The book was a tremendous help to specify wording out my wants and needs in my professional life. Something I'd consider to be a no-brainer and should be part of every education. Unfortunately, opportunities to do so are not common; that is exactly why I would recommend this as a must-read to anyone. Especially to people that are not quite yet settled with their job/ future progress.

The essence of the book is the flower exercise, divided into 7 petals (parts). While the purpose of it is simple, in 30 years of my life and quite a few job ventures, I have never written down/ nor thought, in such detail, about the foundations of my visionary career. Embarrassed to say, it took me months to finish, as it required a lot of self-inspection and self-inventory. Truly, it's really just a writing exercise, but one that I find necessary. Plus it's meditative and fun since you're doing it regularly and getting to know yourself better.

Overall conclusion: I can't predict my future but now at least I know my next few steps and that's all the confidence I need. I can't thank the author more for writing this - it's more than a book, it's a powerful tool.

I hate this so many much. It could have been half as long if there wasn’t so much repetition and advertisements like what was that too. Why were they constantly asking the reader to check out other works and websites from their friends like I think this book was already pricey enough to not need ads every ten pages. Also I don’t feel like I’ve learned anything it was so useless. « Know yourself first » like thanks bro I had already figured that out.

I’m not currently looking for a new job. But the parachute book has been on my list for a long time. I’m glad I chose the most recent because it is chock full of practical advise.

This book starts with the premise that every human being is unique and has something to offer “employers”. Chapters 4-6 help you define who you are and what makes you perform at your highest level. Chapters 1-3 describe the job market and the playing field, so to speak. Chapters 7-9 are the mechanics of the game, how it works, the rules, how to win. Chapters 10-12 are nuanced, overcoming challenges, changing to a completely new career or going for self-employment.

I was particularly interested in reading chapters 4-6, refining my definition of myself and what makes me awesome. And it asks you to create a flower diagram to be your map guiding you on your life’s journey. I also very much appreciated the exercises in filling out this diagram and plan to complete my own.

Good stuff in here.

Employers hire from within and with proof from skills or associates testimony.
Employees use a resume, through an ad but rarely through contacts.

In interviews talk of challenges, skills and experiences.

Job searches and interview preparation begins with your enthusiasm and your knowledge of the company and what skills that you possess that they need.

Describe people you work with, optimal workplace conditions, your skills and assets, your knowledge and your goals.

Storytelling is one of the most powerful techniques you can use in a job interview.

For virtual interviews: wear solid dark clothing. Have a plain background. Speak and look into the camera not into the screen.

Qualities to accentuate: punctuality, dependability, drive, energy, enthusiasm, committed to teamwork, flexibility, adaptability, trainable, love to learn, loyalty, integrity, creativity, problem solver.

Tell me about yourself?
Is this job beneath your talents?
What is your greatest weakness?

Ця американська книга з самодопомоги у пошуку роботи вперше була видана у 1970 році. З тих пір чи не кожного року перевидавалась і доповнювалась. Доступна 22 мовами, використовується у 26 країнах. Я читала видання 2021 року у оригіналі.
В основі книги - т.зв підхід парашута. По даній методиці слід спершу розібратись в собі, в своїх якостях, вподобаннях, окреслити все це словами і лиш тоді шукати підходящу для себе роботу.

Назву книги «Якого кольору твій парашут?» можна трактувати так - яку мозаїку створюють твої якості, вподобання, навички? хто ти як людина, як особистість?

Деколи буває важко підібрати слова, щоб описати себе і свої вміння. Тоді на поміч приходять різні переліки і професійні тести. Тут є багато посилань на спеціальні корисні сайти.
Велику увагу слід приділити власним сильним сторонам, найстльнішим якостям. Про них треба говорити на співбесіді, щоб виділитись із натовпу.

Загалом книга підтримує позитивний оптимістичний настрій у процесі пошуку роботи.
У ній зазначається, що якщо пошук роботи не приносить результату, то треба присвячувати йому більше часу.

Ключова вправа у даній системі - «Квітка».
Вимагає багато психологічної роботи - пошуку відповідей на такі аспекти - «пелюстки квітки»:
- люди (з якими хотілось би чи не хотілось би працювати,
- різні типи середовища людей,
- робочі умови,
- гнучкі навички (придатні для різних сфер діяльності),
- знання,
- зарплата,
- локація,
- ціль життя.

Цікава цитата:
«Наймають не обов‘язково того, хто найкраще виконує роботу, а того, хто найбільше знає як бути найнятим.»

Дана книга закликає до професійного нетворкінгу, активного спілкування і соціалізацї.

Завершальна частина видання висвітлює і роль Бога у пошуку роботи, представляє кар‘єру як місію життя, покликання. Це свідчить, що співавтори - релігійні люди, але вони підкреслюють, що їх книга мала успіх також і у агностиків чи атеїстів.

Very good book for those who want to change careers or are looking for a new job like myself.

I'm embarrassed to say this is the first version of What Color is Your Parachute that I've read. Of course I've heard of it, but just never got around to reading it. In an effort to remain current with career search trends, Richard N. Bolles has been updating this book since 1975. Now that I've finally had the opportunity to read the 2016 version, I'm absolutely astounded by the amount of information the author provides. Loaded with practical job-hunting advice, the author has compiled the book into the following eleven informative chapters:

*tChapter 1 - It's a Whole New World for Job Hunters
*tChapter 2 - Google is Your New Resume
*tChapter 3 - There Are Over Eight Million Vacancies Available Each Month
*tChapter 4 - Sixteen Tips About Interviewing for a Job
*tChapter 5 - The Six Secrets to Salary Negotiation
*tChapter 6 - What to Do When Your Job-Hunt Just Isn't Working
*tChapter 7 - You Need to Understand More Fully Who You Are
*tChapter 8 - You Get to Choose Where You Work
*tChapter 9 - How to Deal with Any Handicaps You Have
*tChapter 10 - The Five Ways to Choose/Change Careers
*tChapter 11 - How to Start Your Own Business

"The Blue Pages" (appendix A thru E) are filled with additional insightful, comprehensive information.

The author makes a strong case for taking inventory of who you are before embarking on your job search. His flower method is so thorough, serious job hunters will definitely gain better insight into who they are and what jobs are most appropriate for them. His discussions on the importance of getting social with social media are vitally important for anyone looking for a job today.

There is much work to be done with this book, however. While there is a great deal of sensible, and even obvious, tips, anyone truly serious about finding a job or changing careers will have to spend a lot of time doing the exercises within this book. The author makes no bones about that. But after all, finding the right job or career is an important undertaking for anyone.

I would highly recommend this easy to follow and useful guide for anyone searching for a job, thinking of a career change or looking into starting a new business.


http://ebookreviewgal.com received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This book will help you understand who you are and what matters to you. Lots of great exercises in this workbook that uncover the truth. It definitely takes time to complete them, but with anything you get out of the what you put into it.

The thorough self-evaluation exercises are quite helpful. The book is about more than finding a fulfilling career; it's about finding your purpose in life. In the self-inventory, you work through 7 aspects (flower petals) of yourself and your interests, to point you towards fulfilling work.

According to the book, the best work and career, the one that makes you happiest and most fulfilled, is the one that uses your favorite transferable skills in your favorite subjects, fields, or special knowledges, in a job that offers your preferred people-environments, preferred working conditions, with preferred salary or other rewards, working towards your preferred goals and values. You must do a self-inventory to identify these items.

I skipped the sections about finding a job (finding openings, creating a resume, interviewing, negotiating salary, etc.) because those areas aren't relevant to me right now.

Notes
It's a Whole New World for Job-Hunters
Seek work that allows you to use the skills you most love to use (passion plus competency).

Go after small companies with 25, 50, or 100 employees at most. These are best for the job-hunter or career-changer.

Self-Inventory, Part 2
Petal 1: Preferred Kinds of People to Work Beside or Serve
Define the people who will allow you to operate at your highest and most effective level. Define their age, problems, geography, etc. You can use adjectives (kind, patient) or types (Myers-Briggs type, Holland Code).

Create a list of kinds of people who have driven you nuts. Prioritize it. For each entry, write its opposite (or near-opposite) in a new list; those factors are what you seek.

Petal 2: Preferred Working Conditions
Describe physical surroundings. Create a list of distasteful working conditions. Prioritize it. For each entry, write its opposite (or near-opposite) in a new list; those factors are what you seek.

Petal 3: Favorite Transferable Skills
Discover favorite functional skills that can be transferred to any field of interest. They're things you have natural gifts for. They're not just what you can do, but what you love to do.

Sidney Fine's 3 kinds of skills
1. Functional (transferable) skills: what you can do and love to do with data, stats, people, things. Usually verbs.
2. Special knowledges: what you know and love to use. Usually nouns.
3. Self-management skills or traits: how you conduct yourself alone or with others. Usually adjectives or adverbs.

Transferable skills can be divided into 3 categories: skills with 1) info, data, 2) people, 3) things.

Don't confuse functional/transferable skills with traits, temperaments, or type. "Attention to detail," "dependable," "sympathetic," etc. are not transferable skills but self-management skills or traits, or styles with which you use skills.

7 stories to discover skills
To discover skills, write 7 stories about times you really enjoyed yourself with following parts:
1. Goal (what you wanted to accomplish.
2. Hurdle, obstacle, constraint (self-imposed or otherwise).
3. Description of what you did, step by step.
4. Description of outcome or result.
5. Measurable, quantifiable statement of outcome.

Analyze each story, identifying transferable skills from Parachute Skills Grid. Look for patterns (repeated use of skill) and priorities (which skills are most important to you). Prioritize to find top 10 favorite skills.

Identify self-management skills or traits. Myers-Briggs is a good way to tell. These skills tell how you deal with time and promptness, people and emotions, authority and being told what to do, supervision and being told how to work, impulse vs. self-discipline, initiative vs. response, crises and problems.

Keirsey Temperament Sorter is free test similar to Myers-Briggs.

Look at favorite transferable skills and see if you want to flesh them out with an object (data, info), people, or thing, plus a self-management skill, trait, or style (adverb or adjective).

Petal 4: Purpose or Sense of Mission
Choose one of 9 spheres of purpose. Write your statement of purpose or mission, or your philosophy of life why we're here, and why you're here. This should be no more than 2 pages, with 2-3 sentences about each element that is appropriate (e.g., behavior, beliefs, happiness, moral issues, purpose, spirituality, stewardship, Supreme Being, truth, values).

Petal 5: Favorite Knowledges, Interests, Subjects
10 shortcuts for identifying favorite knowledges, subjects, fields, interests
1. What are your favorite hobbies or fields?
2. What do you love to talk about?
3. What subjects do you love to read magazine articles about?
4. What subjects do you love to read newspaper articles about?
5. What sections in a bookstore attract you? What are the subjects?
6. What websites attract you? What are the subjects?
7. Which categories would you pick if you were on a game show? What educational shows do you watch?
8. In a catalog of courses, which subjects interest you?
9. If you could write a book, what would be the subject?
10. What tasks and subjects cause you to lose track of time?

Create a favorite subjects matrix
1. Subjects for which you have much enthusiasm and much expertise.
2. Subjects for which you have much enthusiasm but little expertise.
3. Subjects for which you have little enthusiasm but much expertise.
4. Subjects for which you have little enthusiasm and little expertise.

Take the top 4-5 favorites from Quadrant 1, and maybe 1 item from Quadrant 2, and put them in Petal 5.

Petal 6: Preferred Level of Responsibility and Salary
At what level would you like to work (CEO, head of team, alone, etc.)?

What rewards besides money do you want?

You Get to Choose Where You Work
All jobs can be described as working primarily with people, info/data, or things. Which is your primary preference? It's often your favorite skill that gives the clue. If not, look at all transferable skills and see which they're weighted towards.

Five Ways to Choose/Change Careers
Dewey Color System is indebted to Luscher Color Test.

University of Missouri Career Interests Game.

How to Start Your Own Business
Who precedes What. get a clear picture of who you are before deciding what you want to do. What you decide to do should flow from who you are.

Make a list of 5 things you're good at. Make a list of 5 things you love. Make a list of where lists overlap. Read last list and ask yourself, "Will anyone pay me to do these?"

People trust video most, audio next, photos next, text least.

Finding Your Mission in Life
Your mission is to exercise the talent that's your greatest gift, which you most delight to use, in the places or settings that God has caused to appeal to you the most, for the purposes that God most needs to have done in the world.

The problem is to find out which voice is the voice of God rather than that of society or the superego or self-interest. The kind of work God usually calls you to is the kind of work that a) you most need to do and b) the world most needs to have done. "The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet."

Updated for 2018, What Color is Your Parachute? is the ultimate job seekers handbook. Author Richard Bolles guide to finding the job you’re purposed for has provided excellent career advice for almost 50 years. Bolles breaks down the process of finding employment into two distinct paths. The first path is to search the already open job postings and conform to what you see available. The other path which Bolles focuses the major of the book on is a more concentrated effort of self-discovery and analyzation to find the work that fits your skills and passions. Bolles provides a series of self-discovery exercises which aim to reveal one’s strongest abilities and talents. Once discovering one’s passion, the job seeker can pursue the positions that would best utilize those skills whether there readily available or not. Originally written in 1970 What Color is Your Parachute? still provides relevant career advice when navigating the ever changing job market and is an essential resource to finding your career calling.

I finally, finally, finally finished this book. I almost gave it a 3 star rating, then went with 4 stars, but it is more 3.5 stars for me.
It does have some good resources for interview flow, and sources for getting your job hunt on the way. Also, some good suggestions for changing careers. But it also has some really in depth and lengthy exercises that I admit, I didn't do just yet. I just needed to finish the book at this point. The part that I have really used is the interview and resume sections. And like any self help book, you take it and pull out what works for you. There were quite a few things that I am just not going to do, at least not at this point in my job hunt. For someone else, it might work great. If you are looking for a quick get me a job, this isn't going to work for you. If you are really wanting to find your dream career, this book has some really good pointers, but it will take time. I think realistically, 3-6 months at a minimum. At the end though, you may find the exact job/career you want. Definitely check out the interview section though, if you want some good suggestions. Overall, some helpful tips and tools.

Awesomely helpful reference for anyone seeking a new job or a new career. This book helped me shift my perspective on seeking out a new position in a very positive way.