You know that my job search procrastination has reached a special level when I’m willing to go out and start cleaning the garage. And you know the world is trying to guide you back to your job search when among the piles, you find a dusty copy of “What Color Is Your Parachute?”
I immediately note two things about the book: 1) It has clearly never been opened and 2) It’s the 2004 edition. I try to recall when and why I acquired this book. By 2004 I was already pregnant and I quit my job in 2005 with no intentions of working again for at least 4 years. I can only assume that I bought it around my 3rd month of being a stay-at-home mom, when I was still building Excel worksheets to analyze feeding times, duration and volume consumed, (oh yes I did). Without a doubt, not working was a much bigger shock to my system than that tiny baby was and I have a feeling that even then, somewhere in my sleep deprived haze, I was anxious to start figuring out what my post-kid phase would be.
Since this discovery was clearly an urgent sign from the universe to start dusting off my parachute, I immediately grabbed the book and rushed inside to put it with a stack of stuff on my desk where it remained untouched for a few more weeks. Finally, a couple nights ago I decided to crack it open. First impression: I can see why it has been the go to book for so many years. It’s very easy read, the author has a nice, friendly voice and there are some solid strategies for finding a job. There are also lots of words of encouragement, my favorite being: “There are always vacancies. Organizations are born, organizations expand, workers become restless, quite, change jobs, move, become ill long-term, or become handicapped, retire, or die.” (Holy shit!) The author breaks the book into two parts, one about the actual job search and one about trying to determine what your dream job is. Dream job, here I come!
He outlines a few exercises which involve deep thought, soul-searching and introspection. Sounds hard. I’m sleepy. But the personality tests in the next section sure sound fun! He suggests searching for other online tests on my favorite search engine, such as Metacrawler.com. Perhaps it’s time to upgrade from the 2004 version if I want to find a 2014 job.
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xo - Susanne
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