What Color is Your Parachute?
Ch. 1 What Has Changed?
"The Internet of Things" has enabled most job fields to become intertwined with each other.
The average job term is getting shorter. Employers avoid long-term employee costs (benefits, paid vacation, etc).
The average job hunt can take anywhere from 1-3 months to an entire year.
Employers hiring style determined by circumstancial business need
Job hunting has become a legitimate survival skill.
Online job boards and social media have revolutionized the traditional way of hiring.
Employers hire solely based on what they are looking for when they are ready.
Ch. 2 There are ALWAYS jobs available!
The job turnover rate causes the same jobs to be filled and available over and over again.
This frequent turnover is the leading reason why there are always jobs available, leading back to jobs not lasting as long anymore.
The media only focuses on the increasing unemployment rate which may discourage job seekers to even try looking.
On average, there are 315,000 jobs added to the economy each month give or take, and approx. 15 million persons who are unemployed each month.
Ch. 3 The Best vs. The Worst
The Traditional Approach
The Parachute Approach
Contacting through a resume
Looking for a job for "right now"
Selling yourself on why they should hire you
Hoping they want you
Talking about yourself, assets, and experiences at the interview
Talking about their needs and asking them questions
Trying to get a 1st and 2nd interview
Looking for the "Dream Job"
Contacting them through a "bridge-person" using LinkedIn
Asking yourself "Do you want them?"
Most Successful Approaches to looking for a job
Doing a walk-in gives a 47% success rate.
Asking for job leads has a 33% success rate.
Using the yellow pages has a 65% success rate!
Going to where employers pick up workers has a 22% success rate.
Going to private employment agencies or search firms has a 5-28% success rate.
Ch. 4 Self Inventory Part 1
Benefits of Doing a Self Inventory
Able to vocalize exactly who you are through several perspectives
Able to narrow down you job options to ones that fit and appeal to you
Learn that you actually appeal to multiple job markets, not just one
You can make a career change that is tailored to the skills you enjoy or prefer to use
Able to approach a company with what you have to offer for an opportunity rather than wait for them to have a vacancy
Where to Start
Choose a diagram that helps compartmentalize every dynamic of who you are in the work place in relation to different aspects of the work place
Mentally Prepare to look deep within and at yourself
A prioritizing grid helps you decide what preferences are more are least important when choosing your dream job
Decide what part of the job most important (i.e. salary, location, what skills you use the most, etc.)
Ch. 5 Self Inventory Part 2
Start from within!
- Work your connections. Find someone on the inside!
- Apply through their preferred hiring agency.
- Apply to an ad they've placed in any media.
- Bring proof of your work experience. How have you made a difference?
- Submit a resume online, by mail, or in person.
- Get hired as a temp or contract worker.
The Seven Petals
Knowledges
Geography
Salary
Transferable Skills
People
Working Conditions
Purpose in Life
The Hexagon Game helps to determine your personal "Holland Code," what three people environments you would prefer to work in.
Artistic: people who have innovative or intuitional abilities and doesn't like structure
Social: people who like to inform, enlighten, train, develop, and are skilled with words
Investigative: people who like to observe, learn, investigate, or solve problems
Enterprising: People who like to influence, persuade, lead, perform, and work toward economic gain
Realistic: people who are athletic or mechanic in their ability
Conventional: people who like to work with data, clerical or numerical ability, pay attention to detail, and follow instructions
Determining what working conditions work for you, don't work for you, and cause you to perform poorly
Use the prioritizing grid to list your preferences in order of importance.
Determining physical environments based on past work experiences
These skills are directly related to how we process information, people, and things.
If you don't know what your skills are, think of a story in your life where you had to push through adversity or do something new challenging. Think of how you handled it and write these skills down.
There's a difference between transferable skills, special knowledge, and self management skills or traits
Use the Parachute Skills Grid to list your stories and the skills need to get the outcome you desired. Total the occurrences for each skill.
Next, use the Prioritizing Grid to help determine which of these skills that occur the most in your past experiences are most important in choosing your dream job.
The Nine Spheres of Purpose
Which Appeals to You the Most?
Sphere of the Heart: Do you want there to be more love and compassion in this world?
Sphere of Entertainment: Do you want their to be a break from cares of this world, more laughter and joy?
Sphere of the Will: Do you want there to be more morality, justice, and righteousness on this earth?
Sphere of the Earth: Do you want the world to explore the planet and help solve its problems and conserve its energy?
Sphere of the Spirit: Do you want there to be more spirituality, desire for the Kingdom of God, more forgiveness and compassion?
Sphere of the Mind: Do you want there to be more knowledge, truth, wisdom, and understanding in this world?
Sphere of our Possessions: Do you want to leave a sense of contentment with whatever we have in life?
Sphere of the Body: Do you want there to be more fitness and health and healing in this world?
Sphere of the Senses: Do you want to leave some sort of beauty behind on this Earth?
The Fisherman's Net is used to help you "cast" all the things you've learned in your life "into the sea."
What you know/learned from previous jobs
Fields, careers, or industries you'd want to know or learn about
What you know/learned from outside of work
Hunches, bright ideas, great ideas, and revelations throughout life
Favorite Subjects Matrix helps prioritize the subjects the fields, careers, and industries you know about and what to learn about by level of expertise and level of enthusiasm.
Preferences
- List the names of places you've lived
- List the negatives/dislikes of each place
- Translate the negatives/dislikes into positives/likes.
- Rank the positives in order of importance
- Research areas that fit the positive criteria
To determine Your Salary Range
VS.
What level of work do you desire? This determines the salary range you can reasonably expect.
Know the absolute minimum you can survive off of. Determine a maximum you could realistically make. Project weekly, monthly, and annual figures.
Make a detailed spreadsheet of all your monthly expenses. ALL INCLUSIVE!
Are there any rewards that money can't buy? Like being creative, adventure, or a chance to bring others closer to God?
Choose Where you Work
Take the potential jobs for a spin first BEFORE committing to them. Some informational interviews with those already in the profession would help. Remember, these views and opinions are subjective.
Find what organizations have these jobs available or present the need for these jobs. Be open-minded because it may steer away from your conventional idea of work yet satisfies and fulfills you.
What career does your flower point to? Start with your fields of fascination. What jobs can be combined to make your "Dream Job?"
Start with a broad job interest and narrow it down according to your personal criteria.
Do your homework on a company you'd say you want to work for. They want to know how interested you really are and what about them interest you. Look for them in any form of media; the newspaper, online, word-of-mouth, and again, I say, WORK YOUR CONNECTIONS!
Remember to send a "Thank You" card to say you appreciate their time. This allows you to sick out like a sore thumb. Common courtesy isn't so common these days.