WHAT COLOR IS YOUR PARACHUTE?

Book Review #2 What Color is Your Parachute? A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters and Career-Changers 2012 40th Anniversary Edition by Richard N. Bolles Amber M. Freeland University of North Texas September 30, 2012

Amber M. Freeland

WHAT COLOR IS YOUR PARACHUTE?

Abstract What Color is Your Parachute? by Richard N. Bolles is the best selling job-hunting book in the world. It is revised and updated annually and has sold more than 10 million copies. Now in its 40th anniversary edition, the book has undergone a major overhaul. The theme of the 2012 edition is more about career transition with a focus on identifying your best transferable skills and finding your passion in the midst of a struggling economy. Previous editions focused primarily on the WHAT, WHERE, and HOW: WHAT are your favorite transferrable skills; WHERE would you like to use those skills; HOW do you find the job. The book is divided into six major categories delving into attitudes, job-finding and job-creating techniques, selfinventory, teaching job-hunting survival skills and the pink pages a section of appendices dealing with the emotional challenges of unemployment depression and career coaching.

Amber M. Freeland

WHAT COLOR IS YOUR PARACHUTE?

What Color is Your Parachute? A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters and Career-Changers Your position has been eliminated. These are the words that no one wants to hear at work. During the Great Recession, millions of people across the country heard these words and I was one of them. I thought that downsizing was a trend reserved for the corporate world and I felt safe in my position as an educator. But when the housing market collapsed in 2008, I found out firsthand how susceptible public education can be to a failing economy. I was fired not once, but twice in two years as school districts slashed budgets and cut staff. In 2007, I attended the Frisco ISD job fair where several hundred people fluttered from table to table in the gymnasium casually searching for greener pastures. But in 2009, more than 8,000 local educators lined up around the Dr. Pepper Stars Center at 6:00 a.m. for the same job fair, hoping for a chance at a position within the rapidly expanding district. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, that was the year that the national unemployment rate jumped from 5.6 percent to 9.4 percent, which explains why I couldnt get a face-to-face interview with any school principal. After being relegated to substitute teaching, I began to seriously rethink my career options. How much did they pay you to let go of your dreams? This question was posed by George Clooneys character Ryan Bingham in the 2009 Oscar-nominated movie Up in the Air. In it, Clooney plays a travelling consultant whose job is firing people. In a scene with actor J.K. Simmons, he asks this question to a man who is losing his job but is formally trained in French culinary arts. This is a wakeup call, he says. That is exactly how I began to see my own
Amber M. Freeland

WHAT COLOR IS YOUR PARACHUTE?

unemployment. For only $36,000 per year, I gave up on my dream of working in PR to become a teacher and now I have the chance to chase after my dream. One of the most important lessons that Bolles stresses in the beginning is that there are 18 different techniques to finding a job most people use only one or two. I was pleased with myself to discover that in my two years of unemployment I had used seven of these: taking a self-inventory, searching the Internet, networking, sending resumes, volunteering, working for myself and retraining (Bolles, 2012, p.8). At its heart, Parachute is much more than just a job-seeking guide; it is a guide to finding personal fulfillment and happiness. The book takes you on a journey of recovery from your job situation, then on a journey of self discovery, followed by market research to find your best fit in today's industry, thence to job campaign action planning and plan execution (Beasley, 2011). From there, the book gets more specific. Bolles devotes a tremendous amount of time explaining the ins and outs of each online job search site like Monster.com and Career Builder. In Chapter 6 Resumes, he details how to increase your online presence and network via LinkedIn, Twitter, blogging, videos, etc. LinkedIn, he explains, is the first place an employer will go trolling to search for passive job seekers those quality candidates who may not be looking for a job yet but have the skills that a headhunter or recruiter is looking for (2012, p.75). In the same chapter, Bolles brings up an interesting issue on p.87 with resumes I hadnt previously considered. While resumes make a job-seeker feel like they are really out there in the market, they can also create depression when you dont find a job. Because a resume is so personal, it is easy to take the rejection personally and even give up the job hunt. One suggested

Amber M. Freeland

WHAT COLOR IS YOUR PARACHUTE?

solution is to just send a cover letter. Another suggestion is to create a portfolio, preferably an online one. I understand these feelings all too well. Last year, I was frustrated with my job search so I gave up. Then I asked a few professionals to take a look at my resume and give me their honest feedback. Based on that information, I overhauled my resume and redrafted it in a new, more visually appealing format. The response to my new resume was highly encouraging and I have since resumed my job search. Even though todays job market relies heavily on the Internet, Bolles is just as quick to point out the pitfalls and dangers of living in a social media world. From dealing with identify theft to job scams, he thoroughly explains how to protect yourself and your image online. Filled with charts, lists, graphs and links to every website mentioned, this book is the definitive guide to navigating the waters of unemployment. More than that though, this is a guide to reinventing yourself and following your dreams.

Amber M. Freeland

WHAT COLOR IS YOUR PARACHUTE?

References (APA Style) Beasley, S. E. (2011). What Color is Your Parachute?. Career Planning & Adult Development Journal, 27(3), 62-64. Bolles, R. (2012). What Color is Your Parachute?. (40th Ed.). New York: Ten Speed Press. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Economic News Release: Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary. (2012, September 12). Retrieved from http://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.nr0.htm Friedman, S. (2010). Aiming Beyond the Box: Bringing out Economists Transferable Skills. Business Economics, 45(2), 135. doi:10.1057/be.2010.6 Grigoryev, Y. (2012, August 20). Book review: "What Color is Your Parachute?" by Richard Nelson Bolles. Retrieved from http://bitesizebio.com/articles/book-review-what-color-isyour-parachute-2012-a-practical-manual-for-job-hunters-and-career-changers-by-richardnelson-bolles/ Humphrey, J., & Stroud, J. (2012). Friday Traffic Report. Retrieved from http://www.fridaytrafficreport.com/list-of-29-free-video-sharing-sites/ Lee, S. A. (2007). Dick Bolles on Knowing Yourself, Creating Careers, and the Staying Power of Parachute. Journal Of Financial Planning, 20(6), 20-23. Reitman, J. (Director). (2009). Up in the Air. [Web Video]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkX-TPaodoM

Amber M. Freeland