Tuesday, August 30, 2016

A Timeless Classic for Jobseekers

What Color Is Your Parachute? 2017 – A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters and Career Changers – Richard N. Bolles (Ten Speed Press)
There are a handful of authors/books that become the epitome of timelessness and influence. For self-improvement and interpersonal skills, there is Dale Carnegie’s, How to Win Friends and Influence People. For growing your business/developing your team, Jim Collins offered up Good To Great. For personal development, Stephen Covey’s, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. All hold a special place for ability to impact the reader if they choose to implement the skills and insights these books have to offer.

When it comes to jobs search and career development, one book stands head and shoulders above the rest, and has for more than four decades. That book is What Color Is Your Parachute? 2017 – A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters and Career Changers, by career guru, Richard N. Bolles. A Harvard trained physicist, Bolles has made it an annual right of passage to update and expand this handy guide to include the latest in job search trends and techniques, alongside tried and true skills for selecting or changing a career path, interviewing and salary negotiation.



Bolles brings a dynamic level of passion to the advice he offers to both seasoned job searchers and to those who are just setting sail on their career path. Bolles doesn’t shy away from offering up his advice on choosing to start your own business; which is clearly a very real career path for many folks.

Linkedin? Yep Bolles is on it and offers up suggestions on how to best utilize the business networking site to your advantage in a job search. If you find yourself on the beach, as my colleagues dubbed back during my days in radio, Bolles offers up some useful advice for your mental health during the job search. No pop psychologist, is this chapter Bolles serves of practical advice, based on time and experience.

What Color Is Your Parachute? Is one of those timeless guideposts that can offer up useful advice for those in the work force at any stage of their career. It stands up to the test of time due in large part to the driving force behind it all.



No comments: