Printable Biography of Richard Bolles

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Author of the most popular career-planning and job-hunting book in the world, What Color is Your Parachute?: A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters and Career-Changers, Richard Bolles has guided millions in their quest for not only the right job but also the right life. First published in 1970, and revised, updated or rewritten annually, this world-famous book has helped people adapt to tremendous economic and social change and remains the “enduring job search bible,” according to Business Week magazine. Throughout the business world, Bolles’s theories have made an astounding impact. He coined the term the “informational interview,” which is now a world-famous method for effectively building networks, obtaining employment or making a career-change. Crossing both generational and cultural lines (the book is published in 12 languages), What Color is Your Parachute? was on the New York Times's best-seller list for a remarkable 288 weeks over the years, and is considered one of the “25 Books That Have Shaped Readers’ Lives” throughout history, by the Library of Congress's Center for the Book.

Bolles stresses the importance of managing your own life, and offers intelligent alternative strategies for doing that. He advises workers to inventory their skills, and then choose the industries and places where they most want to work rather than just approaching businesses known to have a vacancy. Ultimately, Bolles knows that people want to have a sense of mission about their work and he provides them with the guidance to plan their own destinies.

In today’s turbulent economy, Bolles’s work is being hailed as more relevant than ever. With a great sense of humor, he offers hope and the most up-to-date strategies for taking control of your life. He teaches new ways of discovering what you have to offer to the world and ways to get a job-hunt or career-change successfully accomplished, faster. He discusses the virtues and limitations of the Internet and insists that everyone— regardless of background, education or ability— can carve out a better path for themselves in this tumultuous job-market.

Bolles has frequently been described as a kind of “renaissance man,” since in addition to his command of the ways of the job-market, he has an academic background in chemical engineering, physics and Biblical studies. He served in the U.S. Navy and worked as a messenger on Wall Street before attending college. He majored in chemical engineering during two years at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and then transferred to Harvard University and earned a bachelor's degree (cum laude) in physics. He also holds a master's degree in New Testament studies from the General (Episcopal) Theological Seminary in New York City. He is a member of MENSA plus the recipient of two honorary doctorates. He has appeared on ABC TV with Ted Koppel, CBS with Diane Sawyer, and numerous other TV and radio programs.

Bolles lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and has four grown children. He continues to update What Color is Your Parachute? annually, always aiming to give his readers around the world the latest information. To date, his book has sold eight million copies.