Home » Quotes » 20 Wonderful Richard N. Bolles Quotes

20 Wonderful Richard N. Bolles Quotes

Richard N. Bolles is the author of the best selling book, ‘What Color Is Your Parachute.’ This infamous job hunting book has sold more than 10 million copies and changed the careers of million of readers. Here is a look at some of the most memorable Richard N. Bolles quotes to keep in mind.

“Always define WHAT you want to do with your life and WHAT you have to offer to the world, in terms of your favorite talents/gifts/skills-not in terms of a job-title.”

“I have always argued that change becomes stressful and overwhelming only when you’ve lost any sense of the constancy of your life. You need firm ground to stand on. From there, you can deal with that change.”

“I like the late Bernard Haldane’s definition of an achievement. He says it is: something you yourself feel you have done well, that you also enjoyed doing and felt proud of. In other words you are looking for an accomplishment that gave you two pleasures: enjoyment while doing it, and satisfaction from the outcome. That doesn’t mean you may not have sweated as you did it, or hated some parts of the process, but it does mean that basically you enjoyed most of the process. The pleasure was not simply in the outcome, but along the way as well.”

“I’m sure that a huge proportion of the situation you are facing, is out out of your control. There’s nothing you can do about it. But that proportion can’t be 100 percent. There’s got to be some proportion–let’s say it’s even just 2 percent–that is within your control. You can work on that. Who knows what a difference that may make!”

“In today’s world, 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.”

“Job-hunting is all about human nature, and in its essence is most like another human activity that we call dating.”

“Job-hunting is always mysterious. Sometimes mind-bogglingly mysterious. You may never understand why things sometimes work, and sometimes do not.”

“Job-hunting is, or should be, a full-time job. If your job-hunt isn’t working, you must increase the amount of time you’re devoting to your job-hunt.”

“Many people take career tests with the hope that someone can definitely tell them who they are and what they should do. No test can do that. I recommend that people use the results of their career interest tests to stimulate their own ideas about possible occupations.”

“Microcosm equals macrocosm.”

“Not for nothing is their motto TGIF – ‘Thank God It’s Friday.’ They live for the weekends, when they can go do what they really want to do.”

“Passion plus competency, not just competency alone, is key to securing employment.”

“So many times you will see people wringing their hands and saying ‘I want to know what my mission in life is,’ all the while they are cutting people off on the highway, refusing to give time to people, punishing their mate for having hurt their feelings or lying about what they did.”

“The best parts of this world were not fashioned by those who were realistic.” They were fashioned by those who dared to look hard at their wishes and then gave them horses to ride.”

“The key to a happy and fulfilling future is knowing yourself. This self-knowledge is the most important component of finding the right career.”

“The object is to keep busy being something…as opposed to doing something. We are all sent here to bring more gratitude, more kindness, more forgiveness and more love into this world. That is too big a job to be accomplished by just a few.”

“The primary purpose of a resume is to get yourself invited in for an interview.”

“There is a vast world of work out there in this country, where at least 111 million people are employed in this country alone – many of whom are bored out of their minds. All day long.”

“Unless you look dirty, wild, and disreputable, and smell really bad, if you know what your talent is, I guarantee some employer is looking for you.”

“You want to take action every day, not sit around waiting for something to happen.”

At this Google Talk, Richard Bolles discusses how to go about deciding what you will be doing in five years. Bolles provides his unique insight and perspective to his audience of Google employees and shares some of his great strategies.

About The Author
Although millions of people visit Brandon's blog each month, his path to success was not easy. Go here to read his incredible story, "From Disabled and $500k in Debt to a Pro Blogger with 5 Million Monthly Visitors." If you want to send Brandon a quick message, then visit his contact page here.