Color Me Underwhelmed
Being in my perpetually jobless state, I decided to go to the library and check out some career searching manuals. Among them was the evergreen
What Color Is Your Parachute? Normally I'm weary of best sellers, since they tend to be dumbed down and full of obvious advice. But I decided to give this one a try, since it had an easy to read format and an appealing layout peppered with cartoons and 19th century woodcuts. How cute.
Well, it turns out I was right - it is dumbed down and full of obvious advice. Granted there's lots of genuinely useful stuff as well, but right now all I can remember are things like how author Richard Bolles inserts the word "God" into every page and constantly brings up spirituality as an asset in job seaching. That belongs in a different book, bucko.
Worse yet, this book encourages people to do things that might even be considered dangerous. Like the testimony of a woman who was frustrated when an application went unnoticed. So she snuck inside the targeted place and poked around a few rooms until she found the employer wearily looking through stacks of resumes. She smiled, introduced herself and got the job. Sorry, that's just creepy. Why not try stalking instead? That way you don't have to deal with those pesky security guards.
Posted by mhinrichs at April 7, 2004 12:47 PM
