I have read multiple editions of "What Color Is Your Parachute?" now, including this one. For the general job seeker, the book offers loads of practical advice and ways to approach the job hunt. The book provides exercises to help the reader understand the way employers think about hiring and find candidates. I have to say that once one graduates from the more general process and advice given, the books fails to provide enough detail to be helpful in one's particular field. In finance, for example, specific measures should be taken when sending emails, connecting on LinkedIn, and writing a resume. This book is not going to be helpful with those areas. It is also not going to be sufficient in addressing specific ways to push people out of their comfort zones. This book provides a good starting point but should not be viewed as the ultimate authority of finding a job in a particular field.

A classic and useful tool for figuring yourself out - skills, jobs and everything you need to know. This is great book that should be shared and read.

ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Sadly I didn't find What Color Is Your Parachute? 2021 to be that useful for myself.

This updated version was great. This is a book that will make you think. It's a lot of work, but isn't it worth it if someone is unhappy with their career? A classic has been given new life.

This book was recommended to me over 15 years ago when I was job hunting. I didn’t look into it at them time, but when it was up on NetGalley some months ago, I requested it to see what it was about. I’m glad I did not read it when it was first recommended to me.

The first part - about job hunting - quite frankly depressed me. I certainly did not need a negative motivator at that time. The second part - about getting to know you, the people you like to work with and the skills you have - wouldn’t have been of much use to me either. I had very little job experience. I didn’t know yet I prefer to work with competent, open-minded people. I also didn’t know yet there are a lot of incompetent people that really hate for their incompetence to be challenged in the workforce.

On the other hand, when I was job hunting last year, I applied some of these ‘what can I do?’ and ‘what do I want?’ questions in my search. But that came more from the conventional wisdom: “If you keep doing what you always do, you will get the result you always did.” I wanted a different result.

That is perhaps also what irked me about pedal four “Favourite Subjects, Knowledges, Fields and Interests”. After working out all your subjects you group them into bins along the axes of Expertise and Enthusiasm and you copy the top four or five in bin #1 (high expertise + high enthusiasm) onto pedal four <em>”and maybe, just maybe, one item from bin #2”</em>. But if you want to change careers, you’re probably very enthusiastic about something you don’t have a lof of expertise in yet - at least I was. You’re not going to get a lot of expertise if you are going to abandon this subject in favour of subjects you have more expertise in but less enthusiasm for (but still more than average enthusiasm otherwise they would not have ended up in bin #1).

Pedal five “Salary” I found disappointing. It’s about determining your minimum salary based on your current spending. It does not go into determining a realistic salary range based on the skills and expertise. Any employer should pay you based on what you bring into the job (skill and expertise). The bare minimum (salary based on spending) should only be used as a reflection tool: can I actually afford this job?

Chapter 10 goes into researching salaries, but it really should be in your flower. The flower is what is supposed to keep you motivated during your jobhunt and it’s kind of disheartening to look at a salary that ranges from minimum living wage to this sounded kind of nice.

The third part - what to do to land the job you want to do - was all right, until it got to the section about job interview questions. <em>”the most important question they are likely to ask you is ‘Tell me about yourself’ (…) With this question they are giving you a kind of test. They want to see how you respond to an open-ended, unstructured situation”</em>
No, they are not. It’s a lazy question asked by employers who have no idea what they want or how they’re going to compare the different candidates they have. “Tell me about yourself” is perhaps a great opportunity for self-promotion for job candidates, for employers it means they are going to end up with the best person to make conversation with at the coffee-machine. That’s not necessarily the best person for the job, but then, conversations at the coffee-machine are important too, right?

(Same goes for the “Where do you see yourself in five years?” question. Anyone that’s paid attention in the past year knows that’s an impossible question to answer.)

I skipped the orange pages.

The best tip I read in the book is <em>”plan to keep track of your accomplishments at this new job - jotting them down in your own private log.”</em> Simple truth is: other people don’t always see how great you are; you may have to remind them. (And if they ever start taking you for granted, you have a good list of things you can tell new prospective employers about.)

As said, I’m glad I didn’t read this book over fifteen years ago. And as such, I don’t recommend it to people fresh out of college. Introspection is great, but only useful if you have something to introspect about. I would recommend this book to people in their 40’s and 50’s stuck in a rut (workwise or other).

An aptly updated version of this book which has been used by job seekers for so many years now.

This was on everyone's shelf when I graduated from school and despite the amount of information available now on the internet, it is still a very useful reference book and makes a nice present for new graduates.

I thought this book would be helpful for my kids who are entering the workplace and trying to find their paths. First of all, the kindle version is very hard to read as the charts and things are all broken up and there's a lot of visual things like a flower where you fill in the petals. Secondly, I really wanted more useful tools like how to find a living wage when employers are all paying very little and giving everybody part time so they don't have to give benefits. I also felt that there was too much religion and personal philosophy stuff instead of just getting to the tools and helpful advice. In the end it was far too long, rambling and unhelpful for me to get copies for my kids.

Really enjoy the updated version of this book which helps it stay relevant in today’s fast paced world. It strikes a good balance between maintaining what Richard has in this classic along with new tips for today’s job search. Definitely a classic and something I will continue to recommend to family/friends.

What Color Is Your Parachute? 2021 is an amazing resource for readers seeking a career change, people entering the work force, people struggling to find employment and so many others. I cannot say enough about what a creative resource this novel is. There are so many helpful tips on where to look for employment, what you might enjoy and be good at, what websites are helpful, what employers are looking for, how to improve and /or write your resume and so many other topics. What color is your parachute? Read this book to find out! It is a must read! I would like to thank the author, Speed Press, and netgalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I thought this book was brilliant, I read a copy a very long time ago and I like the way we have moved forward with it. It now includes lot of social media stuff and more computerised, which it wasn’t many years ago.
A very useful book for the bookcase.

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

WHAT COLOR IS YOUR PARACHUTE 2021 by Richard N. Bolles and Katharine Brooks is "fully revised and expanded for 2021," the fiftieth anniversary edition (we reviewed earlier versions in 2015 and 2018). Subtitled "Your Guide to a Lifetime of Meaningful Work and Career Success," this text explains that the process begins with you – not with the job market. Here, too, the authors point out the value of building confidence, taking actions, setting goals, and getting help when needed (a significant skill our students need to practice more often). In addition, Bolles and Brooks provide a self-inventory (Flower Exercise) and offer tips on creating resumes (transforming skills to action verbs) and conversing at job interviews. A valuable resource for any age, WHAT COLOR IS YOUR PARACHUTE 2021 may be of particular interest to the many students who are contemplating a gap year after high school.

I first connected with What Color Is Your Parachute when it was recommended to me by a college advisor almost 20 years ago. While the premise and content have stayed consistent, this 50th-anniversary edition has been updated to include timely and relevant guidance as we head into 2021.

What has made What Color is Your Parachute the best-selling job-hunting book in the world, is also what makes it unique. This book offers an incredible and accessible look at helping job seekers first understand themselves and the power that gives you when picking and/or changing your unique career path. I love that he values not just surviving in your career but thriving and this comes from better knowing who YOU are, not only as a job applicant but also as an individual.

This timeless advice helps you not only understand yourself better but also highlights what you have to offer to the world. In addition to practical and research-based advice, there are also many actionable steps in this book. The timeless flower exercise guides you through a thorough self-inventory. Each of these seven "petals" ultimately deciphers seven ways of describing yourself in relation to the workforce. What makes this book so powerful is that Bolles helps his readers better themselves and what their passions are versus just looking at their skills.

In addition to his tried and true methods and exercises, "this manual has been fully revised for 2021 by Vanderbilt University Career Center Director Katharine Brooks, EdD, with modern advice on the job hunt strategies that are working today (during the Covid era), such as building an online resume, making the most of social media tools to network effectively, interviewing virtually with confidence, and negotiating the best salary possible."

What Color Is Your Parachute was first released in 1970 and it is amazing to see the things that have stayed consistent and what has changed with the times. Whether you are going into the New Year looking to change things up in your career or just trying to better understand yourself as a professional, this book has something for everyone.

Thank you to Random House Publishing for the gifted copy in exchange for my honest review. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own. You can read this and other book reviews at genthebookworm.com

I read the 1st edition of this book over 20 years ago, and wow things have changed. And although I'm not looking for a new job, I was interested to see how the book has grown and changed. I am now tasked with interviewing and hiring, so it's enlightening to see from all perspectives. The book is very detailed in so many ways. It even offers motivation for postive thinking during your job search. It's a scary time for many job markets, but can also be a time for exhilarating change in how we use our skills and creativity. It's time to think outside the box, because the job market no longer fits in a box many have created for so long. This book offers an entire resevoir of knowledge in ways to discover yourself and offer your best to a potential employee. Definitely a tool I will have for any new job search, but also helped me be aware of what job searchers are facing.

When I chose this book to read, I went off the title and did not read the description. However, this book was not what I expected from the description. It took a while for me to understand how the title related to career advice. Overall, this a good read for someone who is struggling in their career or job search. It gives you some helpful tips on how to find you next career.

Thanks to Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed Press and NetGalley for a copy to honestly review.