What Color Is Your Parachute - Ch1 - There are Always Jobs Out There

The first chapter is both compassionate and realistic. (The Introduction and Preface are also worth reading, to get a sense of context, to get to know the author)

Nelson Bolles, the author, has a kindness about him and the way he regards things, but you can also place faith in his realism, because he has a knack for digging deep into the background. So he's not just writing down his personal thoughts - he's done the (hard) work of really understanding the job market, all the statistics, all the "hard data". So his perspective is valuable, because it's based on thorough research.

But as a reader, you're not just a statistic - the author does seem to truly care. He cares enough to take an entire week, four times a year, just to talk to job searchers, to keep up to date with what they're saying, to really listen to them. He's aware of what's going on, what things are like out there.

Chapter 1 is pretty light, it starts out including some of the things people are saying, what they are going through, and that's addressed, and then what the chapter goes on to say is to tell the reality of the job market - not gloss over things, not sweep things under the carpet, but not to foretell doom and gloom either. Realism.

And I like that he critiques the media a little bit, in terms of how dire the picture is painted, and I agree with his critique. Sometimes journalists, in an attempt to get readership, may dramatize things in a way that doesn't give the whole picture. A sensationalist headline is more likely to get read than a drab one. Dire predictions are more likely to get clicked on than just saying what the situation is.

So the reality of all the people who are out of work is addressed, but basically, through relating statistics in an easy to understand way, the author shows how things have pretty much always been this way. That is, that there always has been millions who can't find work, so while the numbers might be higher, even in the best of times, there are always those who haven't found, won't find, or who give up on finding work. So the media will claim statistics, and the impression you get is not really based on considering that even though the numbers increase, millions are always out of work.

The point is not to discourage, but to address the possibility of finding work. And month by month statistics are given about the number of jobs that are available and being created, the number of people being hired, and things like the continual need of the 178 million people who are working, to buy things.

And the chapter ends up with a good thought: "Even in the worst of times, people in the U.S. have been finding jobs in the millions, this month and every month. Moreover, after that, millions of vacancies remain unfilled . . . all of this is an opportunity for you, if you are willing to roll up your sleeves and spend some decent time doing some hard work figuring out where you want to go with your life, and mastering job-hunting skills that are more than just elementary . . ."