WCIYP (You Get To Choose Where You Work)

The beautiful aspect of adopting the Parachute Approach to job-hunting is the fact that you get to choose where you work. Now, it's not always as simple as finding a dream job. Instead, it could be a rather long and rigorous process that involves extensive research and effort.

Nonetheless, What Color Is Your Parachute, by Richard N. Bolles offers five helpful steps for job-hunters that are looking to find a place to work. Before listing and explaining the five steps, it is important to note that curiosity and informational interviewing are necessary requirements to increase networking efforts.

Without further delay, here are five helpful steps to supplement your job-hunting efforts:

1.) You Need to Find Out What Careers or Jobs Your Flower Points To

• Remember that flower exercise that I discussed in a previous blog post? Well, it's actually very useful and will allow you to determine your favorite fields of interest and best transferable skills. 

2.) You Need to Try On Careers Before You Decide Which Ones to Pursue 

• Identifying a career, or at least a career path is one of the first steps in the job-hunting process. Keep in mind, it is never considered a bad idea to look for a career-change, especially if its towards an industry that you're passionate about. An ideal way to research multiple careers before ultimately choosing to select one is through informational interviewing, otherwise known as asking people in a particular industry about the details of their career.

3.) You Need to Find Out What Kinds of Organizations Have Such Jobs 

• This kind of research can be done in various ways, but I have found LinkedIn to be one of the best resources to utilize. 
• Examples of the kind of information you should research regarding an organization;
• Places that employ part-time or full-time
• Places that take consultants 
• Places that are profit or nonprofit

4.) You Need to Find Names of Particular Places That Interest You

• Keep in mind, people who usually find success in a job-hunt seek positions that do not necessarily have vacancies. Hence, if you are persistent enough in the job-hunting process, companies will begin to realize that you can provide value and will become a top-of-mind candidate for any potential openings.  

5.) You Need to Learn as Much as You Can About a Place Before Formally Approaching Them

• Understand a company's corporate culture before heading in for an interview, Identifying a company's goals or working environment is essential, especially if you are asked a question about the company during an interview. 
• Make sure to determine where you would like to work. Even more, do so before you accept a job. This can be accomplished through extensive research, including referencing the following resources:
• Friends and Neighbors
• People at the organizations that you are considering
• The Internet