What Color is My Parachute? The Flower Petal Exercise

I’m working my way through the classic job search guide What Color Is Your Parachute. Here are my results from the 7-part “Flower Petal” exercise—a comprehensive self-assessment geared toward the workplace.

My Preferred Kinds of People to Work With

1. Reliable and dependable
2. Honest, people of integrity
3. Looking for and open to ways of improving
4. Have a sense of humor
5. Flexible, limited but purposeful supervision

My “Holland Code”: I like to spend time and work with the following kinds of people:

• Investigative
• Enterprising
• Conventional

(My personal Holland combination is Investigative, Artistic, and Social.)

My Favorite Working Conditions

1. Quiet (and cool…not too hot!)
2. My own dedicated workspace with space to store books, writing supplies, etc.
3. Relatively casual, comfortable
4. Has a window, natural light, view of trees/nature—with easy walking nearby
5. Flexible hours

My Favorite Transferable Skills (What I Can Do and Love to Do)

1. Use my brain
2. Solve problems
3. Develop, improve
4. Follow through, get things done
5. Research, examine, inspect, compare, see similarities and differences
6. Study, observe
7. Communicate well, in writing
8. Communicate well, in person
9. Initiate, lead, be a pioneer
10. Instruct; Teach, tutor, or train

My Strongest Traits

1. Competent
2. Knowledgeable
3. Versatile
4. Innovative
5. Resourceful
6. Dependable, Reliable, and Responsible
7. Deliberate
8. Achievement-oriented
9. Self-motivated, driven
10. Effective

My Favorite Knowledges or Fields of Interest

1. Learning, research, thinking
2. Writing and editing
3. Biblical and theological studies
4. Habits and productivity
5. Leadership

Responsibility & Salary

• I’d like to work as the head of a team.
• Salary Range: $60K-90K/year + healthcare, sick leave, vacation, and retirement/401K
• Other rewards hoped for:
  
  • adventure,
  • leadership,
  • helping others,
  • influence

My Preferred Kinds of Places to Live

1. Cool
2. Quiet, low traffic
3. Nature, walkable
4. Diverse restaurants, coffee shops, craft beer, etc.
5. Good schools
6. Low crime

My Goal, Purpose, or Mission in Life

I want to serve the world by serving the church. I want to help everyone know and love God more so that we join God in making the world a better, more beautiful place.

(Note: To learn more about me, read my story and take a look at my C.V.)