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Rating: 
Summary: The original - a virtual career library in one book
Review: As a professional resume writer and author of "51 Ways to Find a Job Fast -- Guaranteed," I've given this book my highest possible recommendation to 3,000+ clients since 1996.
It's critical that you keep in mind that you'll never be hired by a computer -- you'll have to go belly-to-belly with a live human at some point in your job search. So the more time you spend meeting and talking to people about your search, the better.
Tip: if you're at all average, you know 250 people by name. And each of those people knows 250 more. Multiply the two and you find out that you're only one or two phone calls away from 62,500 people.
This book will help you get clear on the message you want to send to others.
With fun brainstorming exercises, useful anecdotes and a ton of job search tips that really work, there's something for everyone here.
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Summary: Textbook way to find the right career for YOU!
Review: As one of those people who never did figure out what I should do after highschool, I ended up getting a master's degree in a field I disliked and worked for years at a job that drove me crazy. I stopped working after I had my child and felt a relief you can't imagine. As my son got older, I felt it time to hit the workforce again - but was none the wiser about what to do. A friend suggested this book and I have to say - I am amazed at what this book has done for me. While the process is long - you have to work through many exercises - the end result is a better knowledge of yourself, your interests and skills.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who isn't sure what career path to choose, anyone who is unhappy in their current job, or people just looking for a positive change in their lives.
I didn't give this 5 stars as I periodically felt the exercises took too much time and I just wanted to "get the answer". Patience isn't really my strong suit and there is alot of work involved. Having said that - the end result is worth the effort!
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Summary: Useful but very time consuming
Review: I think after 30 years of being in print this book is starting to get a bit dated. While I found many of the exercises to be very beneficial, I also found the book to be extremely time consuming and not as practical for today's fast paced world.
A small workbook that I found to be much more beneficial was "10 Insider Secrets: Career Transition Workshop" by Todd Bermont. That book really helped me net it out to figure out what I wanted to do and it also helped me with putting together a game plan to get the job.
As for Parachute, my recommendation is to skip to the Flower Exercise as I found that to be the most useful part of the book. If you do that exercise there is not much need to read hundreds of pages of dated material.
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Summary: I just got a great new job
Review: Recently, I was out of work and frustrated. So I bought two books. The first one was Parachute. I read it, but I quickly got frustrated because it wasted so much time on stuff I didn't care about. For instance there are scores of pages dedicated to starting your own business. If I wanted to start my own business, I would have bought a book on that topic. Then, there are many pages where the author tries to push his religion on you. If I wanted to focus on my faith, I would have bought a book on it. Instead, I recommend the second book I purchased "10 Insider Secrets to a Winning Job Search""10 Insider Secrets to a Winning Job Search" was just released last month and this book really spoke to me in the situation I was in. I found the book to be extremely motivational and the 65 sample job interview questions were right on as I was asked at least half of them in my interviews. Also, the one magical question that the author tells you to ask on the interview worked like a charm. Parachute is an alright book if you aren't in a hurry to find a new job. However, if you want to get a new job fast, I recommend "10 Insider Secrets to a Winning Job Search" instead.
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Summary: Highly recommended guide to improving your career
Review: Richard Bolles'," What Color Is Your Parachute?," has garnered a lot of praise, and sold not a few copies, over the years. I found the book easy to read, with simple, but useful, advice for the job-hunter. Like other books of its type, it contains a combination of exposition and exercises, or homework if you like; Bolles provides short-cuts for those who may already have the "answers" and step-by-step details for those who do not. Read it like you would a textbook and expect to be called upon in class to answer questions. Completing the exercises does take some time, but the few hours needed are a small price to pay. Bolles writes in a down-to-earth, non-academic style. He is constantly hammering home a few points: the job-hunt may take a long time and be meet with failure after failure, which leads to giving up too quickly i.e. persistence pays off, the job-hunter should take no short-cuts and leave no stone unturned, if a particular strategy doesn't work pick another one, and that it is important to identify what your skills and interests are; none of this is particularly unique to this book. Bolles clearly makes a distinction between skills and traits, something not all books of this type do adequately. He provides alternatives when a particular approach fails to produce results. And above all he encourages while at the same time providing some realism. The book is copiously illustrated. And ironically - I typically complain that publishers of non-fiction often leave out illustrations - this is my one complaint about the book, that the illustrations take up so much space and yet provide nothing but aesthetic value. A word of caution, that the author himself acknowledges, many of the Internet links provided are out-dated - either because the links are "dead" or because they have become fee-for-service sites instead of free. I have just started looking for that dream job, so my journey isn't over yet. But I would recommend this book to anyone seeking to improve their working life.
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Summary: Undisputed champ...
Review: This book has been around forever because it is one of the best books to help you discover what you should be doing. It takes a holistic approach to carefully examining your life and your career. However, if you already know what you want, this book might be overkill.
If you are currently looking for a specific position and want to jump start your job search, I highly recommend a small guide that was recommended to me, titled CONFESSIONS OF A HEADHUNTER (www.lulu.com/dmc) It took only a half hour to read, but it's packed with unusual ideas and it opened my eyes to techniques recruiters use to find the better jobs that rarely get advertised.
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Summary: My daughter found her career with the help of this book
Review: This book should be read by every person who needs to get on track with their vareer. My daughter was moping around the house after graduating from college. She brought this book home, completed the exercises, found her calling and is now a successful realtor. This book is an invaluable resource for job hunters and those sitting on the fence.
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Summary: For the right person, this book is profound
Review: When I first read this book in 1978, I was beginning my career as a career counselor in a small women's college on the East Coast. Ellen Wallach ran a workshop for a group of Mass. educators and counelors at that time which I participated in. So I was quickly exposed to "Basic Bolles". Through that experience, I found a tool for me and, more importantly, for my clients - a tool that has proved comprehensive and increasingly valuable over the years. It became a Bible for me which I subsequently recommended and gave to clients. Then, about ten years ago, I had the privilege of meeting the man when I first attended the California Career Conference, and discovered that he was a giant, not only physically, but mentally, emotionally and spiritually. What he has done for the profession is monumental. I have learned that intention is more important than technique. In Dick and in his work, I have discovered a timeless resource and marvelous friend.
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Summary: You've got to do the exercises...
Review: When I first read this book, I thought it had some pretty good points about how to get a job or change your career but it wasn't a life-changing experience for me at the time. The second time I picked up this book, I was in a workshop where we were actually going to do the exercises in the book. What a huge difference this made in what I got out of this book! By actually applying the tools, I learned so much about myself and what I wanted to do with my life. Not just my career, but my whole life! I highly recommend this book to anyone going through a career/life transition. But don't do what I did the first time I read it. Do the exercises and you will be amazed at the results.
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