New
The First 90 Days, Updated and Expanded: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels
Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels
Pages
322
Published
2019
What Color Is Your Parachute? 2020
The Classic Job-Hunter's and Career-Changer's Guide, Updated for 2020
Find work that fits who you are by combining proven self-assessment tools with a modern job-search strategy.
What Color Is Your Parachute? has guided job seekers and career changers for decades, and the 2020 edition brings Richard N. Bolles's practical framework into the present. Whether you are entering the workforce, stuck in the wrong role, or ready for a full pivot, the book walks you through identifying your strongest skills, clarifying your values, and targeting employers who actually need what you offer — turning self-knowledge into a concrete job-search plan.
About this book
Most job searches fail not because of a bad resume, but because the candidate never stopped to ask the right questions. What work fits my skills? What environment lets me do my best? What problem do I most want to solve? Richard N. Bolles built an entire methodology around those questions, and the result has been one of the most trusted career books in print for more than four decades.
The 2020 edition preserves the core of that methodology while updating every practical section for today's market: online job boards, social-media presence, video interviews, and the changed expectations employers bring to the hiring process. You do not need to abandon what works — you need to apply it where the jobs actually are.
At the center of the book is the Flower Exercise, a structured self-inventory that maps seven dimensions of who you are as a worker: your transferable skills, the knowledge you most enjoy using, the kinds of people you work best with, the values you refuse to compromise, the physical setting you need, your salary requirements, and your preferred geography. The result is a one-page picture of your ideal job — something specific enough to guide every conversation and application you send.
From that foundation, Bolles walks you through a targeted job-search strategy that prioritizes direct contact with employers over mass-applying to job postings. You will learn how to identify organizations doing the work you want to do, reach the person with the power to hire you, and turn an interview into a genuine two-way conversation rather than an audition.
- The Flower Exercise for mapping your transferable skills and non-negotiable preferences
- Strategies for researching and approaching employers directly
- Interview preparation that goes beyond rehearsed answers
- Salary negotiation principles grounded in what employers actually consider
- Guidance for career changers, returning workers, and new graduates alike
- Updated sections on digital job-search tools and online professional presence
322 pages. Whether you are in the middle of a layoff or quietly planning your next move, the framework here gives you a process — not just advice — for finding work that fits.
🎯 What you'll learn
- Complete the Flower Exercise to produce a concrete, one-page profile of your ideal work situation.
- Identify transferable skills you already have but have never named or articulated to an employer.
- Target specific employers using direct-contact strategies rather than relying solely on job postings.
- Prepare for interviews as a two-way evaluation, not a one-sided audition.
- Negotiate salary using principled techniques tied to market research and your documented value.
- Clarify the values, environments, and working conditions you need in order to stay engaged long-term.
- Adapt the job-search process to modern digital tools without losing the personal-contact advantage.
👤 Who is this book for?
- Job seekers who have sent dozens of applications without results and need a fundamentally different approach.
- Mid-career professionals considering a pivot who need a structured way to assess what they actually want next.
- Recent graduates entering the workforce without a clear direction or an understanding of how hiring actually works.
- Returning workers re-entering after a career gap and unsure how to reposition their experience.
- Managers and coaches who advise others on career decisions and want a rigorous, field-tested framework to share.
Table of contents
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01
Why Most Job Searches Stall
Bolles diagnoses the most common reasons job seekers fail — applying to postings, waiting for callbacks, skipping self-assessment — and introduces the alternative approach the rest of the book builds on.
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02
There Are Always Jobs Out There
You examine the hidden job market and learn why most openings are never posted, then map the two distinct paths job seekers take and why one consistently outperforms the other.
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03
Hiring from the Employer's Side
You step into the perspective of the hiring manager to understand what employers fear most when they hire and how to position yourself as the low-risk, high-value candidate.
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04
The Flower Exercise
The book's central self-inventory guides you through seven petals — skills, knowledge, people, values, setting, salary, and geography — producing a detailed picture of your ideal role.
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05
Transferable Skills
You learn to identify and articulate the verb-based skills you carry across every job you have held, then prioritize the ones you most want to keep using.
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06
Finding Your Target Employers
Using the profile from your Flower Exercise, you build a list of specific organizations doing the work you want to do and identify the individuals with the power to hire you.
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07
The Art of the Interview
You learn to treat the interview as a two-way conversation, prepare answers grounded in evidence, and ask questions that reveal whether the role genuinely fits your profile.
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08
Salary Negotiation
Bolles walks through the principles of negotiating compensation — when to raise the number, how to anchor it, and how to evaluate the full offer beyond base pay.
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09
Career Change and Life Planning
You apply the same self-assessment framework to longer-horizon decisions: changing fields entirely, returning after a gap, or planning a second career with different priorities than the first.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need any prior career-planning experience to use this book?
No prior experience is required. The book is self-contained and walks you through each exercise step by step. It works equally well for first-time job seekers and experienced professionals.
Is the 2020 edition meaningfully different from earlier editions?
The core Flower Exercise and job-search philosophy are consistent with earlier editions, which is intentional — they have proven durable. The 2020 edition updates the practical sections covering online job boards, social media, and digital interview formats.
Is this book only useful if I am currently unemployed?
No. A significant portion of readers use it while still employed, either to clarify direction, plan a career pivot, or prepare for a transition they anticipate in the coming months.
Does the book include worksheets or downloadable materials?
The Flower Exercise and supporting worksheets are printed in the book itself. Check the publisher's website for any additional companion materials associated with this edition.
Is this book relevant outside the United States?
The self-assessment framework applies regardless of geography. Some of the employer-research and job-market guidance uses U.S. examples, but the underlying principles translate to most professional job markets.
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