Since the so-called recession of 2008, things have changed. What used to work in job hunting doesn't work anymore. The length of the average job hunt has increased, the length of time the average job lasts has decreased, the way jobs are done is changing, and not surprising that job hunting has move more and more online.

The contents of this book include:

* It's a whole new world for job-hunters
* Google is your new résumé
* There are over ten million vacancies each month
* Sixteen tips about interviewing for a job
* The six secrets of salary negotiations
* What do to do when your job hunt just isn't working
* Self-inventory, part 1
* Self-inventory, part 2
* You get to choose where you work
* How do deal with any handicaps you have
* The five ways to choose/change careers
* How to start your own business

In the appendices:

* Finding your mission in life
* A guide to dealing with your feelings while out of work
* A guide to choosing a career coach or counselor
* Sampler list of coaches

This book is a handy reference if you are out of work, trying to find a new career, trying to figure out what you want to do next, thinking about starting your own business and more. There is lot of advice, procedures, quizzes, and websites to guide you.

One thing I found odd was the appendix about finding your mission and the heavy emphasis on God and religion. The author is a Christian and that's fine but I didn't think expressing his religious beliefs was appropriate so I skipped this chapter.

http://www.teenaintoronto.com/2016/08...

* I actually read the 2017 edition, which Goodreads doesn't have listed for some reason.

This book was extremely helpful in helping me determine where I was going wrong in my job search. If you want clear advice on how to interview, how to find out information about a position or company, how to negotiate a salary, this is the book for you. I especially liked it because as a socialist I am often so caught up in all the things I hate about jobs these days that it keeps me from being able to really focus. Bolles is all about everyone finding their unique purpose in life, too - he's not suggesting that anyone just get a job to make slave wages until they die.
Not only does he give clear advice for the job search process, he also devotes much of this book to really breaking down who you are as a person - what are your interests? Who do you like to work with? - and this was refreshing because these are important questions that everyone should ask themselves, regardless of whether they are hunting for a job or not, and they are important in figuring out our missions in life and doing something good for the world.
He gets a little religious in the appendix while talking about mission in life, which may bother some people, but he does a great job of explaining why he has this perspective and I think it would have been dishonest if he had not written what he truly believes.
If you are confused about your mission in life or you are hunting for a job, I recommend this book 100%. Hopefully it leads to a change for me, down the road!

This is actually a very helpful tool for thinking about your talents and your passions. If you put the work in to complete the exercises (couple of hours for sure) you will be pleased with the outcome. You likely won't be able to go out and negotiate your dream job at your dream company as he claims but you will gain valuable insight into yourself.

I read the 1991 version of this text and as a 22 year old female university student it was absolutely irrelevant to my life because I read an outdated version and going into education the job tips likely won't apply to me, however if I was a middle aged man in a white collar job in the 90/s this would have been EXTREMELY helpful!

What Used To Work, Doesn’t Work Anymore

Do you really need to get the latest edition of PARACHUTE?

No, it is not necessary to get the very latest version. Of course, if you are buying PARACHUTE for the very first time, get the latest one; however, if you already have a recent edition, I think that’s good enough. For slightly older editions, the main annoyance will just be some links that are outdated, or some references that are wrong.

WHAT COLOR IS YOUR PARACHUTE 2018 is jam-packed with tons of good career advice. In fact, it’s SO LARGE, that one is easily overwhelmed. Fortunately, the editors provide lots of “Bullet Point” lists that make reading easier. If you just concentrate on the sections that are relevant to you, it’s not such a formidable read. You can likely skip many sections that aren’t relevant to your own career.

I would recommend looking through the Table of Contents and picking areas or lists in which you feel you need help. Perhaps start with the preliminary, “A Two-Minute Crash Course on How Much Has Changed in the World of Work.” This is quick reading, and provides a good overview of the job search process. Being prepared and informed is just as important as being the best qualified: “In today’s world, he or she who gets hired is not necessarily the one who can do that job best; but, the one who knows the most about how to get hired.”

One of my favorite lists is near the end: “The Ten Greatest Mistakes Made In Job-Interviews.” This list is wryly subtitled, “Whereby Your Chances of Finding a Job Are Greatly Decreased.” Here are some of my favorite mistakes: #3, “Doing no homework on an organization before going there.” Or #8, “Failing to give examples of the skills you claim you have.”

The author explains the different perspective of job-seeker versus job-filler: “Many if not most employers hunt for job-hunters in the exact opposite way from how most job-hunters hunt for them.”

His point is that the HR department wants to ELIMINATE candidates. Naturally, you do NOT want to be eliminated: “You want the job-market to be a hiring game. But the employer regards it as an elimination game— until the very last phase.”

PARACHUTE is an uplifting, encouraging book written by a master in the field. We can always do something to advance our cause: “No matter how overwhelmed you may feel, no matter how much you may feel you’re at the mercy of huge forces that are beyond your control, some part of it is within your control: maybe 2%, 5%, who knows? There is always something you can work on…”

WHAT COLOR IS YOUR PARACHUTE 2018 is right at the top in career resources. For me personally, it is THE #1 career resource. The author writes well, and is ever-encouraging. If you are serious about your job hunt, get the book, and review the relevant sections. I have used this book in my own career hunt.

Finally, the sad news: The editors, in an afterword, note that the author, Richard Bolles, “passed away earlier this year at age ninety after a lifetime of service to job-hunters across the world.”

I had the chance to correspond with the author not so long ago, but regret that I never met him in person. By all accounts, Richard Bolles was a kind, decent man, who genuinely wanted to help people in their careers. In my last email, he asked me to pray for him, which of course, I did. I feel like I lost a friend.

Advance Review Copy courtesy of Ten Speed Press.

If you are looking for a book which tries to teach you what you already know, this book is good for you. Other than a few useful websites and tips on finding jobs/your skills, this book was a waste of my time. At the end, the author surprises you by revealing his strong Christian faith; I just don't understand why on earth you would include a huge faith section on a job hunting book. He could have talked about faith in general. Well, this is my personal opinion, but I didn't like this book at all.

This wasn't one I read cover-to-cover, however I did get through most of it. Bolles relates some good information on interviewing and the job market, yet the real selling point of the book is the 'flower exercise' Bolles designed as a method of helping readers figure out what kind of career they want to pursue, based on their experiences and personal interests.

I didn't discover anything revelatory about myself or my passions/interests in completing said exercise, however it was somewhat helpful in that it reiterated things I knew, or was curious about, or perhaps didn't like. A good first resource, then, yet if you really want to figure these things out for yourself you're just going to have to get out there, as they say.

Two things of note:

First, and this will seem trivial to most, but Bolles' borderline-obsessive use of commas drove me crazy. I know this book is about careers and self-discovery, not writing, but my goodness. Bring it down a notch, guy.

Second, there's a bit in the appendices of this edition that gets overtly religious, and I'll be quick to point out there's nothing inherently wrong with that. However I certainly wasn't expecting a career-oriented self-help book to start espousing full-blown Christianity, and I personally found it to be a turnoff. Others will no doubt feel differently.

So there you have it. The 2015 edition of What Color is Your Parachute? is a good starting point for those looking for general career direction, or figuring out where their interests lie.

An excellent and very important book for all to read, helps you to consider what job is right for you but also your mission in life. I can’t give i 5 stars cause I don’t have a new job (yet). Make sure you work through every section, it’s a great help

It is not a readthrough book. It is more of a manual. I love the first half of the book where it’s all about self evaluation and determining your own goals and understanding and better mapping out your own skills and knowledge is. The next piece is all about job hunting. And the final piece is after you find a job in the interview process the resume process and so forth. I think any job hunter should have a book like this. Especially one who is just entering the job market either for the first time or starting a very new career or has not been in the job market for a very long time and re-entering. A lot of what is dead may feel like common sense but the way it is organized gives a very clear picture of the job market, of what employers are looking for, and what you should be thinking about in terms of looking for the ideal job.

Recommended by a friend and former colleague, I picked this one up to try to best figure out next career steps. This book quickly piqued my interest but making arguments against all the typical things job hunters do, I think the reverse psychology aspect of that completely reeled me in.

This isn't just a book, it's a resource and more of a guide. The exercises that Bolles walks the reader through take time and energy, but I think they are worthwhile and added significant value to consider what traits and transferable skills you possess and more importantly-- which are most enjoyable. I found myself quickly and easily recommending this handback out to friends and family. I think most of us still don't know what we want to be when we grow up and sometimes all it takes is some inward thinking and a small nudge to reconsider.

Valuable information about the process of finding a career. I really liked the emphasis on determining your own strengths and desires as a starting point.

This book has been immensly popular for a long time. Its popularity is not due to the the author's writing style. For something that has gone through so many revisions, one might expect a polished, well-written tome. This is not the case. The book is written like a very lengthy ad; full of hyperbole, simplistic statements, and grammer that may be acceptable in the world of advertisng, but not that of non-fiction prose.
It's hard to see why this book is so popular. Perhaps unemployment lowers people's self-esteem so badly that they feel they *deserve* to have their intelligence insulted.