Response to Articles

This first article that I read about is titled "Laid Off? So What?" I decided to read about this one because the title caught my attention. After reading the article it seemed perfect for this class, because some of these very things were in the book, yet there was new information to me.

I learned that you should always let people you are being interviewed by know that you have been laid off, and that it is also important to explain everything you did during the layoff. I guess maybe if they think you have accomplished things during your layoff that you are a productive and motivated person. This article definitely reminded me of the readings in the resumes in cover letters section since I just read about those last week. A valuable piece of information I learned from the article is to not mention your layoff in the cover letter, because you are trying to market yourself. I'm sure that if any employer reading your cover letter knew that you had just been laid off than they would immediately be biased against you. Instead the article says you should focus on what you did at that job in your resume. This is kind of reminiscent of the indirect method we spoke about in class (for business letters).

The article also spoke about networking and interviews, which was also in the readings. Libby Pannwitt, from the article, said that you should make it seem there are no bad guys when you are laid off. I can definitely see how that is important during the interview. They don't want someone who hates their employers. It explains how crucial face-to-face communication is. In my opinion it is almost more important than your actual resume when doing an interview. This article taught me some information that I need to retain for when I am older.

The second artcile I read was "Four Questions to Ask a Potential Manager." Most of the articles had to do with interviews, so I decided to read this one because I've done a lot of reading on interviews in the book and my previous article. One thing this article wasn't clear about is when do you ask the manager these questions? Is it during the interview, or after you have already gotten the job?

The article basically says four questions to ask a manager, and based on the manager's responses what kind of person they are. I thought it was good to know because I generally either like my higher ups a lot, or I dislike them a lot. These questions can help me know before hand what I am getting myself into. I would kind of feel awkward just asking a manager these questions when I first meet him or her. I wish the article gave a bit of advice on how to bring them up. I agree when the article says that happiness can come down to your manager. I negative manager who yells a lot can bring everyone's attitudes down. I really hope when I get my first job in the real world that the manager is cool.

These articles weren't anything too new to me, but they went a little more in depth than what we have discussed in class. That taught me a few things that I'm sure will be valuable to me in the future.