Comments on: What Color Is Your Parachute? Determining a Place to Live and a Job to Do

By: Becky Wooten

Becky Wooten — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 23:42:21 +0000

I have heard of this book before, and think I will go check it out at the library. I am kind of in a cross road right now with my career and family. I have a great stable job at a University though I really desire to be home with my 16 month old. I also have one more on the way that will be here in May. I guess, I can wait until it gets closer to May, however it just makes more sense to stay home with two children. I also ready your blog on staying home. I loved it! Great perspective.

By: Susan

Susan — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 02:09:13 +0000

Wow, that idea of location really struck a chord. We’re always trying to set up mobile careers so we can go anywhere we want…

By: sfordinarygirl

sfordinarygirl — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 18:00:14 +0000

SP: Have you tried local job search organizations such as the chamber of commerce or the city’s career placement services?

we waste a lot of time soul searching for our passion pondering the possibilities. but sometimes the best way of figuring it all out is to just dive in and try a job.

Karen Burns wrote a post on this very topic -
http://www.karenburnsworkinggirl.com/?p=228

I needed a job after moving back to the bay area when i left journalism. and i ended up in some random job in international business. i discovered how interesting and fascinating and in some ways a lot like journalism. i discovered how international business gives me the opportunity to do analytical things while learning to start my own global music consulting business.

But for your question on books:

Here are two books:

The Five O Clock club came highly recommended via a job search workshop.

The five o clock club publications
http://www.fiveoclockclub.com/publications1_index.shtml

Do what you are (this book came highly recommended by Penelope Trunk whose blog is a great resource)

she just wrote a great post on bad advice: do what you love – it’s awesome – http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/2007/12/18/bad-career-advice-do-what-you-love/

http://www.amazon.com/Do-What-You-Are-Personality/dp/0316167266/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198000081&sr=8-1

By: H-Bomb

H-Bomb — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 15:17:42 +0000

sp,

You are not alone. I feel the same way.
Sometimes it drives me crazy to think about it. It makes no sense to me why I can not figure out one thing that I would love to do. Sure I have a lot of likes, but nothing that I am completely passionate about. I talked about this last night with my significant other. His suggested reasoning is that I had children at a young age so I did not have the opportunity to develop hobbies. I do not think this is the case. I think I should have had something I was passionate about long before then. Even my kids have an idea what they want to do. My son wants to be an inventor and my daughter wants to be a scientist. So, why do I not know what I want to be when I grow up?

By: sp

sp — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 13:39:01 +0000

Are there any additional resources to recommend that could tell me HOW to find my passion?

I have interests and skills in a wide range of areas, but not a single thing I am passionate about. And it has ALWAYS been that way.

I have tried a number of different jobs and I suppose I could continue to try others, but I only have so many years left to live. Have also read this book once before — albeit some years ago — and was unable to pinpoint a specific career.

There is so much advice about following your heart and your passions. But what do you do when all you hear is dead silence?

By: Blue

Blue — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 12:50:54 +0000

As a 25 year old single guy with little responsibility (i.e. I rent) I have the choice of basically anywhere to live. But the job market is difficult, particularly because I have very little networking opportunities in my field (I’m a financial analyst, while everyone I know are scientists who couldn’t name the top five investment banks). So realistically, I am forced to live with whoever will hire me. Sure, it’d be nice to live in Eugene, OR. But it’d be nicer to have a good job.

By: Oswegan

Oswegan — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 07:22:19 +0000

Mine doesn’t have a color. I am tired of working.

~Oswegan

By: Ryan S.

Ryan S. — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 06:49:46 +0000

I need more of a tool to find me a cheap place to live in the same town I live. Of course, given that I live in Hawai’i, almost nowhere is cheap :)

By: Red

Red — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 21:42:34 +0000

I second Scott’s recommendation of “findyourspot.com”for pinpointing personally interesting locations (in the US). It recommended a couple places that I was already looking at, but opened up a couple more (such as Eugene, OR) that I hadn’t thought about. I’d highly recommend once you complete the survey on findyourspot to look at the towns recommended on wikipedia to get a more in depth view at your town.

Also, I really enjoyed the overview of how to search for employment in another country. This is something I’ve been interested in, but wasn’t sure how to get started, and the process outlined got me pointed in the right direction.

By: Scott

Scott — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 21:17:58 +0000

A good tool I used to find a place to live is Findyourspot.com. It asks a wide array of questions to help pinpoint where you might like to live and then gives you a top 25 list. Very helpful.

By: H-Bomb

H-Bomb — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 21:01:25 +0000

Wow, okay. I can not see how the next post turns out. i may go borrow this book now. I can picture my perfect life. A nice house, beautiful yard for the kids etc. But I am not doing anything but observing, smiling and just generally happy with my surroundings. I can not think of one single solitary activity that I would choose to be doing in that perfect environment.
I wonder what that means??

By: Writer's Coin

Writer's Coin — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 20:34:22 +0000

Fully agree on the choosing of the career part. A good way to find a good fit is when you’re going through the qualifications for different jobs and you stop trying to mold yourself into the different bullets (”I could do that”) and instead realize that, wait, you ARE the person they are looking for (”I AM that”)