Week 11 - Dealing With Disadvantages

This blog post it going to be discussing chapter nine from What Color Is Your Parachute, by Richard Bolles. The title of that chapter is "How to Deal with Any Handicaps You Have". Bolles opens the chapter talking about going on a job interview, being turned down, leaving one to question themselves on the disadvantages they have, or as Bolles calls it - Handicaps. First I do not think that word handicap is appropriate. Yes, Bolles states that handicap means disadvantages, however in society today the word handicap quickly makes one think of major disabilities one has.


Next, Bolles going onto detail about describing something that stood out. These disadvantages we have should not hold us back from employment. For example he was saying that if one is def, then they can be handicapped as this is a disability that can hold them back from performing at the workplace. Although, lets say someone is overweight, this should not be a handicap to one, unless it stops them from having a good work performance. He tries to lift people up in a way, making them see a different side of the picture. Its like the analogy of the glass being half empty or half full

Also, Bolles also encourages the reader by saying that they should not feel discouraged if they do not have the skills that other may. He makes a good point by saying that if there were a total of 4,000 skills in the world and the average person has 1,300 skills, then that still leaves them missing the other 2,700 skills. Although the average person may be missing more than half of the skills that are obtainable, they still are unique on their own. He states that just because one is lacking a skill, or "handicapped" should not create fear in one to hold them back from employment as everyone else in the world lacks certain skills also.


What I liked about this chapter is that is allows one to see things differently. Yes there is basically an endless amount of skills one can learn and master, yet everyone is not the same. This is what makes one unique from one another. So this makes me think that I may not be the same as one of my co-workers, yet that is a good thing. By being different, and having a different skill sets creates a stronger team synergy. I think its good that people are not all the same and have the same skills. Everyone in the workplace brings something different, this allows for creativity and better problem solving.


One should not feel discouraged when going on an interview if they think that they are at a disadvantage because of their looks, shape, appearance, skills, ect. They should keep in mind that its good to be different than others in some ways. If one does have a certain disadvantage that they are not happy with then if it is reasonable then they can work on improving it. Like being shy for example. Growing up I would say that I was a shy kid, but I quickly saw that being shy was not a good thing. I started to be more expressive and tried to be more extraverted when the time was appropriate. Now I can say that I am nowhere close to being shy like I once was. Just remember that its good to be your own self. Stay positive and have self-esteem and you will do great on job interviews and the workplace.
-STURCO