What Color Is Your Parachute 2018 by Richard N. Bolles copy

CHAPTER 3
There Are Over Ten Million
Vacancies Available Each Month
The Job-Hunt Hasn’t Changed in Its
Essence Since 2008
Yes, I know this contradicts what I said in the first chapter. But there you
have it. Both things are true: the job-hunt has changed dramatically since
2008, yet the job-hunt hasn’t really changed at all since 2008.
How can they both be true? The answer lies in the distinction between
essence and surface behavior or form.
The surface behavior or form of the job-hunt is always changing, often
dramatically, as we saw in the first and second chapters. This, because jobhunt
behavior at any given time is determined by the current technology.
And when a new technology arises—think computers, think Internet, think
smartphone, think digital resumes, think the Internet of Things—jobhunting
alters. On the surface.
But beneath all surface change, the essence of the job-hunt never really
changes. Job-hunting is all about human nature, and in its essence is most
like the human activity that we call dating. Both shake down to: “Do you
like me?” and “Do I like you?” If the answer to both is “Yes,” then it’s
“Do you want to try goin’ steady?” In dating. In job-hunting. So, if you
focus on essence rather than form, the job-hunt remains essentially
constant year after year.
First question: “Do you like me?” In the job-interview that means “Hey
employer, you are looking for someone who can do this thing that you
want done, and can get along with you and the other people here. So, given
that, do you like me?”