Customer Reviews

What Color Is Your Parachute?: A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters and Career-Changers

5 star:		(45)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"What Color Is Your Parachute" is the first book you need if finding a job is your goal. If you've not bought this yet, you haven't started looking. It is that good.

Richard Bolles is the expert. His books sell because they are fresh each year with insight, purpose and ideas for determining what job you should do, and how to get it.

I used "Parachute" to get my first job. It continues to influence me today, as I job hunt again. (post script: two weeks after posting this review, I landed a position as a communications manager at a major firm).

Thoroughly practical, Bolles asks you questions about your mission in life. His belief is that just getting a job -- even ones you are good at -- won't be a wise decision in the long haul. He helps you see your passions mixed with skills and experience, and guides you to getting their. Though it is hardly a self-help book, it is far more useful than the ones clogging up the Top 10 list.

He keeps you accountable. Finding a job is your job if that's what you say you want. And if you aren't working, he won't let you make excuses -- you've got the time. Either you are looking or you aren't. Dr. Phil could take a note from Bolles' direct yet congenial style.

Don't bother with the hardcover. You need the paperback. This is not a sit-on-the-shelf book, but a get-down-to-business book, and you'll appreciate the flexibility while at work or on the train.

I fully recommend, "What Color Is Your Parachute" by Richard Nelson Bolles.

Anthony Trendl
editor, HungarianBookstore.com

While I don't think "What Color is Your Parachute" is a perfect book, it is certainly an excellent starting point for anyone embarking on a career path. As a professional coach, I find that is particularly well-suited to young people starting out and older people making career transitions.

The major strength of the book is that it provides a systematic roadmap from confusion through finding a job that is well matched to both your talents, passions and the needs of the market place. Many career coaching approaches neglect focusing on introspection and finding out what skills you most enjoy using and instead focus on what you are good at, but don't necessarily enjoy. Mr. Bolles does a good job of balancing all of these areas.

I also like that this book gets into matching more than just skills to a career choice. It looks a geographical preference, working environment preferences and categories of skills such as working with people, information and things. Knowing what ratio of these basic categories of tasks is best for you is a simple, but valuable insight. So are the intangible aspects that come along with a particular kind of work.

Another thing that Mr. Bolles does that I appreciate and find a lot of value in is looking at peak experiences inside and outside of work and mining them for both skills and values. I think this is an important key to finding the right work and a way to override negative scripts that often drive our behaviors unconsciously. This is also important information for finding the right key words to put in the resume for good emotional punch.

This book also makes the realities of the job market very clear. Whether people like it or not, networking, research on companies and being prepared is important. So are having a good marketing plan, concrete goals and time commitments around the various job related tasks. We spend a lot of our time at work, so to me this makes perfect sense and avoids a lot of unnecessary pain further down the road.

I tend to think of a job as something that pays the bills, but doesn't necessarily lead to fulfillment in and of itself. This book is more about career building i.e. finding work that has meaning to you and providing a path where you can evolve and grow. If you are only looking for a job, this might be more than what you want to take on. However, if you are looking for happiness in the work you do, this is an excellent starting point to get some momentum that will take you in the direction of your dreams.

I think maybe this author is a little too comfortable with how successful his book has been in the past, because this edition was so overstuffed with anecdotal and sometimes patronizingly excessive information that I had a hard time actually finding useful stuff. It's in there, but you really have to weed through a lot of fluff to find it. I much preferred the "Cool Careers for Dummies" book, which actually gives practical ways for you to look "inward" and figure out what you want to do with your life. Plus, they have realistic, straightforward information about careers that might interest you. Mr. Bolles may have a lot of experience and think that readers are hanging on his every word, but I did not buy the book to read it for pleasure, I just want to find a career, and some practical ways to get me there without all of the useless banter.

A good friend sent "What Color Is Your Parachute?" in 1977 with a paper clip around a group of pages of the Preface (or Introduction as the case may have been). His note said, "If you don't read any more than this, at least read the part I've marked with the paperclip." It was one of the best gifts I've ever received. I'd just been shown the gate by my employer and was living far from friends and family, newly married, and just generally in deep [stuff].

I began reading the book and it "grabbed me." I did not stop reading until I "loxed out" at 3 a.m. In the morning, I resumed and finished the book. Mr. Bolles refreshes the book each year based on comments from readers and changes in job markets that are relevant to job-hunters and career-changers.

I got the best job ever using one of the principles discussed in the book, and I never really got to the point of methodically hunting for my job. I was lucky! But I did stop following the wrong methods, and that alone improved my mood. Sending resumes and reading, "Thanks for your interest in [our company]. Unfortunately . . . at this time." has a real "down" effect on one's ego --- have you noticed? :-)

I have returned my friend's favor over the last 30 years by giving the book to people whom I think would benefit. This has been a banner year for me; I've given four so far and it's only March!

The book is about the whole process of finding the kind of employment that will suit the reader and it begins by analyzing the most popular methods, responding to "Help Wanted" advertising by sending a resume with a letter. Anyone who reads the first chapter, will begin saving money on postage and Kinko's copier bills! Mr. Bolles lays out the numbers and lets the reader figure the odds. He then discusses a better approach.

The idea is not simply to find "a job" but to use a methodical approach to finding "the job." Not everyone who reads the book will follow all of the guidelines; some will find a job before following them and will put the book aside. But anyone who thinks things through and follows the guide honestly, will find a job doing something he really wants to be doing in a place he wants to live.

If you are not doing what you want to do in the place you want to live, or if you have a friend who fits that description, pick up a copy of this book. The book has been reorganized (maybe too many people were skipping the Preface!). The mandatory reading now is the three-page Introduction ("The Three Essential Life Skills") and Chapter 1 ("The Five Best Ways to Hunt for a Job (and the Five Worst)").

When you find "your job" and get settled in, be on the lookout for a friend who needs to read your book and give it away! You will always be able to find one if your needs change -- or if you find another friend in need. Remember, this book is not for just the un-employed. Most people to whom I give the book have crummy jobs they hate or have become dead-ended. They need something to encourage them to "get off the dime" (as the old saying goes).

First published in 1970 and revised and republished every year since 1975 by Ten Speed Press, consider this: there is a reason Ten Speed Press is doing this!

Most enthusiastically recommended! Five stars don't even begin to rate this book!

If one has not lost a job recently, or quit in disgust, one is considered fortunate. The turnover rate at companies large and small is growing. Outsourcing, economic slowdowns and other factors, like globalization make job security in most fields a thing of the past.

Businesses in this country are often caught dealing unethically with their employees -- citing competition from low-cost, offshore workers who will work for a fraction of what it costs to live here, or worse, declaring bankruptcy -- to walk away from commitments to pension benefits and health benefits that were promised when times were better, or at least when the workforce was younger.

Employees asked to take big pay cuts and benefits give-backs, while the top brass rake in double-digit raises each year, pulling down millions, pay their employers back in kind. If ethical standards in the business world today are poor, it is mainly, I propose, because people are not doing what they do best, and worse, they are doing work they hate, because they are afraid of losing their jobs.

"What Color Is Your Parachute" addresses the core problem in the working world today: employee satisfaction. Corporations are paper documents, group-think written by lawyers. Corporations are not equipped to, nor responsible for, providing their employees with satisfaction. People: employers, employees, entrepreneurs, all individuals, are responsible for finding their own calling in life.

Through exercises and worksheets and questionnaires, What Color Is Your Parachute guides the reader through the difficult task of getting to know himself, or herself, well enough to define their own mission in life.

Once one knows what that unique person should do with their life, finding out how to do it and how to get paid for doing it becomes possible, almost inevitable. One has to listen to oneself, carefully, and critically.

Networking interviews, a concept developed in the earliest editions of this book, some 30 years ago, yield advice from experts in whatever field one chooses. Finding out what one's unique mission in life is, what one is uniquely suited for, and what finds true satisfaction doing, is often much more difficult than the work itself.

Richard Bolles, the author, is a former minister. He is also an expert in career counselling. Each year he revises his book with fresh insight, purpose and ideas for determining what one should do, and how one gets a job in which one does just that.

The 2005 edition boasts a new preface that addresses job loss, vacancies, and outsourcing. Throughout the new edition there is good advice on how to use the Internet in job-hunting. I'll give you a hint. It does not tell one to post one's resume on as many job boards as possible, playing the numbers.

What Color Is Your Parachute offers hope and inspiration in the roiling world of the current job market. It details a plan for finding one's place in this uncertain era. A best-seller for more than 30 years, through fat years and lean years, it continues to be high on the best-seller lists from Amazon to Business Week.

More than eight million copies in at least 12 languages have been sold everywhere in the world.

Bolles helps one find one's own passions, skills and experience. He is a trustworthy guide to getting exactly what one needs: personal accountability, and accomplishment. Finding the work one loves to do is a personal, individual responsibility. He hammers the point home.

If one is still working, doing the exercises in the book may well put one ahead in the game, even if one stays within the same company for 20 years or more. And if one has the misfortune (or perhaps the good fortune) to be laid off, down-sized, right-sized, or fired, then one has no excuse. One has the time.

The paperback is a better value than the hard cover edition. This is a reference book that will eventually wear out if used properly. And the flexibility of the paperback is makes it easier to fit into whatever one is hauling around in the way of a briefcase.

I hate to think what my life would have been like if I hadn't discovered WCIYP in 1976. It took over a year to work through the exercises and finally realize what I wanted to do with my life. The insights I gained have helped me make important decisions through the years. This is much more than a job-hunting book. Anyone who criticizes the book for being wordy is short-sighted. This is the best investment of time and money you'll ever make, if you use it as the tool it's meant to be.

The author has great career advice to give and where specific advice is found in this book, it's delivered very well.
Unfortunately, to get the excellent advice and facts about the business of putting the effort, selling yourself, and landing a job, you have to drag yourself through numerous pages of soft existential text. I found no clear strategy to jump ahead without missing important ideas.
Reading this book is like wandering around the once-in-a-lifetime garage sale of a retentive genius.
For the sake of future readers I hope the author would take the time to put this text on a treadmill, as only he could do. I bet half the text could go without losing any of the awesome advice.

I read this book and now, as a career coach, recommend it to job hunters and clients considering a career change. I have delivered several presentations based on its content. Every one has been very well received.

The book starts off explaining the differences between job hunter and hiring manager strategies. Job hunters scan the want ads, post resumes online, and mail resumes to potential employers. Hiring managers instead look for transferable employees already within their organizations and for candidates recommended by a collegues, friends, or family members. They resort to resumes for candidates they've never met as a last resort.

In light of this dilemma, Bolles discusses issues pertinent job hunters(very effectively I might add) assisting them in dealing with the problem they face in landing the job. Really valuable information.

The most valuable section, and the one I use frequently with clients considering a job changes, is "Part III Resuming the Search to Find Your Dream." This section contains a systematic approach to discovering your transferable skills and desired job attributes. It walks the reader through exercises for discovering their employable skills and job preferences and helps match those discoveries to a job or career. This section could be considered an alternative to a career skills assessment for the person who is willing to do the in depth analysis.

Interestingly enough, the final chapter of the book entitled "How to Find Your Mission in Life," places the search of the dream job in a spiritual context. It puts a very appropriate closing to the "Find Your Dream" section.

Bolles has done job hunters and career changes a great service.

If you are anything like me and are looking where to go next in your career, than this is the book for you.

It has tons of places to look for anything from how to get personality tests for free online, to helpfull tips and exercises to help you figure out what kind of job would suit you best.

Before I read this book I read 15 other "Job Hunt" books. But, this book didn't just tell me how to write a resume, or dress for a job interview; this book helped me decide what direction I wanted to go in my life. A huge difference!

I got the book from the library first, and then realized I had to own a copy to get the most from it that I could.

My professor recommended this book to our class to help us develop a dymanic resume. The book taught me how to evaluate my strengths, create a resume that is concise and to the point, and how to relax during an interview. It outlined questions to ask a prospective employer during the interview and taught me how to search the internet, finding salaries that are commensurate with specific strengths I have in regard to various job positions. The book, also, walked me through the negoiation process of the interview. I learned how to create an electronic portfolio resume. Excellent book. Enjoy.