Free What Color Is Your Parachute Essay Sample
"What Color Is Your Parachute" or just ‘Parachute” as it is commonly known was first published in 1970. The book was self-published, and later Berkeley publishing house purchased the commercial publishing rights to that book. Berkeley also agreed to release a new edition “Parachute” every year, and that has been the practice for the last 45 years, and it has become the best job-hunting and career changing the book in the market. “Parachute” is written in 20 languages and is applied in more than 25 countries worldwide. The themes of “Parachute” are that there exists a different job-hunting system rather than the traditional one entailing agencies, adverts and resumes. This distinct job-hunting system starts with self-inventory, which entails the decision of what one is before making a decision on what kind of work one desires to pursue. The fundamental questions that need addressing in relation to who one is are, what, how and where. “Parachute” provides job-hunters with unique knowledge and skills to allow them to get their dream jobs and also figure out who they are and what they want in life.
“Parachute’s” annual edition incorporates the latest changes in the job market’s nature, the newest changes in the method in which employers hire, new technologies, means of starting one’s business and job-hunting nature. The author carries out extensive research on all these topics annually, maintain active communication with many employers and job-hunters. The latest edition of “Parachute” is the 2016 edition. It contains 353 pages and its retail price in the United States bookstores is $19.99.
Chapter 1
Averagely, employers aim at interviewing 5.4 candidates. The employer’s priority becomes reducing the stack of 118 to 250 to 5.4. In the current world, the person who gets hired is not necessarily the person who is capable of doing the job best. Instead, it is the person who has the knowledge of the means of getting hired. One should go after any institutions that interest them. This is regardless of whether they are having a vacancy or not. One should seek small companies having 25, 50, 50 or utmost 100 employees.
These institutions are the best for a person hunting for a job or one seeking for a career- changing approach. This is particularly for the job- hunter who are physically disabled, or elderly persons seeking for jobs or even returning vets. Job-hunters should not give up. Despite there being a new job-hunting world every day, one is not powerless, against massive forces one is not in a position of controlling. One has control over the manner in which they search. That is the one thing that job-hunters have control over above anything else.
Chapter 2
Approximately 91 % of the employers in the United States have paid a visit to the social media profile of a job hunter. More than 69% of the employers have been said to have rejected some of the job applicants based on what they found on the applicant’s social media profiles. 68% of the employers will give one a job because they loved what Google said about the applicants. It is of essence to ensure that one updates each of their profiles, either weekly or monthly at least. LinkedIn is one of the sites that a job applicant should be signed up in and ensure their profile is updated. This is the first site that some employers o to when they want to find more information about an applicant.
A job-hunter’s presence on the internet should be expanded through the use of blogs, Twitter, and video. However, if one blankets the internet with a resume, they should be careful not to include anything on the resume that may help someone get information of where one lives or work. Also, most employers prefer a person’s cover letter rather than their resume. The cover letter is brief though it can provide a summary of all relevant details that may have been covered by a longer resume. A Job or Career Portfolio can also be used as an alternative to the traditional resume.
Chapter 3
There are more than 8 million vacancies available every month. Job-hunting entails human nature and may be compared to dating. Both activities narrow down to the question of “Do you like me?” and “Do I like you?” One is not powerless during the process of job-hunting. The employer may have an overpowering power in the entire job-hunt but they are not in control of all the cards. Job-hunting is supposed to be a full-time job. If one finds that their job-hunting is not being fruitful, they should increase the amount of time they are dedicating to their job-hunting process.
Chapter 4
This chapter is about tips on interviewing for a job. It is important to remember that interviews are not always face to face. There are reports that approximately 63% of organizations sometimes conduct video interviews. A job- hunter should find out everything they can about their target organization. They can Google them, and if such organizations have websites, an applicant should read every detail especially under the “About Us” section. If the applicant is the who requested for the interview and not the organization, one should remove their dread of this visit through being specific on the amount of time that one is requesting from them. One is not supposed to start the interview by marketing themselves. Only when one is weighing the question of if they want to work there and have said yes, should they focus they energy on marketing themselves. In a job interview, small things such as one’s appearance and personal habits, nervous gestures, lack of self-confidence, one’s values among others are the killers. One should look for some way of bringing evidence of their skills to the hiring- interview. For instance, if one is an artist, they may try bringing a sample of what they have made.
An interviewee should not bad-mouth their previous employers during the interview at all costs. In a hiring interview, one should talk half the time and allow the employer talks the remaining time. One’s answer to the questions posed by the employer should be between 20 seconds and utmost 2 minutes. Also, when the interview ends, a person should remember to always ask for the job that is if one wants to work there. To stand out from the rest of the applicants of the job one was seeking, a person should send thank-you notes to every person they met that day.
Chapter 5
This chapter is on secrets of salary negotiation. One of the secrets is that it is not in a person’s best interests to discuss salary until they are sure they really want to work there and after ensuring that they have made the employers want to hire them. If salary negotiation has been avoided during the interview process, one should try as much as possible to let the employer be the first to bring up a figure.
A person is required to do a thorough research on that organization to know if the figure provided by the employer is the first bid. Showing how one will make money for the organization may also be a helpful way of justifying a salary one is requesting. Before walking into an interview, one should make a decision on the benefits that are specifically important to them. Also, after the discussions on the basic salary, one may proceed to enquire their benefits offered there.
Chapter 6
One may use a union hiring hall if they have access to it as it has been reported to work 22% of the time. The method of asking for job- leads has been reported to be effective 33% of the time. Knocking on the door of the prospective employer has been said to be effective 47% of the time. The use of Yellow Pages has been said to be effective 65% of the time. The Parachute Approach that starts with doing an inventory of what one loves has been reported to work 8%of the time.
Chapter 7
This chapter is about fully understanding oneself. This entails gathering everything one knows about themselves, organizing that information and prioritizing it. There are seven sides of a person, ways of thinking about oneself or describing oneself. If one wants to maintain choice, it is important for them to maintain clarity, learn agility, and identify development plans have become raised to new and critical significance.
Chapter 8
This chapter entails getting to choose where one wants to work. To start with, one need to know which jobs their flowers point to. One has to combine two or more of their fields into a single specialty to make them unique and make them more competitive than the rest of the applicants. Secondly, one should try on careers before making a decision on the one they want to pursue through talking to people already in those fields. Also, one needs to enquire which organizations have the jobs they have interest. One should also find names of certain places that interest them rather than waiting for those places to have vacancies. Additionally, a job applicant needs to have as much information about an organization as possible, before they approach them. This may include their culture, working style, goals, and challenges and how one’s skills and knowledge may assist them. Finally, one should have a bridge or a contact person who will act as the bridge to the gap between the applicant and the job in that organization.
Chapter 9
This chapter entails dealing with any handicaps one has. One may use prejudice to find the right employer. One may also look for similar jobs to the one they desire, but are not in a position to do them. The Pie Method has also been listed as being helpful to many job-hunters with their shyness as shyness is one of the major handicaps.
Chapter 10
The chapter is about the ways of choosing or changing careers. The O- Net Online has been listed to be have updated information on careers. One can also take tests to look for clues or suggestions, instead of definitive answers that tell one what they should decide to do with their lives. The flower excise that entails looking at one’s past breaking that experience down into most fundamental atoms. Then one should create a new career for their future from those atoms, and retracing one’s steps from the bottom in the opposite way.
Chapter 11
The chapter is about the method of starting one’s business. A person is required to make an inquiry of the skills and experience needed to for the idea to work. One should also inventory their skills and experience and look for a person with the required skills that one is lacking. Next, one should get feedbacks through self-examination questionnaires and also engage other people to know their opinion. Finally, one should have a plan B.
Our features
300 words per page instead of 280
Free revision (on demand)
Discount system
Affiliate program
VIP services
Round-the-clock support
Occupational Analysis- Amazon
In 1995, Amazon was established as a bookselling company. Presently, Amazon is one of the world’s biggest internet-based dealer, selling things such as food, local services and electronics among others. Amazon soon hopes to ensure its speed of delivery is sped up to less than 30 minutes through its use of unmanned drones. This will be through a program known as Prime Air. The headquarters of Amazon are situate in Seattle and it has offices in 32 nations worldwide. The company has over 150,000 staff members who call themselves “Amazonians”. The knowledge of the history and the future plans of a company is important to a person interested to join the company.
It is also important to know the qualities that Amazon looks for in each candidate as stated in “Parachute”. The company does not have a stereotype or who a person has to be like for them to be successful in that company. Amazon focuses more on the actual substance of what is being talked about in the interview.
Another important aspect that a person interested in Amazon should know is how many office the company has. Amazon has 133 locations all over the world that include centers such as customer services, development, corporate offices and delivery centers among others.
“Parachute” suggests that one should have a thorough background information about the company and the position one is targeting. That will allow one plan on how to present their experiences and skills in a way that will appear to be adding value to the organization. Looking at Amazon’s website, information on the available positions is provided.
A review of Amazon’s culture is also important to get informed of the company’s mission, goals, and objectives among others. Amazon’s mission has been stated as “to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices.” Therefore, it is important for a candidate seeking employment in that company to understand the company and researching how they may manifest themselves in how Amazon operates. The company’s leadership principles may come in handy in giving one a clue of what Amazon looks for in its leaders. Some of the principles include leaders being owners, being curious, one who think big, one who accomplish more with less, who are prepared dive deep, have customer obsession, compared of inventing and simplifying, and have the highest standards among others.
An inquiry on the strengths and the challenges of Amazon may also be helpful. One of the strengths of this company is its diversity. The company brings in different backgrounds, ideas, and opinions. Another strength is the company’s customer-centric approach in all its activities which is reflected in its mission. Knowledge of these things is important as it will show a person’s interest in the company and its operations. The aims or objectives of the company are also worth investigating. Amazon aims at meeting the needs of its customers worldwide, coming up with new solutions to ensure things are made easier, cost-effective, better and faster.
Research on Amazon’s weaknesses reveals that it in the recent years, Amazon has reported relatively frustrating international growth. Amazon’s year-over-year international income growth has reduced significantly. The growth of international revenues, therefore, remains Amazon’s headache. Knowledge of the company’s weakness and challenges may help a candidate come up with strategies to present to the company to help them deal with those challenges. This will make one appear to be one who will add value to the company hence the need to get them hired. Some of the solutions that may be presented include making the expansion of Amazon into new geographical markets a priority. This may entail the company’s active investing in distribution centers in these new countries that have a considerable capacity of building-out relative to the current demand. A strategy of building out capacity to ensure the meeting of demand with seamless experience may be effective in dealing with this interaction market challenge.
The best method of applying for a job at Amazon has been said to be through the Amazon. Jobs website. Another method is through reaching out to an Amazonian and asking them for advice on the roles that may be a good fit depending on one’s evaluation. Getting a referral has also been encouraged. Amazon recruiters have been said to collectively have an interest in applicants they find and source through various interactive media such as LinkedIn. There is also the emphasis on people to show assertiveness, reach out to Amazon’s hiring managers and expressing their interests in the company as that presents an opportunity to be hired.
In conclusion, the 2016 edition of the book "What Color Is Your Parachute" entails the current changes in how the employers hire, new technologies, means of starting one’s business and job-hunting nature. This book also provides insight to people looking for employment through advising them on what to do to stand out among other job applicants and get their desired jobs. “Parachute” also advises people who want to be self-employed on how to successfully start the business of their choice. Through analyzing Amazon Company, one is now able to apply the concepts of this book to real life situations.