A valuable and inspiring book on how to learn about yourself, understand the professional ecosystem, and find your dream job. Bolles first wrote this book in 1975 and has updated it every year since, and it is the best-selling career guide book ever. The Self Inventory chapters were difficult but particularly profound and helped me understand better what I like, what I'm good at, and ultimately how to pursue accomplishing my mission in life. Truly a gem of a book, and one I will revisit every half decade to make sure I am still on track following my bliss. Highly recommended for those who are not in love with their jobs and for those just entering the job market.

I had imagined this would be a simple guide helping people to gain employment, little did I realise that this was all to the greater glory of God and would have nothing to do with parachutes.

"God loves a Trinity", the particularly irritating little kid who used to regularly beat me at chess when I was a student in Russia at least until he began to introduce himself to the delights of drinking beer which allowed me to even things out to draws used to like saying, and true to this philosophy Mr Bolles' book is also divided into three parts  but with less chess and you have to provide your own beer. Other beverages are available
Being no expert in the nature of God it strikes me that unemployment is a bit like the problem of evil in theology, and so dragging God into a book about job-searching is a bad idea, not so for our author and former episcopalian priest who seems to find the idea of self-service simply divine. And this is the key to the whole book, I was reminded of Dale Carnegie's how to win friends and influence people - in that both seem to be men who found a purpose, and a comfortable living, through their books which ostensibly are about helping other people to find a purpose and a comfortable living. As I was reading recently the only way to make yourself wealthy through self-help books is to write one. Having finished the book and in light of the importance for Bolles of finding out what God's purpose is for you the reader, it now is clear why he begins with a discussion of how great is wife is, a hospitable, coffee brewing, cake baking spouse. The good spouse is a sign of being at one with God's purpose, along with a sufficiently comfortable standard of living, therefore Bolles' exposition, in an inverse humility topos, of his great relationship with his wife is meant to reassure the reader that he is rewarded by God and therefore is more or less at one with God and therefore a reliable guide in assisting you to find God's purpose for you in life in exchange for the cover price of the book.

It is mildly curious then to observe that all Bolles examples about living in accordance with God's will have nothing to do with the difference between being in or out of work, but instead are all about how you conduct yourself while either in work or out of it.

Working now from the back towards the front of the book we come to the flower section in which you fill in the petals of a flower to show yourself flibbertigibiwasimaticallitcanhardlybebotheredtoexplainbecausereallyitisanoverlabouredexerciseabout values, if you've done Schein's Career Anchors, or some personality testing, or read a horoscope then you know the kind of thing involved. It does strike me that you'd generally try to work your values into a CV (or Resume), covering letter or job application, or maybe you don't.

What I liked about the first section was its helpful advice - job hunting is tiring and depressing so the job hunter needs to rest, if you are scared in an interview the interviewer probably is too, the low rates of success of most methods of searching for jobs, you put your CV out into the world to work for you and this creates the sense of an ideal CV - if only you could get the wording just right that the invitations to interview would never stop coming in - and depression as a consequence when they don't Bolles' solution to this is a targeted job search in which you focus in on specific employers and make personal contact with them to get interviews, Bolles admits this is a problem for the shy and suggests that they practice by talking about their hobbies with strangers. He makes a nice point of the essential unfairness or subjective nature of the exercise by talking about showing CVs of people who have got jobs to employers who take one look at them and declare that they would never hire this or that person  and so on. But this was coloured by Bolles' fixation about Schools, presumably in the US sense of institutions of tertiary education, not teaching all the things that he was laying out in his book. I felt here he could instead be grateful as this was allowing him an opportunity to earn a dollar, and that secondly that colleges of tertiary education have their own programmes to deliver, and the careers advice that Bolles was dispensing could be reliably transmitted in about a half dozen printed A4 handouts from a careers office - its not something that requires formal teaching or a place on the curriculum. His mileage does differ. However I couldn't shake the impression from the language and phrasing used in the examples of what to say in job interviews or thank you notes, that Bolles' mental model of a job-hunter was Cary Grant in an old Black and White film.

Looking over this I feel mildly excited, or perhaps that is an after-effect of the cough medicine I've been taking, here I've got another fine specimen of US thought post Second Great Awakening, typical concerns - rejection of the state, searching for God, confidence that a purposeful and purposive life will bring material reward. If I was the kind of person who kept dead fish up on the wall in glass cases it would deserve a place with them. Since I'm not, it's back in the loch for you Nessie!

Apparently it is not just me who notices that there is a lot of religion in the modern economy.

It works... Tried and tested.

It's a cliché, but I wish I'd read it five years ago!

As long-time readers of my blog may know, I started this web log of reviews partially to help me find work. I do not know how much it’s helped, but it’s certainly kept me busy! My current work assignment is probably ending at the end of October, so this is a good time to start working on my next job search.

And what better way to start that preparation than by reading a book? In this case, I have to hand the latest volume from Richard Bolles’ series of job hunting manuals, now in its fortieth year. It opens on two chapters on what’s new in the job search environment, with the still sluggish economy and the ever-increasing importance of the internet. You may want to fix your Google search results even before writing your physical resume!

This is followed by a chapter on what remains the same about trying to find open positions. One of the biggest takeaways here is that most job seekers want to use the methods that require the least time spent–it’s exhausting looking for work! But most employers want to use the hiring methods that reduce their risk of wasting money on a bad choice, which tend to cost the job seeker the maximum investment of time and effort. (Especially if you are terrible at making new friends and connections.)

There are chapters on interviewing and salary negotiation (first person to name a specific figure “loses.” This is followed by a chapter on things to try when nothing else has worked. Which brings us to the heart of Mr. Bolles’ job hunting advice. By carefully examining who you are and what you really want to do, you can narrow down your search to jobs that are best fitted for you, and thus you are likelier to be hired for. He’s got some very specific methods for the reader to try. This technique, I am told, is quite successful and one of the reasons this book has stayed in print so long.

And if you can’t find anyone hiring in the exciting new job field you’ve decided to try, there’s a chapter on starting your own business.

Then come the “Blue Pages”, the appendixes. The first is on finding your “mission” in life, written from a Christian perspective (after all, Mr. Bolles was an Episcopalian priest for fifty years.) Those who find God-talk distressing may want to skip this chapter.

This is followed by an essay on ways to deal with the negative emotions and feelings often caused by unemployment. There’s a bit of religion in here, too, but it’s easily skipped over if you prefer, and much helpful secular advice.

The next two appendixes go together, an essay on career coaches, and a listing of some of them around the world. Mr. Bolles is firm in pointing out that being listed here is not an endorsement, merely a notice that these coaches have put themselves forward to be noticed. If you’re going overseas, you might also want to look at the appendix of foreign editions specific to various countries.

There’s some material from and about the author, and a form to send in if you have any suggestions for the 2017 edition. We finish with an index, and listing of related books by Mr. Bolles if this wasn’t enough for you.

It’s an attractively designed book, with a decent number of illustrations (I especially like the cartoon of the fellow who has no parachute of any color.) The writing is clear and comprehensible, obviously polished over the many editions of the book.

It’s worth noting that many job hunting programs have taken cues from this series, so if you’ve been looking for work for a while, much of this will sound very familiar. And some people may find the tone a little too much on the positive side for comfort. There are very few examples of long-term failure in here!

Highly recommended to people looking for work, people who want a career change, people who suspect they may be looking for work soon, and college students about to enter the adult job market. (There’s a separate book aimed at teenagers.)

Disclaimer: I received this book from Blogging for Books in the expectation that I would read it and write a review. No other compensation was involved.

I bought this book right after graduating from college. I started it in 2018 and soon after got a job. After getting the job I put it down for a long time. I found it again while organizing my bookcase and decided to finish it, even though I love my current job.

3.5 stars, truly.
So, I'm jobless at the moment and this book has had rave reviews in all its incarnations for many, many years as an invaluable resource for "job-hunters and career-changers." I certainly can't argue with that. I thought the most useful thing about it was Bolles's repeated insights into the minds of employers. He makes a point of helping the reader understand that they're not the only one facing risks and fears in a new position; employers also have myriad concerns about hiring new employees. This seems obvious to me but it's easy to overlook when you're being interviewed. Bolles points out many fallacies and disconnects between how we think we should hunt for jobs and how employers prefer to acquire new employees. He also offers a lot of good ideas about networking and pre-interviewing. His prescription for finding a dream-job definitely requires a lot of work, but he has a ton of great advice and encourages positivity. There are also a number of exercises devoted to figuring out just what that dream-job might be, through inventories of skills, traits, preferred locations and environments, intriguing fields, and the like.
The only thing I did not particularly care for was the religious subtext throughout the book. The last full chapter is even devoted entirely to faith-based dream-job-hunting, and I must admit that I did not actually read that chapter, entitled "How to Find Your Mission in Life," subtitled "God and One's Vocation." It only took a moment to scan the pages and notice all the capitalized words (creator, mission, kingdom, calling, him, etc.) before I knew that chapter would not be for me. While I was able to shrug off all the god talk through the rest of the text, I know how to quit while I'm ahead! Still, I was disappointed that a book subtitled "A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters and Career-Changers" would have an entire chapter, its ultimate chapter no less, devoted to a purely illogical (and in my view utterly impractical) method of determining a career path.
This one faux pas, however, was not enough to shake the overall value of Bolles's advice and experience through the rest of the book. He has some great ideas, tips and reminders and provides lots of useful resources for anyone interested in pursuing a new job or a different line of work.
Reviewed 01/03/2009

I read the 2017 version but can't find it in GR. I think the book may be more useful for people who have been out of the job market for a long time, or are really lost on what career they want. Some of the issues covered are overly US centric.

This book changed my life many years ago when I was seeking my path in life. I read it, thought about my purpose and my wishes for what my future might bring - and what I wanted from life. I was 24 and had recently graduated from college. And I did figure it out and had a wonderful & rewarding career. It did make all the difference for me!

Flower exercise is great. The rest of it seems ok. Also, like most job search books, it seems to anticipate a default male reader.

Hokey but helpful

Going into this book, I was skeptical that I would find anything of value in it. I mean, come on, what's there to know about the job-hunting process that I don't already know? Well, as it turns out, there's so much!

This is not a fast read. It's not like your other, more popular self-help books; it's a workbook. If you decide to read it, make sure you keep a pen and paper with you, and preferably read it in an eBook format.

There are many helpful resources in this book that will assist you in your job-hunting journey. Also, numerous exercises will help you figure out more about yourself and who you can be professionally.

I highly recommend it!