"What Color Is Your Parachute? by Richard N. Bolles" is one of the best-selling books of all time, having sold more than 10 million copies since its publication in 1972. The book acts as a guide to help readers find their ideal career and is still relevant more than four decades later.
At the core of "What Color Is Your Parachute?", is the concept of self-discovery. Bolles suggests that individuals should look inside themselves to discover their passions and interests while using these insights to find a job that is tailored to them. Central to his argument is an eight-step process which places considerable emphasis on researching career options and performing self-evaluation exercises.
The first step in the process is to develop a list of skills and interests and figure out what sorts of jobs they lend themselves to. In the second step, Bolles encourages the reader to acquire the necessary qualifications to make their chosen career a reality. The following two steps focus on gathering information about their chosen industry and related job roles, doing informational interviews and choosing a career direction. After this, readers must articulate their skills in a dynamic resume and design a job-seeking campaign.
The sixth step involves networking to uncover unadvertised job opportunities, a technique which Bolles believes is vital to job hunters since the majority of jobs are unseen by the wider public. In the seventh step, readers are asked to consider alternate career paths and should investigate them if the initial plan doesn’t work out. Finally, readers are asked to maintain their enthusiasm throughout the entire job-seeking process.
"What Color Is Your Parachute?" is relevant to job seekers and career coaches today as many of the principles in the book are still applicable. The eight-step process is comprehensive and is backed up by prompts, questions and ideas to get readers thinking about the job-seeking endeavor. Bolles believes that by following his advice, readers can discover the job which is perfect for them.
Richard N. Bolles' "What Color Is Your Parachute?" is a go-to guide for job seekers and career coaches and should be read by every individual who is on the hunt for a job. By following the eight-step process and using the exercises, readers can create an effective job-hunting routine and an abundant sense of fulfilment.
