Richard N. Bolles Quotes

Designing is more appropriate because you can't possibly predict what is going to happen to you, even
next week, much less plan for it. Planning your life is becoming increasingly unreliable in today's world.
On the other hand, when you design something, it's like setting out on a journey: you assemble all the
elements necessary, even if you aren't sure which particular elements you will actually need, when the
time comes. You pack with all conceivable scenarios in mind. You may need this or that. You may not.
That's designing.

Not just one way to describe ourselves, but two ways, at least.
Not just one way to hunt for a job, but two ways, at least.
Not just one kind of job to hunt for, but two kinds of jobs, at least.
Not just one size company to go after, but two sizes, at least.
Not just one place we really would like to work at, but two places, at least.

Just because you can't find them doesn't mean they don't exist. You've got to change the way you're
looking for them. Because there are always job vacancies out there.

..in any situation we may ever find ourselves, no
matter how much we feel we are at the mercy of vast immutable forces that are totally beyond our control,
we can always find something that is within our control, however small, and work on that. Sometimes
that may only change a little, sometimes it may change a lot. You just never know. But what we do know
is that by working on even that 2 percent, it saves us from a feeling of complete powerlessness.

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

Inventiveness depends upon two habits of mind, which we can adopt and develop: attention and
curiosity.
Attention means paying attention.....
Curiosity means just that. Endlessly curious. Endlessly asking questions. Endlessly wanting to know
how, and why?

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.

It is a great victory if you learn how to survive in today's hard times; it's an even greater victory if you
help someone else survive and find meaningful work.

As most of us know, the proper attitude toward ourselves is called "good self-esteem." But self-esteem is
an art. An art of balance. A balance between thinking too little of ourselves, and thinking too much of
ourselves.
The name for thinking too much of ourselves is "egotism.

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.

..a disability is something within you. A prejudice is something within the
employer.

..don't look at yourself through their eyes. Look at yourself through your own eyes.

..it is helpful to think of your
life not in terms of work but in terms of music - particularly a symphony. A symphony, traditionally, has
four parts to it - four movements, as they're called. So does Life. There is the first movement, infancy;
then the second movement, the time of learning; the long third movement follows, the time of working; and
finally, this fourth movement, traditionally called "retirement," though now that is an increasingly
complex concept. It is much better to think of it as the Fourth Movement, a triumphant, powerful ending to
the symphony of our life here on earth.

Most job-hunters (and even a few resume writers)
assume a resume's purpose is to "sell you," or secure you a job. No, no, no. Its only purpose is to get you
an interview.
Selling is what you do after you're in the interview room. It's your task, when you're face to face, not
that piece of paper's.