When I moved up here my mom gave me my dad’s old copy of What Color Is Your Parachute? I just finished reading it, and it’s quite good. It was an interesting read in that my dad’s copy is the 2001 edition, and there was some stuff in it that was clearly written in response to an idea at the time that the internet had totally transformed the job search such that books like it had become obsolete. There was something of a defensive tone to some of the discussion of the internet. As it turns out, however, the internet didn’t transform the job search that much, and what Bolles says about it in this edition has stood the test of time fairly well, which is more than can be said for the more extreme online triumphalism from that period.
In any case, I found the book quite helpful. I have already more or less stumbled into what seems to be the ideal career for me, in part by independently arriving at some of the conclusions Bolles advocates, so I haven’t actually done any of the exercises or anything, but I may in the future, especially if my current path doesn’t end up leading me anywhere. For people who are still flailing about trying to find a path in life, as I was until quite recently, I’d say this is a very helpful read. I’m sure there are other equally helpful career guidebooks out there, but this one has attained its iconic status in the popular discourse for a reason.
