Richard Bolles - What Color Is Your Parachute?

Many employers prize this attribute in any employee, because interruptions are the bane of their existence; and

If you keep going on interviews until you encounter an employer or two or three who share this understanding of age. What do I mean by keep going? Well, here is an actual job-hunter’s records (the “process” she is referring to, is the PIE method, to be described in chapter 7):

“Here are the figures you wanted: In the course of my surveying, September through November, I was referred to 120+ people. Of these I contacted 84 and actually met with 50. I met most people at their offices, a few for lunch, a couple for dinner, and one for breakfast! The process worked so well for me, I am really excited about my new prospects.”

Having the right attitude toward yourself often means this kind of persistence, keeping at it, working at your job-hunt far longer and far harder than the average job-hunter would ever dream of doing. And why? Because you know your own worth and you know you will be valuable to any organization that is able to see you clearly, and without prejudice about your age.

I said earlier that a good attitude toward yourself depends, in part, on how you think of yourself in relation to employers. It also depends on how you think of yourself in relation to other job-hunters. Especially if you think that you are handicapped, while they are not.

Maybe this is the point where I need to remind you that everyone looking for work is handicapped. What?!

Well, sure. As we have seen, a real handicap means there are some things that a person cannot do. To see what that means here, let’s start with how many skills there are, in the whole world. Nobody knows the number, so let’s make one up. Let’s say there are 4,341 skillsin the world.

How many of those 4,341 do you think the average person has? Nobody knows that number either, so again let’s make one up. Let’s say the average person has 1,341skills. That’s a lot. That would be 1,341 things the average person cando.

But 4,341 skills in all the world minus 1,341 that the average person can do, leaves 3,000 things the average person can’t do. Of course, what those 3,000 are, will vary from person to person. But, in the end, everybody is handicapped. Everybody. In each of our cases, there is a lot we can’t do.

So when you go job-hunting, if you have a real handicap, what’s so special about your handicap, compared with others’? The answer is nothing .

Unless— unless —you are so disheartened by the fact that you are handicapped, and so focused on what you can’t do, that you have forgotten all the things you can do.

Unless you’re thinking of all the reasons why employers might not hire you, instead of all the reasons why employers would be lucky to get you.

Unless you’re going about your job-hunt feeling like a job beggar , rather than standing tall to offer yourself as a helpful resource for this employer.

To focus our attention on what we can do, not what we can’t, here’s a useful exercise. Take a piece of paper and divide it into two columns:

Then, look at the ( transferable / functional ) skills list below, and copy as many skills as you choose onto that piece of paper, putting each skill in the proper column, depending on whether you can do the skill, or cannot . ( Or not yet, anyway .) Use additional sheets, as needed.

achieving

acting

adapting

addressing

administering

advising

analyzing

anticipating

arbitrating

arranging

ascertaining

assembling

assessing

attaining

auditing

budgeting

building

calculating

charting

checking

classifying

coaching

collecting

communicating

compiling

completing

composing

computing

conceptualizing

conducting

conserving

consolidating

constructing

controlling

coordinating

coping

counseling

creating

deciding

defining

delivering

designing

detailing

detecting

determining

developing

devising

diagnosing

digging

directing

discovering

dispensing

displaying

disproving

dissecting

distributing

diverting

dramatizing

drawing

driving

editing

eliminating

empathizing

enforcing

establishing

estimating

evaluating

examining

expanding

experimenting

explaining

expressing

extracting

filing

financing

fixing

following

formulating

founding

gathering

generating

getting

giving

guiding

handling

having responsibility

heading

helping

hypothesizing

identifying

illustrating

imagining

implementing

improving

improvising

increasing

influencing

informing

initiating

innovating

inspecting

inspiring

installing

instituting

instructing

integrating

interpreting

interviewing

intuiting

inventing

inventorying

investigating

judging

keeping

leading

learning

lecturing

lifting

listening

logging

maintaining

making

managing

manipulating

mediating

meeting

memorizing

mentoring

modeling

monitoring

motivating

navigating

negotiating

observing

obtaining

offering

operating

ordering

organizing

originating

overseeing

painting

perceiving

performing

persuading

photographing

piloting

planning

playing

predicting

preparing

prescribing

presenting

printing

problem solving

processing

producing

programming

projecting

promoting

proofreading

protecting

providing

publicizing

purchasing

questioning

raising

reading

realizing

reasoning

receiving

recommending

reconciling

recording

recruiting

reducing

referring

rehabilitating

relating

remembering

rendering

repairing

reporting

representing

researching

resolving

responding

restoring

retrieving

reviewing

risking

scheduling

selecting

selling

sensing

separating

serving

setting

setting-up

sewing

shaping

sharing

showing

singing

sketching

solving

sorting

speaking

studying

summarizing

supervising

supplying

symbolizing

synergizing

synthesizing

systematizing

taking instructions

talking

teaching

team-building

telling

tending

testing & proving

training

transcribing

translating

traveling

treating

trouble-shooting

tutoring

typing

umpiring

understanding

understudying

undertaking

unifying

uniting

upgrading

using

utilizing

verbalizing