What Color Is Your Parachute?: Chapter 8 (Review)

Chapter 8 talks about a big truth for the desperate job-hunters out there, a truth that may give you happiness for your professional life. "You Get To Choose Where You Work" is the title of the 8th chapter, and it gives you simple steps on how to do it. I'm going to explain the first step, which is in my consideration the most important one.

FIRST, YOU NEED TO FIND OUT WHAT CAREERS OR JOBS YOUR (SKILLS) POINTS TO.

1. Choose the top three of your favorite Knowledge or Field of Interest: e.g. Music, Management, and Marketing.

2. Then, choose your top five Transferable Skills, or in other words, remind yourself how skillful you are in your three Field of Interest options.

3. This step is very important for the continuation of the process. Take what you have done so far and show it to at least five friends, family members, or professionals whom you may know. Ask them what jobs or works this page suggests them . Ask them, "What career fields do these suggest to you?" Write down whatever suggestion they make and do the following:

EXAMPLE: Lets use the three Field of Interest options from above, and put those three favorite Knowledges on a series of overlapping circles.

Your mission is to find the center point where you can find a job that has all three your favorite skills included. Next step, recognize which one of the three is the one you have worked the most to and have more experience. Let's choose Marketing. So you go visit a marketing professional that you know (or set appointment with one. Pay them if necessary), and ask them how you can combine those three fields of interest in one.

Lets analyze the three of them so we can come to a conclusion for an imaginary situation. As, a marketing professional, you can create events that involve music, choose to promote musicians for certain label company, take care of the social media for musicians or bands that need promotions,etc. If you wanna include Management, then think about managing a musicians career, or create your own business where you give management assistance to different bands that may want to rise in the music industry.

4. Write down every little thing the marketing professional may tell you. You will need it for your job search.

5. After a week of doing this. Sit down and revise your notes. Find out what you like the most and see if that is a career path you are willing to choose. If it is, in the end it will be worth it.

After reading the other steps, you can strengthen your attitude toward the future you want and it will create expectations and motivate yourself to achieve it. This process is only one step closer to your dream job.