Robert Patterson - Author Guest Post

Everyone, please welcome Robert Patterson, author of Five Steps to C.A.L.M. Career and Life Management. I would like to thank Mr. Patterson for taking the time to write such a wonderfully insightful guest post for Cafe of Dreams!

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1). Blogging about Job Searches.

"Up to the Minute" News about the New Job Market.

The "New Job Market" has arrived! It’s here-we think! -For the rest of
the 2000s. And compared to the job market we knew, we don't recognize
the new "thing." The job market has really reinvented itself-and it has
almost completely transformed its inner structure. The insides of the
1990s job Market, and the Market that existed during the years before
that, simply look different from this New Job Market.

The structure and the inner workings have changed dramatically, but-
SURPRISE! - The outside appears to look about the same.
And it fools us - by allowing us to think that because it "looks the same,"
it is the same as it was.

That's why job hunters, including people laid off by the tens and hundreds-
of thousands, who haven't realized what the changes are and how
revolutionary they are-are being caught in a bad situation. They’re using
old tools for new tasks.

It's as though you were going on a vacation from your home in Ohio to
Aunt Mini’s in California and you had a full week for you to
enjoy your vacation "and then, you went out to your driveway, climbed
into your car, and drove West.

What would happen?

Well, concerning a vacation, almost nothing. You'd either get halfway to
California and realize your mistake...or you would arrive there and then discover- cover you had to turn around and come back because you'd not planned correctly- and had no time to spend visiting your aunt and relaxing.

Result you achieved: none!
Effort you expended: quite a bit.
Money you spent: too much-on gas, motels, meals, etc.

What was wrong?

You failed to analyze what the problem was, and you failed to use the
best means to solve it.

(You should have flown!)

So, instead of looking for a vacation, let's suppose you're looking for either
a new job or a new career.
Something you've trained for. Gone to school for. Borrowed money to
make possible.

This time, though, you want a good job.

No more of these jobs were you work long hours"-'-'and no more jobs
where you're doing things most of the time that you don't even like doing.

So you go looking.

You do what you've been told, of course: you look in the papers - "to see
what’s out there.

Hmmm. Not much there this week. Maybe next week will be better. Or
maybe you should try the out-of-town papers-from the "fast growth parts of
the country."

Not much next week, either. Hmmm.

You're listed with the college careers office. But it doesn't seem to have
anything for 35-year-olds alum’s.

And you decide to go looking and list yourself with the local Employment
Office-just in case it has something. People tell you it never does, but - just
in case - you go.

Hmmm. Nothing is turning up there, either.

The economy is supposed to be getting better, isn’t it? The recession is
over right? And especially here, where you live. The recession wasn’t even
that bad here, was it?

No, it wasn’t. But that’s not the problem. What’s wrong, is this; you are doing things just the way your grandfather did, and the way your father and mother did (and it never even worked that well for them, did it?). (Or are you the grandchild of a Rockefeller or J. Paul Getty?).

So your lesson is this: OLD TRICKS DON’T WORK WELL. IF AT ALL,
IN THE NEW JOB MARKETS!

So let’s tell you what’s new - and then tell you how to attack this New
Beast - and come out the winner!

The New Job Market

The job markets for this decade has brought the following profound changes.
Layoffs from large corporations have continued at a record pace,
resulting in huge numbers of highly skilled and qualified people at
all levels, competing for jobs against one another. These will continue. "You ain't seen nothing' yet!" Thus far, it has been a fact of life
in the largest companies when it hits the almost large, the medium,
and other smaller firms; you'll see even more dramatic changes.

Will it? Of course. It will hit almost everyone eventually.

Your protections- for employees and workers against losing their
Jobs-have become as rare as the dodo bird. It doesn't seem to matter
whether you are an ace-professional, super qualified and making
$150,000, or a struggling young college grad with a family to sup-
port, trying to get by on $25,000. Security in the workplace is
almost nonexistent.

Labor unions, for decades the protectors of the "little person," are
having their own troubles-which include even staying alive. In the,
past 20 years, membership in unions (organizations that you
thought would go to bat for you when things got tough-and to
which you paid millions of dollars for that service) has declined
from 35 percent of the work force in 1960 to just 11 percent!
Their operating budgets are down, and their power is crippled; and
although some improvement has been seen in union membership
rolls, the overall trend is expected to continue downward.

The kinds of jobs once "reserved" and available only "for males"
(men were the acknowledged breadwinners for families back then)
have disappeared faster than expected! Instead of large factories
breaking up into smaller factories, which we thought would then
employ the workers (perhaps at lower wages and salaries, and with
fewer benefits, but nonetheless employ them), the number of new
factory jobs created has been dismally small.

The work once done by "real men," such as your grandfathers, is
now done by automated, electronically controlled, computer-
directed, ultra-high-tech machines and robots.

And if not done by machines that replace high-cost people whom
require high-cost benefits, those jobs are either sent to
another state, or another country, where we can pay less in labor costs and fringe
benefits so that we can stay in business as an organization, rather
than have our companies go bankrupt because we can’t compete on
costs. Men who did this kind of work are having the most profound
difficulties coping in this new job market.

5. Job opportunities for females, however, are booming. Not only are
the white-collar office, computer, administrative, and other jobs
once reserved almost exclusively for females increasing at a spectacularly-
high rate (while the "men's jobs" mentioned above go down-
down-down), but the jobs once thought of as "men's work" are now
for females too. Gender equity has definitely arrived, although you
won't hear many people acknowledge it.

Is this good news? You bet it is! The more good people we have
competing for jobs, the better the quality of the person who is
selected to do the work. Male or female, young or old, the best-qualified
people are no longer a pie-in-the-sky wish: if you don't find
and hire the best people, someone else will-and your own products
and services will be below the level of acceptability.

In the male-dominated past, we were effectively depriving ourselves
of 50 percent of our potential brainpower. Gender equity, as it integrates
itself fully, will help us lead the way as a nation.

6. Normal sources for recruiting employees have become as dry as
desert oases. Employees of the type that high-tech and new-age
organizations need are harder and harder to find. And if employers:
do manage to locate qualified candidates, the odds are that those
candidates don't want to work as hard as they must when they're
on the job. If companies use "normal sources," they get either too
many applicants or too few applicants, or they get "no one who's
qualified." Because companies need fewer people than in the 1980s
and 1990s, recruiting budgets have been slashed.

One Fortune 500 company, which formerly recruited a few thousand
engineers annually nationwide, has cut its annual college recruiting
budget by 85 percent and its hiring objectives by 90 percent.

7. People work more and longer hours now, not less; we work harder,
stay there-longer each day, play less-and our "real" pay is less than
it was 10 years ago (now that a $14,000 car has risen to $24,000, an a
luxury car costs $30,000 or more, and a box of cereal is $4.50).

8. We have 'failed to come to grips, as individual human beings faced
with thousands of career options and choices, With the ultimate
question ""What do you want to do?"

People answer this just about as they did 40 years ago: undecided
and unfocused. Students get very little guidance, even at the so-
called best schools the high schools, the prep schools, the colleges,
the universities, and (yes) even the graduate schools. Adults
reply to "What are you looking for?" by either relating "What I’ve
done before" or stabbing in the dark at something they think might
be better. Has this improved since 1990?

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Of course it hasn’t.

9. Failures and mistakes are now encourage by the top management
consultants and gurus: "If you don’t allow your people to experiment,
to be creative, to use their brains, your organization will not
be a leader and an innovator...and you’ll be out of business!" That’s
good advice - great advice!

But people hunting for jobs can't make these mistakes when they’re,
making career decisions and marketing themselves! This is not the not the
time to "try things out"-unless you're independently wealthy, and
can afford to take a few years off and experiment to your heart’s
content. (The time to try things out is while you’re gainfully
employed, but on your own time, to experiment and see where you
want to make your next move, and you will make it!)

Job-hunting is not a shopping expedition! It is a very focused,
almost scientific process. But in addition, it requires a great deal of
creativity.

Have job hunters progressed in this new age? Are they doing better? Have
they caught on that "old methods don’t work" in the new age of employment?

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Of course they haven’t!

Readable Format Resumes
Have resumes changed in the last five years? No.
Are they better now? No.
Are they more creative? A little.
Is that good? No.

If you want to know how to create and use a resume that will do the job
for you, you've already bought the right book. It's not the most expensive, but
the information is the right stuff, and you'll not find it anywhere else--as far
as we know.

Here's where they go wrong:

Mistake #1.

They use the wrong typeface-usually a sans serif one--so
the resume becomes 75 percent less readable.

Mistake #2.

They use the wrong layout; they write across the page,
instead of in a narrower column, so that the resume
becomes less readable.

Mistake #3.

They use even or straight margins on both the right and left
sides (instead of a ragged or uneven; margin on the right
side, which is much better). The result is that the computer
gains control. of your all-important spacing, and the resume
becomes less readable.

Mistake #4.

They crowd everything into, one or two pages because
someone told you that "no one will read it if it's; longer
than one or two pages."
NONSENSE!
The corrected statement is this: "No one will read it-if it is
not readable."
A crowded resume is much less readable.

Mistake #5.

They spend hundreds of dollars on hiring a professional to
write your resume for you, instead of encouraging you to
take the time and the care to prepare 90 percent of your
resume yourself. If you prefer, when you have completed 90
percent of the work, you can go to the professional, for
much less money, to have either her or him put a finishing touch
on it, or to make suggestion, or to print it.
But don't let "the professional" do anything to make your
resume less readable!

2). My first Job.
My first job was a stock boy in a toy-manufacturing warehouse in Cincinnati, Ohio.

3). My worse job was at a car wash. Hmmm Hmmm.(

4). My most rewarding was becoming a minister and preacher the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Because as I began to understand what my earthly task was I began to grow and then came the writing and my other ministry of continuing to reach out to help people in a new way. There are some 1.3 million people who have either lost their jobs or will be losing their jobs or know that their job want be there much longer and are seeking a new job while they still have a job.

What better task could I ask for at this time than to be there for all those who seek the knowledge that I have been given and now have an opportunity to share with millions.(((

I hope that there was something that I have said that will help just one person that reads this peace. Furthermore, I can always be contactded via my website at

http://www.rpatters.com just logon and look for the contact icon.

Peace be to all,

Robert Patterson

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About the Book:

A father once told his young son, who was going out into the world on his own, “Son, whatever you want to become, be The Best.” This course teaches you how to be “The Best.”

It begins with instructions on how to put “The Best” of you on paper  Writing Your Resume. Then, later presenting “The Best” of you in person  Preparing for an Interview.

You’ll begin with the basic Resume Content, noting what should and should not be included in your Resume. After mastering the content, then begins the formatting of the Resume.

The author has thoughtfully provided you with a Resume checklist. Some of the questions are as follows:

Is the Resume two pages or less?(Do you realize the importance of this question?)Are the dates consistent on the left (or right) side, and limited to years?Does the language “flow” (neither stiff nor stilted)?Are Action Verbs used to your full advantage?

I would like to make a comment here; this is one of the many sections that you will utilize not only in your job search but also in your everyday associations.

C.A.L.M. gives you access to nine different categories for Action Verbs. They are listed under the headings of:

Communication Skills

Creative Skills

Detailed Skills

Financial Skills

Helping Skills

Management Skills

Manual Skills

Research Skills

Teaching Skills

You’ll be surprised how many Action Verbs from this section you will be able to include in your Resume, which will help make it more impressive to your employer.

Didn’t I tell you that employers would be impressed with your Resume? Now, you have been called for an interview! The next section of the book takes you into “Interviewing Techniques.” What other book walks you through an all-inclusive “Pre-Interview” session? Well, C.A.L.M. does, and once you have completed this lesson, you will indeed be CALM during your interview, no matter how many people may be on the panel of interviewers.

Included in the “Interviewing Techniques” section are Fashion Recommendations, which takes you step by step through the protocol for the business interview dress code, how both men and women should dress when going to an interview. Remember, your Resume may have “opened” the door, now your personal appearance may get a “foot” in that door. Here is where you put the lessons you have learned from C.A.L.M. into practice. Here’s where you sell The Product – Yourself! Don’t worry. C.A.L.M. has fully prepared you for any of the possible questions that you may be asked during the interview. You are ready for them, and you will remain CALM.

C.A.L.M. guides you step-by-step through the entire interview: from the Beginning of the Interview, during the Interview, and through the Closure of the Interview. After completing this course of study, you will glide through your interview with confidence and a sense of achievement. You will have left a favorable impression with the employer, and all because you put into practice your C.A.L.M. course of study.

While the employer is checking you out, C.A.L.M. also instructs you on how to compile a checklist of pertinent company information. Information that is important to you in helping you decide whether or not you would want to work for this firm or company.

The author has thought of everything in preparing you for the job search. He has included a web-site listing for those of you who want to do your job-hunting via the Internet.

C.A.L.M. answers all the questions you may have ever had in your previous job search. The “Who,” the “What,” the “Where,” and the “How.”

If you are willing to strike a Faustian Bargain, that is, willing to sacrifice anything to satisfy a limitless desire for knowledge, then C.A.L.M. is, without a doubt, the course of study for you.

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About the Author:

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio Reverend Robert Patterson, Sr. is the father of six children (5 sons one daughter) and the loving husband of Mrs. Linda Patterson. He is a grandfather as well as a great grandfather.

As a member of Walker Chapel AME Church (The Fifth District), he has served in various capacities, from the Usher Board to the Steward and Trustee Boards. He has taught both Sunday School and Bible Study and has served in each department to the best of his abilities.

His life reads like a road map, he is a Vietnam ERA Veteran (U.S.M.C 1961-1970), A Graduate of San Diego State University (Class of 1975). He has served as a Cable Television News Reporter, (Oceanside, CA.) Host of “Behind the Truth”, Employment Counselor Specialist, (Operation SER), Counselor-Testing Specialist, Metropolitan Area Advisory Committee (MAAC). Coordinator of Manpower, CETA Area Training Center (at Palomar Community College), Transitional Assistance Program Instructor (TAP) and was Director of Personal Affairs (Camp Pendleton, CA) and Coordinated the first ever Sickle Cell Anemia Testing in Oceanside, just to name a few of his many accomplishments.

Reverend Patterson is a strong advocate of education and cultural awareness. He likes teaching and having the interaction and discussion of both Bible Study and Sunday School with the congregation in order to get down to the nitty gritty and still be brief, be specific, and be seated.” As he is fond of saying, “The day that you stop seeking knowledge, is the day that you most surely are dead.”

You can visit his website at www.rpatters.com.

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Join Robert Patterson, author of the business book, Five Steps to C.A.L.M. (Career and Life Management) (Booksurge, 2008), as he virtually tours the blogosphere in December and January on his first virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book Promotion!