Does anything really have to be new to make this a great book? No, it’s still the classic go-to book for job hunters. Written by Richard N. Bolles, for several decades, it has been the first/best/most comprehensive source of information and inspiration for the unemployed. Most people would admit to have a copy of it in their collection, but too few turn to it when it’s needed.
I’m going to make a few observations about this newest edition in the next postings. If you have a question or comment about the 2010 edition, be sure to add a comment now so I can address your point during the month of November.
Today’s observation jumps out from the cover: this book is called the “Hard Times” edition. And Bolles jumps right in. Chapters 1 and 2 are specifically related to tough times. If you are discouraged because of the barrage of bad news that is served up daily in the newspapers, online, and over the airwaves, this section is for you. Yes, unemployment figures are high (and some say will go higher). Yes, it will take you longer to get a new job. Yes, there is increased competition out there for you.
Heard enough? Time for a dash of Bollesian logic. He takes you through the process of working through the numbers in a way that just might make you smile. He quite possibly proves that it’s not hopeless, that there is a place for you, that you have done it before, that you will become gainfully employed once again.
Probably the most startling thing to me that he doesn’t back down from his long-held belief that one should begin one’s job search with an identification of one’s passion, something he calls one’s mission in life.
In tough times, it is so easy to forget that mission stuff, to just go for the nearest attainable job. Whereas Bolles agrees that for now, you may well have to take that stop-gap job, he never suggests for a minute that you let go of what you are meant to do on this earth. You just may have to get there via smaller steps.
Interested? Stay tuned for a few more thoughts on Parachute 2010. Meanwhile, get yourself a copy!
