What Color Is Your Parachute?

Punti chiave

• Start the job hunt with a clear picture of yourself, not with a job board
• Your transferable skills show up in stories of things you enjoyed doing well
• Most jobs are filled through people, so talk to humans before sending resumes
• Research the work and the organisation through short conversations with insiders
• An interview is a two-way conversation, and salary comes up only after they want you

All'interno di questo bit

1. Two ways to hunt for a job

   Richard Bolles first wrote this book in 1970 and updated it almost every year for the rest of his life. Its staying power comes from one simple contrast.

2. The flower exercise

   The heart of the book is a self-inventory Bolles draws as a flower with seven petals. Each petal answers one question about you: the kinds of people you work best with, the physical setting you prefer, the values or purpose you want your work to serve, the fields of knowledge you enjoy, your favourite transferable skills, the working conditions that suit you, and the level of pay and responsibility you need.

3. Skills hide inside your stories

   Most people underrate themselves because they think of skills as job titles or certificates. Bolles separates three kinds.

4. Jobs are filled through people

   Bolles points out that employers hire in roughly the reverse order that job seekers search. Seekers start with advertisements and agencies.

5. Interviews that work both ways

   Before any formal interview, Bolles recommends informational interviews: short conversations with people who already do the work, asking how they got there and what a typical week involves. You learn the field, test your assumptions, and build the contacts that lead to real openings.

6. Put it to work

   This week, write three short stories about times you did something well and enjoyed it, then underline every skill verb you find. Start a rough version of the flower with the two petals you are most sure about, such as the people you like working with and the setting you prefer.