You Know Exactly What You Are Looking For:How to Deal with Handicaps 57
5 Once You Know Exactly What You Are Looking For:Resumes and Contacts 71
6 Once You Know Exactly What You Are Looking For:Interviews 93
7 Once You Know Exactly What You Are Looking For:Salary Negotiation 121
8 Once You Know Exactly What You Are Looking For: How to Choose a New Career When You Must 137
9 Once You Know Exactly What You Are Looking For: How to Start Your Own Business 147
10 Once You Know Exactly What You Are Looking For: Entering the World of 50+ 167
PART II
Finding a Life . . .
11 The Flower Exercise: The Parachute Workbook 179
WHAT Do You Most Want to Do? WHERE Do You Most Want to Do It? HOW Do You Find Your Ideal Job?
Appendices
Appendix A: Finding Your Mission in Life 269
Appendix B: A Guide to Choosing a Career Coach or Counselor 288
Appendix C: Sampler List of Coaches 304
About the Author 327
Index 329