What Color Is Your Parachute? by Richard N. Bolles: What It Teaches, Who It’s For, Who Should Skip It
3 min read
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Updated yearly since 1970, the job-hunting manual that insists you figure out who you are before you look at listings.
What the book argues
Bolles argues that the traditional job hunt, send résumés and wait, has a dismal success rate, and that the best approach starts with self-inventory: your skills, interests, values and preferred environment, summarized in the flower exercise. Then you target organizations, talk to people and interview as an equal.
Three ideas you can use this week
- Complete the flower exercise before you apply anywhere.
- Networking through informational conversations beats job boards.
- Interviews are two-way; you are also evaluating them.
Who it is for
Job seekers and career changers who want a thorough, proven process.
How to turn it into a routine
Write down your ten favorite transferable skills with a story that proves each.
Who should skip it
Long, a little earnest, and the religious appendix is not for everyone.
Verdict
Still the standard. Use the current edition and actually do the flower.
Click hereto see it→Click to see What Color Is Your Parachute?
If you liked the sound of this
Linchpin by Seth Godin
Are you indispensable? The case for doing emotional labor and art at work instead of following the manual.
StrengthsFinder 2.0 by Tom Rath
Stop fixing weaknesses and find out what you are naturally good at. The assessment is the point; the book is the manual.
Tools that put the book to work
Reading is the easy part. Three simple tools that turn the idea into a daily routine:
Portable Power Bank
A dead phone is a missed call, a missed map, a missed opportunity. Carry power.
Standing Desk Converter
Deep work for hours without your body paying for it.
Tech Organizer Pouch
Every cable, charger and adapter in one pouch. The meeting does not wait for a dead laptop.
Links are affiliate links; the price to you is identical. Nothing here is medical, financial or professional advice. Filed under Career & Purpose.
More picks, with pictures
Three tools and three books that fit the same goal. Each has its own full review here, including who should skip it.
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Images are our own review cards, not product photos.
Launch list
Be there on day one.
One email when the book opens on Kickstarter. Nothing else. Already reading the book? Your Cheat Sheet is at wisdomdeck.com/free.
Coming soon on 
The book itself — 40 laws in ten parts, 320 pages, each ending with The Work — is funded first on Kickstarter.
