What Color Is Your Parachute?
What Color Is Your Parachute? by Richard Bollesby Richard Bolles
Shares rank 13 of 22 self-help books by recommenders
People recommend it for choosing a career or next career step, with a targeted approach to job hunting and practical exercises. No critical quotes were found.
People recommend it for choosing a career or next career step, with a targeted approach to job hunting and practical exercises. No critical quotes were found.
4 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 4
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 4 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Useful for choosing a career
“valuable book on choosing a career or next career step”
Comment from 10 May 2026 in “I Caught the Car” Teaches a targeted job-hunt approach
“That whole book is basically how to target like this.”
Comment from 20 Jan 2026 in “Targeted Bets: An alternative approach to the job hunt” Practical, useful exercises
“the exercises in that book really are great stuff”
Comment from 18 Aug 2026 in “Ask HN: Does anyone else feel like nothing matters anymore?”
Other self-help books people recommend
The four most recommended other self-help books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| How to Win Friends and Influence Peopleby Dale Carnegie | 67 | 25 | 73% | 11 | — | Approved |
| Atomic Habitsby James Clear | 20 | 2 | 91% | 11 | — | Approved |
| The Easy Way to Stop Smokingby Allen Carr | 9 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | — |
| Feeling Goodby David Burns | 8 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | — |
| What Color Is Your Parachute?by Richard BollesThis page | 4 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
All 4 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“the exercises in that book really are great stuff”
“valuable book on choosing a career or next career step”
“I have heard, but have not read, 'What color is my parachute' is a great book for that.”
“That whole book is basically how to target like this.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.