8. With so much advice out there today, how should a job seeker determine who to listen to?
Now you can't seriously ask me that question and expect any other answer than "Me." Of course. Ten million people have used my book. It's the best-selling job-hunting book in the world, and has been for forty years. There's a reason. It isn't just curiosity. The book actually works. And it's updated, sometimes dramatically, every year. Especially this year.


9. What are one or two essential updates to the book, in the new 2012 edition, that every job seeker must know? Well, first of all, how to upgrade their job-hunting skills. Most people have job-hunting skills that work perfectly well in a good economy (how to write a resume, how to use social media, how to conduct an interview; period!) but prove woefully inadequate in a bad economy. Job-hunters have got to understand that job-hunting has become a survival skill, and requires advanced job-hunting strategies, not the elementary ones that work well only in good times.

And the second essential update is: Google is the new resume that employers look at, by putting your name into the search engine, when considering hiring you. Clean up your entries on the Internet, so you come across as both a professional and also a human being. Human, not perfect. Nobody can stand being around a "perfect" person.


10. Why do you think your book has been a perennial favorite and stood the test of time? I haven't the foggiest idea. Maybe it's because it's updated every year. Maybe it's because people like my warped sense of humor about everything. Maybe it's because the book, faithfully followed, actually works, especially in hard times. Or maybe it's because it is a Book of Hope masquerading as a job-hunting manual. I do teach Hope. Also, if I'm lucky: kindness, grace, and compassion.

This concludes our interview series with Mr. Bolles. I hope you enjoyed. Lots more author interviews coming up so stay tuned.




Our Main Sponsor