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b y Luqman O. Obileye (26 th July 2009). The Book. This is a book written by Richard Nelson Bolles as a practical manual for job hunters and career changers to help them ‘take control of their lives’ To succeed, he believes that we need: Hope
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by Luqman O. Obileye (26th July 2009)
The Book • This is a book written by Richard Nelson Bolles as a practical manual for job hunters and career changers to help them ‘take control of their lives’ • To succeed, he believes that we need: • Hope • Tools for discovering our truest vision for our lives + • Practical strategies for finding a vision that work and a mission What Colour Is Your Parachute/MICA 2009
Definition • A parachute is a device used to slow the descent of a person or an object to Earth. • It is a life-saving device, a survival kit, used by aircraft pilots and passengers. • The word "parachute" comes from a French word with a Latin root: "para", meaning "against" or "counter" in Latin, and "chute", the French word for "fall". Therefore "parachute" actually means "against the fall". What Colour Is Your Parachute/MICA 2009
The Survival Kit: What Do You Need? What Colour Is Your Parachute/MICA 2009
Finding a Job is a match between: • Vacancy • Your experience and skills What Employers are looking for What Colour Is Your Parachute/MICA 2009
“A person’s strength aren’t always on display. Sometimes, they require precise triggering to turn them on.” Marcus Buckingham What Colour Is Your Parachute/MICA 2009
Quote ‘He or she who gets hired is not necessarily the one who can do that job best; but, the one who knows the most about how to get hired’ Richard Lathrop Who’s Hiring Who? What Colour Is Your Parachute/MICA 2009
Toolkit Buzz Words What Colour Is Your Parachute/MICA 2009
Your Hobbies, Your Passion • Take a hard look at your spare-time hobbies, over the years. Maybe, you have spent quite a bit of time on these, and become an informal expert. • So, start thinking: is there any kind of work you could look for, related to those hobbies? Can you give me some idea what kinds of hobbies might lead to jobs that would value my knowledge and experience? What Colour Is Your Parachute/MICA 2009
What is Your Passion in Life? • What do I want out of life? • What do I want to give to this life ? • By the time I die, what do I want my gift to the world to have been? • What is it about the world that I dislike, am most bothered by, or hate the most; and would most love to correct, fix, or eradicate if I could? • What is the product or service that I think my community, country, or the world, most needs – really, really needs? • What is it that I would love to do, more than anything else in the world? • What is it that most energizes me? What Colour Is Your Parachute/MICA 2009
What are employers looking for? • Talent – transferable skills • Experience • Self-management skills • Persistence • People skills • Responsibility What Colour Is Your Parachute/MICA 2009
What are employers willing to pay for? What Colour Is Your Parachute/MICA 2009
What are traits? • How you deal with time and promptness? • How do you deal with people and emotions? • How do you deal with authority, and being told what to do at the job? • How do you deal with supervision, and being told what to do at the job? • How do you deal with impulse vsself-discipline? • How do you deal with initiativevsresponse, within yourself? • How do you deal with crises or problems? What Colour Is Your Parachute/MICA 2009
Do you seem willing and eager to learn? Sometimes, a person can have all the experience in the world but lack the enthusiasm that leads to doing a great job What Colour Is Your Parachute/MICA 2009
What Makes You Unique? • Write the three top skills that you think will be of greatest interest to a potential employer. And then, write out a brief description of a situation where you successfully used that skill, each on a separate page. • to write the story: • what was I trying to accomplish? Why did I want to accomplish this? What are the obstacles I faced, or the constraints under which we had to operate? What exactly did I do? What happened as a result? How did I know we were successful? What Colour Is Your Parachute/MICA 2009
Each of us is blind – not to other people’s gifts, but blind to our own uniqueness. What Colour Is Your Parachute/MICA 2009
The Virtues of Small Organisations • Experts have claimed for years that small organisations create two-thirds of all new jobs. If that makes you prefer going after a small organisation, I have good news: they are much easier to get into than larger ones • You don’t need to wait until there’s a known vacancy • There is no Personnel or Human Resources Department • There’s no problem identifying the person-who-has-the power-to-hire-you • You do not need to approach them through the mail, if you use your personal contacts, you can get to see the boss • It is growing, there is a greater likelihood that they will be willing to create a new position for you What Colour Is Your Parachute/MICA 2009
Who is a Contact? Every person you meet, stumble across, or blunder into, during your job-hunt, whose name, address, and phone number you have the grace to ask for. What Colour Is Your Parachute/MICA 2009
Mid-Life Career Change: Finding a Life, a Meaning What Colour Is Your Parachute/MICA 2009
Why do People Go on a Life-Changing Job Hunt? • They suffer from burnout • They need time to smell the flowers • Some need to set their career path right, after straying from their original plan, • Urge to earn more money • Searching for their mission in life or raison d’etre (as people mature they start searching for meaning more than money). The advantage of doing the life-changing job hunt is obvious: it makes you rethink your goals, really think about what you want to accomplish in this life, and it’s about getting in touch with who you really are. It requires time, effort and a lot of deep thought. What Colour Is Your Parachute/MICA 2009
Know Thyself! The road to a dream job is a road that passes first of all through you! What Colour Is Your Parachute/MICA 2009
The Flower What Colour Is Your Parachute/MICA 2009
What Transferable Skills Do You Most Enjoy Using? • Your People Skills • Your Skills with Information (data) • Your skills with things? What Colour Is Your Parachute/MICA 2009
Transferable Skills “Flesh Out” Your Favourite Transferable Skills with Your Traits What Colour Is Your Parachute/MICA 2009
Conclusion What Colour Is Your Parachute/MICA 2009
Parachute is not for everyone. If you dislike thinking about your life, values, spirituality, and your goals, you will find What Colour Is Your Parachute ? incomprehensible. If you want a quick fix to your life/work problems, Parachute doesn't offer you a quick fix. What Colour Is Your Parachute/MICA 2009
The most critical part of the book is the self evaluation section. This is a very structured process that can be used intuitively as well. Bolles asks you to write a few stories about yourself, then, what did you like and dislike about those stories? What did you do well, where did you fail or feel challenged beyond your abilities? These are the critical areas of the book that take time to get through, yet you can evaluate yourself and understand what you like, it is what you do best, usually. What Colour Is Your Parachute/MICA 2009
Transferable Skills You are defined not by your job title, but by the skills that you possess, which are transferable from, and to, any occupation you may happen to be involved in at the moment. What Colour Is Your Parachute/MICA 2009
5 Tips to Starting a Second Career • Assess your likes and dislikes • Research. Identify career fields where there's opportunity for growth. • Network • Upgrade your skills and education • Evaluate your finances. Change comes at a cost (such as a pay cut) • Don't let your age get in the way What Colour Is Your Parachute/MICA 2009
‘What you have is God’s gift to you. How you use it is your gift to God and to those around you’ Anonymous What Colour Is Your Parachute/MICA 2009
Contributions & Questions What Colour Is Your Parachute/MICA 2009
Thank you for your attention What Colour Is Your Parachute/MICA 2009
Luqman Obileye • lobileye@yahoo.co.uk • 0803 334 3253 What Colour Is Your Parachute/MICA 2009