Official Site for the book
"This perennial classic is unchallenged as 'the Bible' of it's field." (Todays' Supervisor)
"This is...the Cadillac of Job-Search books." (Rocky Mountain News
"This is the absolute best job hunter's guide." (Job Hunters Bookstore)
"Parachute remains the gold standard of Career Guides." (Fortune Magazine)
"Richard Bolles (is) the most recognized job-hunting authority on the planet." (San Francisco Examiner)
"This perennial classic is unchallenged as 'the Bible' of it's field." (Todays' Supervisor)
"This is...the Cadillac of Job-Search books." (Rocky Mountain News
"This is the absolute best job hunter's guide." (Job Hunters Bookstore)
"Parachute remains the gold standard of Career Guides." (Fortune Magazine)
"Richard Bolles (is) the most recognized job-hunting authority on the planet." (San Francisco Examiner)
Dick's Calendar
The Internet
Research
Contacts
Counseling
Job Hunting
Jobs & Resumes
Job Hunting Online
Introduction: The Internet
1. Primer
2. Gateways
3. Supersites
4. Job Search Engines
Introduction: Research On The Internet
1. Directories
2. Search Engines
3. Best Search Engines
4. Meta-Search Tools
5. Clustering
6. Specialized Search Engines
7. General Research
8. Beyond Search Engines
9. The UnderWeb & Deep Searching
10. Beyond The Web: Usenet & Newsgroups
11. Evaluating The Data
12. Grants
Introduction: Contacts And Networking
1. Internet Networking
2. Finding People You Know
3. Finding People You Don't Know
4. Chat Rooms
5. Forums & Message Boards
6. Newsgroups
7. Mailing Lists
8. Networking Web Sites
9. A Category All Its Own
10. Miscellany
11. People At Their Business
12. E-mail
Introduction: Counseling, Testing & Advice
1. Online Job-Hunting Articles
2. Online Job-Hunting Guides
3. The Gateway Sites & More
4. Online Personality & Traits Tests
5. Online Careers Tests
6. Transferable Skills
7. Education
8. More Help: Career Counseling Offices
9. One-on-One Career Counseling
10. Offline Career Counseling
Introduction: Web Sites For Job Hunting Research
1. Geography/Moving/Where To Live
2. Identifying Careers
3. Salaries
4. Industry Research
5. Company Research
6. Company Research & Contact Info
7. Beyond Contact Information
8. More Specific Company Research
9. Self-Employed And Home Business
10. Part-Time, Contract, & Temporary Work
11. Non-Profits And Social Conscience
12. Work For Minorities
13. Work For Women
14. Work For The Disabled
Introduction: Job & Resume Sites
1. Resumes & Cover Letters
2. Portfolios
3. Job Boards: The Supersites
4. Job Boards: Job Search Engines
5. Job Boards: Regionals
6. Job Boards: The Networked Sites
7. Job Boards: College & Graduate Sites
8. Job Boards: Niche/Trade/Specialty
9. Job Boards: Diversity/Women/Disabled
10. Job Boards: Government
11. Job Boards: Contract & Temporary
12. Job Boards: Executive
13. Job Boards: International
14. Job Boards: Links To Job Boards
15. Job Boards: Articles About
16. Volunteering
Introduction: Job Hunting Online
1. Chapter One: Learn The Net
2. Chapter Two: Resumes
3. Chapter Three: The Job Boards
4. Chapter Four: Contacts And Networking
5. Chapter Five: Counseling And Testing
6. Chapter Six: Online Research
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Article Archive
Search/Contact
Site Map
Hi, I’m Dick Bolles. I’m your guide here. This site is designed as a supplement both to my annual, What Color Is Your Parachute: A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters and Career-Changers, as well as to my new 100 page book, The Job-Hunters’ Survival Guide: How to Find Hope and Rewarding Work, Even When ‘There Are No Jobs.”
Browse below, and choose a topic that interests you. Or, if you’re just looking for vacancies, use our sponsors to the left.
Seven Pieces of News for March-April 2014
- This site is out of date, as we're working on dramatically upgrading it; the new site should launch by mid-April, 2014; Maybe sooner. Until then, many of the links here are dead, and we know it. (Links on the Internet typically decay at the rate of 5% per month). Not good news, but there it is. If you find a dead link, and want to reach the site the link used to connect you to, try typing the site's name into any search engine, and see what turns up. Nine times out of ten, you'll find it. The tenth time will turn out to be a site/company/whatever, that has gone out of business.
- With the upgrade we will be changing this site's character. It will still have it's index to other recommended sites, as now, (we will put in uptodate urls in every case); but in addition to that, we will add a whole series of articles by me on various aspects of the twenty first century job-hunt, or career-change. There will be more than a few surprises on the new version of the site.
- There is, as usual, a new edition of my annual book out: What Color Is Your Parachute? 2014 edition, is in bookstores now. As most of my readers know, I completely rewrite the book each year—not merely revise or update it. I spend four months each year doing this. The print book costs about thirteen bucks,plus shipping, if you buy it online, from Amazon or Barnes and Noble websites. Now I love digital books. I have 63 of them on my iPad. However, based on emphatic reader feedback I strongly recommend you buy the print edition of Parachute, not the digital. For the digitally-inclined, we do have something else: namely, an iPad app called What Color Is Your Parachute? Job-Hunter’s Workbook Tablet Edition, available for the iPad for $5.99 from the App Store or from Nook. It is the digital version of the current 4th print edition of another book, namely my Job-Hunter's Workbook. it was created by my publisher Random House, in collaboration with Smashing Ideas, a Seattle-based digital strategy and product company. It is fully interactive.
- I no longer do workshops, of any kind or length. I am instead devoting myself exclusively to writing new books. I have just completed two new books which will be coming out this Spring. More will follow them. If you want to connect with me please do so through LinkedIn, using dickbolles40@gmail.com as my email address there, not fivedayworkshop.com We have now closed down that mailbox.
- I am most active on Facebook—almost daily. https://www.facebook.com/dick.bolles.1 (Do notice that number "1" at the end there.) I post less regularly on LinkedIn, YouTube, and Twitter. I am @ParachuteGuy, on the latter. I have my own channel on YouTube, with lots of videos. Just type my name ("Dick Bolles") and you'll be on that channel.
- I have a companion website to this one, just being born, but it will expand in the months to come. It's www.eParachute.com The main thing on it currently is a link to an online interactive course which we designed with Capella University. That course is deliberately playful, childlike playful: playful graphics and playful narrator. The cost is on the site. Coming attractions: there is a new product that eParachute is working on, regarding career choice. This product should be particularly useful to high school and college age. eParachute is produced by my Son, Gary, and his business partner, Eric Barnett, in collaboration with both myself and my wife/partner, Marci.
- I no longer have time to do individual counseling with my readers, or answer individual questions, either by email or by phone. And if you are publishing a book I'm sorry, but I have no time to read it which I would have to do before I could decide whether to recommend it or endorse it. I used to happily do this, but now with ten million readers, I simply haven't the time. Sure wish I did. Anyone else: if you need help, beyond what the book or the above apps can offer, I recommend you consult one of the counselors listed in the back of each year's edition.
The Internet
The Internet
What is the Internet to the job-hunter? The Internet is a place where a job-hunter can perform certain tasks. The Internet becomes five places to the job-hunter...
Research
Research on the Internet
Using the Internet for Research: how to find information on the Internet, what tools are available, how best to use them.
Contacts
Contacts and Networking
In its essence, all job-hunting is a search not only for information, but also for people — for human links between you and information, between you and a prospective employer. These days, such links are called "contacts", and a common word for all of your contacts is your "network" talking to these people is "networking".
Counseling
Counseling, Testing & Advice
At some point, you may realize you need a little career counseling, perhaps some skills testing, and you're hoping to find these on the Internet. Naturally, the Internet cannot replace a live, face-to-face career counselor. But the Internet can give you quite a bit of guidance for your job hunt.
Job Hunting
Web Sites for Job Hunting Research
Job Hunting related research on the Internet --- where to find information that will help your job hunt specifically, such as company research, salaries, fields, and moving. You can follow these links to whatever interests you most right now.
Jobs & Resumes
Job & Resume Sites
When most people are job-hunting, their instinct is to go directly to the job boards and see what is available. Some are richly rewarded, while others are bitterly disappointed. This is not what the Internet does best when you are job-hunting, but it is probably what the Internet should do best.