San Jose Mercury News

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Stop. You were not “laid off.” Your “position” was “impacted” in a “restructuring brought on by business decisions.”

And no. You are not “looking for a job” right now. You are “a solution” waiting to connect with some employer who has a “pain, need or opportunity” that you can “satisfy.”

Feel better? You would if you had joined three people whom the San Jose Mercury News recently paired with career counselors. The plan: one coach, one hour, one laid-off job-seeker in search of a tune-up. We’d eavesdrop on the exchange and write about it. Then, we’d circle back in a few weeks to see if the advice helped.

With each wave of layoffs, a cottage industry of job-help startups, career advisers and life coaches continues to mushroom. So we wondered, does any of this advice actually work?

While each of our experts sported a unique style, there was plenty of overlap in their messages. In a nutshell: This isn’t about finding work. It’s about screwing your head on differently, going out on limbs and making end runs around all the other unemployed “solutions” wandering the job market.

We started with bookkeeper Elise Sandusky, one of the three laid-off Silicon Valley workers the Mercury News has followed since the beginning of the year. She has sent out more than 2,000 online r sum s, and she’s starting to get it — this ain’t working.

Maybe management consultant Abhijeet Khadilkar can jump-start her campaign. He started his job-help network CareerTiger as a way to help friends, and it’s still largely a pro-bono labor of love.

As Sandusky looks on, he hits the whiteboard and doodles out the job-creation chain, from a CEO with a need, to middle managers with a plan, to hiring managers with a posting. “They are creating a funnel, and most job-seekers’ r sum s flow in through that point. But can we do something different, maybe be part of the research before the job posting is even approved?”

Get upstream, ahead of the torrent of applicants. He drills down for details of companies she’s worked with in the past — Phillips, PG&E — and roles she’s played — quality control, billing, dispatch, operations.

“Let’s compose your ‘elevator speech,’” he says. “This should go out to the employer before a r sum . Don’t send a r sum first!”

Sandusky looks shocked. “That’s a switch.”

“When you send out a r sum ,” Khadilkar says, “you hope and you pray — that’s not a strategy.”

Her homework: Find 30 companies similar to PG&E or who are competing or partnering with PG&E. “Your job is not to go to HR, but to go to people who are doing your type of work inside those companies. Use LinkedIn to find them, request meetings, then compose a message completely customized to that position. Identify opportunities and problems they face. So it’s not an interview, it’s a sharing of ideas.”

It was Kris Rowberry, a laid-off aviation technician who used to wait hand and foot on the corporate jet set, who first came up with the off-handed job description: “I’m a concierge who sweats.”

But it was his mentor, UC-Berkeley-trained management consultant Susan Bernstein, who took it and ran. What Rowberry needed was “a verbal calling card, so that when people hear what you’re up to in the world, they want to know more.”

A hardworking “concierge” who can gas up a Learjet and unload baggage while stroking egos such as Larry Ellison’s has a good story to tell. Bernstein was going to help him tell it.

“Instead of ‘looking for a job,’” she said, “you need to hone in on, ‘This is what I do for people and I’m looking for a place to do it.’”

What did Rowberry like about his job? “Sweating my butt off for eight hours made the time fly by.” And “the camaraderie, with death at every corner, cooperation all around.” And “I like to be kept busy. If I’m busy, I’m happy.” She scribbles it all down.

Now, she tells Rowberry, “tell me a story about a time at work that felt great.”

One Sunday after Thanksgiving, he says, “We were very busy and there was no room to park any more planes, but we still managed to squeeze in a large jet and it was so cool to see all of us working together like this well-oiled machine. Nothing could stop us.”

She tells him to jot that down and save it for “the next time things get hard. It’ll bring back the memories and all the good feelings along with it.” She dug deeper. Rowberry, she determined, was not just a problem-solver, but a problem-preventer.

Tim Johnston shows up at the home of software test engineer Roopa Govindarajan, dressed in dark jeans and black T-shirt, loaded for bear. He has an intense passion about job-hunting, culled through years of recruiting for firms such as Sun, AMD and Cadence.

“I’m a hunter-gatherer of talent,” he tells Govindarajan, mother of two small boys and chronically overwhelmed by her joblessness. She tells him: “I was laid off from Citrix on Jan. 29 ...”

“Stop!” he blurts out. “Depersonalize the process. People say. ‘I lost my job’ and I’ll say ‘Where did you leave it?’ It’s not like losing your car keys. It’s not about you having done anything wrong. You weren’t laid off. Your position was impacted by a restructuring. This isn’t the time to think of ‘you’ but of how people can help you.”

Johnston is a bulldozer, plowing through his hour and leaving enough gems of advice for a job-seeker to ponder for weeks: “Companies don’t hire; hiring managers hire.”

Rethink the way you look for work. First, forget the past (“The whole ‘Why me?’ thing. You’ll never know. And it doesn’t matter.”). Second, flip things around (“Think about that interesting opportunity over at Intuit and ask yourself, who within that company sits up at 4 a.m. in a cold sweat wondering where you are?”) Her job is to find that person.

Crystal Bell is moving to China for a year to work her dream job at an art gallery — for free.

“I figured I could be poor living in Orlando, or I could be poor in China doing what I love,” Bell said.

Bell graduated in May 2008 with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts and graphic design. She had been on the job search for a year, working a few part-time jobs and doing some freelance work.

Bell had also worked a temporary position at an art gallery in New York that she had hoped would turn into a full-time job. Bell said the gallery did not have the money to hire her, so she returned to Florida.

Stories like Bell’s are not uncommon as the economy continues to falter. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers’ 2009 Student Survey, only 19.7 percent of 2009 graduates who applied for a job actually have one. This is compared to the 26 percent of those who graduated in 2008 and 51 percent of 2007’s graduating class.

Lynn Hansen, the director of UCF Career Services, acknowledged that finding a job in this economy is more challenging and hiring is down, which could be scary for students.

“I don’t want students to be overly discouraged,” Hansen said. “Don’t let that paralyze you.”

Instead, Hansen suggested students be proactive from the start. For instance, Hansen said students should be active in student organizations, take leadership roles and get relevant job opportunities.

“Having a job or an internship that is relevant to your major is critical,” Hansen said.
Allie Sheldon is also moving to China. In three weeks, Sheldon will be teaching English to high school juniors and seniors in Nanjing.

Sheldon graduated in May with a degree in anthropology and is not doing what she expected either.

“I never thought I’d be teaching, and I never thought I’d be moving to China,” Sheldon said.

Sheldon did not want to move back home without a job, but she could not find anything related to her field. Therefore, when the opportunity arose in China, she took it.

Sheldon said the combination of the economy not doing well and the entry-level jobs being taken by people with experience is the cause of her current situation.

“I don’t think I’m going to be using anything I learned at UCF at my new job,” Sheldon said. “I wish I’d done more work or volunteered in my field because I didn’t know that I had to. And it’s important, and now it’s too late.”

For Chad Dedmon, it was his experiences at UCF that he said helped his resume. Dedmon was a member of O-Team and other organizations. The opportunity to participate in those things at UCF helped him to bolster his resume more than the actual education, Dedmon said.

Dedmon, who graduated with a degree in business management in August 2008, got a job in his field. Dedmon is working as an underwriter at State Farm, but to save money he and his fiancee are living with his parents.

“I was excited to graduate, but then I graduated,” Dedmon said. “College was fun. Moving back home was the worst. It’s not that my parents are strict, but you have to adapt to living with people again. It’s awkward and not the same.”

Dedmon’s biggest goals for now are focusing on his job, getting married next March and buying a house. Dedmon also plans to return to school for his master’s degree, most likely in five to seven years.

Like Dedmon, Allie Sheldon also plans to return to school. After her year in China, Sheldon said she will probably go to graduate school.

Crystal Bell’s hope is that when she comes back the economy will have recovered.

“I’ve stopped planning ahead,” Bell said. “Trying to do that only leads to disappointment, so right now I’m trying to live in the moment.”

While both Dedmon and Sheldon said their education and experiences at UCF served them well, Bell was not as sure.

“At this point I don’t even know if it was essential,” Bell said. “If anything, it’s served as a disillusion.”

All three gave similar advice to those approaching graduation: Enjoy college while it lasts and don’t expect to find the perfect job right away.

“It’s been a process to let go of the expectations and be content with where I am,” Bell said. “I have the flexibility to hang out with friends, travel. It’s not a matter of hard work as it is the circumstances.”
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The nation's largest newspaper, USA Today, said it will eliminate about 20 newsroom jobs next month to cut costs during the weak economy.

USA Today Editor Ken Paulson told staff in a memo Sunday evening that "we're facing unprecedented economic challenges and we have to cut spending."

The cuts result in a reduction of nearly 5 percent from a newsroom that the company said now employs about 450 people.

The cuts come a year after USA Today shed about 45 newsroom positions through a buyout last November - and just a month after parent company Gannett Co. (nyse: GCI - news - people ) conducted the second round of layoffs for the year at its other properties across the country.

Affected employees will not be offered buyouts this time but will be eligible for a week of severance for every year of employment, up to 26 weeks.

Paulson's memo made no mention of whether jobs outside the newsroom would be lost. But on Monday USA Today Publisher Craig Moon said in an e-mailed statement that the paper is "looking at buyouts and restructuring across the organization as a way to address costs."

USA Today is the nation's top-selling newspaper with an average daily circulation of about 2.3 million. It has held onto its subscribers better than other newspapers but it is not immune from the industry's troubles, which include declining revenue as advertising dollars migrate to the Internet. The economic crisis has exacerbated newspapers' woes.

In a room full of bosses, look for a person displaying following traits and you will successfully identify a difficult boss.

* A person who is quick to take credit for minor and major accomplishments but is always found missing from the roster whenever anything goes wrong.

* A person who thinks he is the authority on every subject; his word is final authority and there is little room for discussion.

* A person who rarely compliments his subordinates when they do something right but one who frequently chastises them when they make any mistake.

* A person who is generous in doling out work to his team but one who is a miser when the time comes to reward them for their hard work.

Yes, this kind of a person is any employee’s nightmare.

It is often said that People do not quit a job, they quit a BOSS. Many people at different times have faced difficult bosses. They range from being a little pushy or rude to being abusive. While working with such bosses, employees are in constant psychological fear of being controlled professionally as well as personally. This results in lower self-esteem and bad performance at work.

The questions which drag the employee’s mind to nightmares are:

* How to deal with a toxic boss?
* Shall one ignore him?
* Shall one quit?
* Shall one talk to the HR?

Hence, there being no guides, set rules or handbooks on “How to tame a difficult boss”, read on to see how you can free your mind of such nightmares .

First and foremost, accept this fact that at one time during your career, you will come across such a boss and it is in your best interest to deal with such a person. A difficult boss is no different from other difficult people that you deal with in your everyday life: a difficult spouse (isn’t that redundant), a difficult house-help, a difficult sales person, and the list goes on. Hence, a difficult boss is no different, therefore, instead of running away – which you might do in the end – first exhaust all your options.

Professional Face:
You do not have to make your boss your friend or even like your boss as a person, but you do have to remain professional and get the job done and carry out his instructions dutifully until you are an employee of the organization.

Talk about your concerns:
Having discussion with your boss over concerning behaviors is a pretty alien concept in our country as it scares many employees that they will be putting their job at risk. This fear is usually justified if the boss is a control-freak and feels that his employee is threatening his control.

However, it is usually in employee’s best interest to have a professional discussion with the boss to explain to him the day-to-day problems being caused by his/her behavior. It is not right to keep your concerns bottled up inside you. It will affect your work performance and mental health.

But you can be the best judge if your boss can handle hearing your concerns in a hostile free environment. If you think it is at all not possible for you to talk to your immediate boss without having an argument, then another alternative is to go over his head and talk to his boss.

This is usually a very tricky move and must be handled with absolute care. Remember, management will usually back each other up. However, if you can present your case in a professional manner with facts to back what you are saying, and if you can make the case that your boss’s behavior will end up hurting the company, then the person is likely to pay attention to what you are saying. But you can be the best judge whether such an approach can be taken.

Analyze your actions first:
Before you go attacking your boss, ask yourself if you are doing everything right. Are you coming to work on time, are you finishing your assignments in the allotted time, are you growing as an employee? Get opinions from your coworkers about your performance. If “Yes” is what you get for an answer, try refocusing on the project at hand and see if there are any changes in the boss’s behavior.

Patience is a virtue:
You as an employee, have to learn to be extremely patient. Unfortunately if a situation occurs, where you come directly in the line of fire, never react emotionally or lose control. Losing your cool will always get you into more trouble than you started out with, as it will become a war between egos, and chances are good that your boss has a bigger ego than you do.

Put yourself in their shoes:
Instead of focusing on what you can do to change your boss, remember that your boss is also answerable to an authority above him. He might as well, at this very moment, be devising plans of how to deal with his own difficult boss and facing similar work-related issues. Focus on meeting all your deliverables. Make sure that other people also know the good work that you are doing by sending out status emails to a wider network. This way, you will not have time for ill-feelings and, additionally, you will give little ammunition to your boss to rake you over coals unnecessarily.

Sexual Harassment - Getting HR involved:
In some cases, you may need to get an HR person involved. These cases typically are of the sexual harassment nature. Whereas in the Western countries there are laws to protect employees against such behavior, our country is only now grappling with this all-too-real a workplace situation. In other words, employees are left to fend for themselves.

First, do not get overly friendly with your boss; always keep your business interactions professional. If your boss makes any advancement, firmly yet politely say no. Try not to meet the person alone. Regardless of the attitude you get from your boss, you must, at all times, remain professional and focused at your work.

If you have to get HR involved, keep written record of any untoward activity. Presenting your case accurately will help you getting a resolution. However, realize this important fact that the outcome of such a conversation may not be what you expect. Unfortunately, in some organizations such behavior by the higher-ups is not challenged. In this case, you have to decide whether you are at the end of your rope and whether any further conversation or a resignation letter is your best bet.

When everything fails Plan B works:
If nothing works and your boss remains obnoxious then you should work on a Plan B: looking for a job elsewhere and favorably, obtaining an actual job offer from another employer. Having a Plan B empowers you with the ability to walk-away at any time should the discussion gets out of hand.

General Precautions:

* Never discuss your boss with your co-workers. Your words often get back to your boss making situation even worse for you.

* Never let the word out about a new job offer or your interest in switching the job. Do it as discreetly as possible. This will avoid any unpleasant confrontations and hazards.

Good Luck!!!!