Parachute 2011 Chapter 5-6

Summary:


Chapter five begins with the reminder that your resume alone cannot land you a job. A common mistake committed by most job hunters is solely relying on mailing and emailing resume in hopes of landing a job. Bolles stresses that a resume is a small part of the job hunting process. In order to be a successful job hunter ones has to be versatile, one cannot rely on one method for landing a job. Throughout the chapter Bolles outlines several alternatives to the resume. He primarily focused on using contacts for landing interviews. Bolles expands on the importance of using contacts to increase your chances of landing a job. Much of the advice given by Bolles are very simple and are usually overlooked by most job hunters. The advice I found most useful in chapter five is the information on who can be considered a contact. My list of contacts was considerably shorter than the one Bolles presented. Bolles advice on contacts has open my eyes on who I can use for job leads . The advice in this chapter is very simple, in order to increase your chances in landing a job one has to expand the list of people you use for job leads.



Chapter six covers job interviewing skills and the approaches that should be used while interviewing. The chapter begins by discussing how one should look at job interviewing. Bolles makes a good point when he describes job interviewing as dating and not a test. From my experience, I always made the mistake of looking at job interviewing as a test rather than a chance for me to evaluate the environment and the position being offered. During the interview Bolles suggest that one should follow the 50/50 rule while conversing, which means that you should only be speaking half of the time. This will prevent you from speaking too much and possibly damaging your image. Another important part of job interviewing is doing your research on the organization prior to the job interview. This will show your prospective employer that you are thorough and motivated about landing the position. The most important piece of advice that Bolles provides in this chapter is the reminder that job interviewing is not a science and what worked at one job interview might not work at another.