What Color is Your Parachute? Dr. Ed Iannuccilli

What Color is Your Parachute? Dr. Ed Iannuccilli

I enjoy interviewing students who are applying to medical school. Of late, I have offered them a grounding interview so they can anticipate, understand and comfortably answer any question. I instruct them on how to position themselves as a worthy, qualified, desirable applicants; how to separate themselves from a competent crowd. The interview also helps me if I am asked to write a letter of recommendation.

I had not heard the question until the day my grandson was interviewed for Providence College (he was accepted). His evaluator was a former trustee, professor, community leader, banking official and savvy interrogator who asked me to sit in. I listened with some apprehension, but I quickly relaxed as I saw how well Andrew was handling the questions. Until this one, dropped in at the end: “Andrew, what color is your parachute?”

“Uhhh, I don’t have a parachute.”

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“That’s OK. Don’t worry about it.”  ‘You did very well.”

I wondered where the question originated. I too would have been stumped.  It stemmed from a popular, self-help book, What Color Is Your Parachute?  by Richard Nelson Bolles and is the world’s most popular, self-help, job-hunting guide, with more than ten million copies sold. Among many things, it is a practical manual that provides essential tips for writing resumes and cover letters, networking effectively, and interviewing with confidence.

I liked the question so I thought I would use it in my interview of medical school applicants with the intention of improving their chances of getting accepted, helping them prepare, enhance their competitiveness, and seeing how they might react to a curve ball query. The answers were interesting, amusing (one quite humorous), and informative.

­­--- My parachute is black. ---Why black? ---Because I always see the glass half full. I’m a pessimist.  ---I am surprised. Your responses to my questions reflect confidence. Where did that answer arise? ---My mother. She’s a worry-wort.

---Well, don’t let that come across in your medical school interview. Change that attitude. ---OK, good advice, Dr. I.  He was accepted.

This answer from an entertaining young man was more amusing.  I reviewed his resume before the interview. It was impressive . . . good grades, a good test score, wonderful letters, top-notch extracurricular activities, including research. But it was not one that stood out as so many of the well-qualified applicants I had seen hit the same marks. I always look for something different. And I was pleasantly surprised.

He answered with an amused, easy confidence. --- Teal! My parachute is teal. 

---Teal? Why teal?  ---Well, maybe because I am an Improv actor and have been doing it in a company for two years.

---Improv? Why is that not on your resume? ---I didn’t think it was that important.

---Young man, it is what sets you apart from your competition. Be sure to include it.

I had never met an Improv actor. Teal. I loved it.

Yes, he too was accepted.

Dr. Ed Iannuccilli is the author of three popular memoirs, “Growing up Italian; Grandfather’s Fig Tree and Other Stories”, “What Ever Happened to Sunday Dinner” and “My Story Continues: From Neighborhood to Junior High.”  Learn more here.