Job Hunting

Chapter 1 of the "What Color Is Your Parachute 2016?" book by Richard N. Bolles talks a lot about what is going on currently in the job market. The first chapter starts out by describing what happened that made jobs so hard to find, and this happening was the Great Recession in 2008. It is very strange to think that the recession was the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. At 21 years old you do not expect to have lived through the second worst financial crisis ever and not even know how bad it truly was.

The author begins by discussing what has changed since 2008 and how we, as job seekers, need to notice these changes in order to be successful. One point he brings up is that employers have a hard time filling jobs when the economy is good but when the economy is bad companies change the way they seek employees so it makes it seem almost impossible to find a job even though there are tons. Bolles says that job seekers need to really learn what it is employers are doing to hire employees at that specific time because just turning in a resume will not cut it anymore.

Another point Bolles brings up is that it is much harder to get a decent paying salary today versus 7 years ago. By this he means that to get an average salary you need to go to at least four years of school, if not more. You cannot expect to get any good paying job without a degree. He also put a list of high paying jobs that require a degree and one of them, number two, was a food scientist. I never knew that food science was something you could study nor did I ever think it would be a job you could pursue. I looked a little more into the field and it actually is not as exciting as I initially thought it was going to be. Food Scientists basically make sure that food is stored properly and look for quality assurance in food preparation and storage.

This picture shows what a food scienist does, how much they make, and what education is required. This was one of the examples Bolles had in the list of the 19 least stressful, but well paying jobs. 

Picture Citation: 

Jacquelyn Smith, "19 High-Paying Jobs for People Who Don't Like Stress." Business Insider. March 26, 2015, http://www.businessinsider.com/high-paying-jobs-that-arent-too-stressful-2015-3?op=1