The Parachute Approach

When you hit a wall in your traditional job-hunt, do not give up. Instead, chapter 6 of What Color is Your Parachute tells us that you need to change the way you are going about it by trying the parachute approach. The traditional approach to job-hunting or a career-change begins with the job market, looking for openings, creating a resume, and waiting to hear from any employer. On the other hand, the parachute approach begins with looking at yourself and what you love to do, looking for organizations that match you regardless of their open positions, and approaching them through a bridge-person rather than a resume. When you are struggling with the traditional approach, you are looking for a job, any job, you begin viewing yourself as a “job-beggar” that would be lucky to get one, you try to “sell” yourself to employers, and you research the job-market and only approach employers with posted vacancies.

With the parachute approach, you are looking for a “dream job in your favorite field, you view yourself as a “resource” that any employer would value, you research yourself to find out your strengths and passions so your enthusiasm for what you want to do replaces the need to practice “selling” yourself. With the parachute approach, you go contact the organizations that you really want to be a part of and use your contacts to get an introduction so that you are not limiting yourself to only those organizations that have listed openings. The parachute approach enables you to reflect on you are and what you want out of life. It is about stepping back from the endless monotony of the job-hunt to reassess and start anew with a fresh mindset. When you are feeling stalled in your job-hunting and have lost your energy, follow the parachute method to discover your passion and go after it with a reinvigorated and enlivened approach.

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