There was a lot of information about cover letters on that web site. One thing I did not like about it was the negative tone that the writer had. He or she just seemed miserable. Other than that I pretty much agreed with all of the advice that this article offered. I thought it was amusing that the writer said that most cover letters aren't even read. This fact didn't really surprise me at all. Since we already learned that many resumes are electronic and never even read, I figured most cover letters aren't read. I learned that cover letters shouldn't be about me and that they should be more about the company. This makes sense since our resume shows off all of our qualifications and achievements. I'm not sure if I completely agree that sending out resumes is just sending out rejection letters. I understand that the most important part is moving through recruiting programs.
I liked how the advice compared writing our cover letters to selling a product. This makes sense since we are essentially selling ourselves and our abilities. I like how in the cover letter formula section they gave you examples of things to put in your letter. This is probably the most important section of the tutorial for me. Knowing what to put and what order to put everything in pretty much what the cover letter is all about. The example also helped a lot. It gave me ideas on how to word things.
A new thing that I learned in the tutorial was the postscript technique. It's a small thing that can really help improve your impression on whoever is reading your cover letter. Testimonials are also something new that I never learned about before. It's sort of like just taking quotes out of a letter of recommendation and putting them in your cover letter. I wish I had some testimonials to put in my cover letter for the mock interviews. Hopefully I will be able to incorporate some of this information in my cover letter.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Thursday, September 11, 2008
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.
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.
Monday, September 1, 2008
My Future
To be honest I have not given my future too much thought. This post is my opportunity to think about what I would like to be doing in about 10 years. I'm the kind of guy that has not even thought about my next semester. I guess that I kind of live in the present, but I don't do stupid decisions that I know will negatively effect my future.
In 10 years I will be 30 years old. That's scary to think about. To start off I'll talk about how I want my personal life to be. Hopefully by then I will have met that special girl and have a girlfriend or possibly be married. I am still not sure yet if I want to have children at all, but I know for sure I do not want to have children at 30. Maybe I will just have a dog or cat. Hopefully I'm not living too far away from my family. Right now and most likely in the future my family will still be around the Greenville area. I really hate the heat down in South Carolina, so I wouldn't mind maybe living in a state like North Carolina or Virginia. I used to live up in Vermont, but the weather is a little too cold there live in.
As far as my career is concerned, I was thinking about being some sort of financial analyst. There are a lot of different kinds of financial analysts, but I'm not sure exactly what kind I want to be yet. All I know is that I do not want to be a workaholic and work nights and weekends. I'd be happy with an 8-5 job. Money is not really what makes me happy. I'm happy with just an average income. Truly I would love to get involved in investing or working in some sort of sports gym or tennis center, which leads me to the next aspect of my life.
I hope to still be in pretty good shape. Right now I'm fairly muscular from when I used to lift weights religiously. I hope to maybe be lifting once or twice a week when I'm older, so I look healthy. I also want to still be playing tennis once or twice a week. I'm a huge tennis fan and I love to watch and play the sport, and I don't ever want that to change.
Currently my family is all very tight nit. Pretty much everyone talks to each other a couple times a week. I hope that my family is still like this in the future. I'm sure my two married sisters will have children by then, so it will be fun to watch our family grow. I also pray to God that everyone in our family is still healthy. My parents will be over 60, so I hope that when I'm 30 I get to see them a lot and take care of them.
Venting about this almost makes me feel sad. Just knowing that everything will be so different frightens me. I don't like to think that these are the best years of my life. I try to stay positive. The future is inevitable, so the best time to prepare for it is now.
In 10 years I will be 30 years old. That's scary to think about. To start off I'll talk about how I want my personal life to be. Hopefully by then I will have met that special girl and have a girlfriend or possibly be married. I am still not sure yet if I want to have children at all, but I know for sure I do not want to have children at 30. Maybe I will just have a dog or cat. Hopefully I'm not living too far away from my family. Right now and most likely in the future my family will still be around the Greenville area. I really hate the heat down in South Carolina, so I wouldn't mind maybe living in a state like North Carolina or Virginia. I used to live up in Vermont, but the weather is a little too cold there live in.
As far as my career is concerned, I was thinking about being some sort of financial analyst. There are a lot of different kinds of financial analysts, but I'm not sure exactly what kind I want to be yet. All I know is that I do not want to be a workaholic and work nights and weekends. I'd be happy with an 8-5 job. Money is not really what makes me happy. I'm happy with just an average income. Truly I would love to get involved in investing or working in some sort of sports gym or tennis center, which leads me to the next aspect of my life.
I hope to still be in pretty good shape. Right now I'm fairly muscular from when I used to lift weights religiously. I hope to maybe be lifting once or twice a week when I'm older, so I look healthy. I also want to still be playing tennis once or twice a week. I'm a huge tennis fan and I love to watch and play the sport, and I don't ever want that to change.
Currently my family is all very tight nit. Pretty much everyone talks to each other a couple times a week. I hope that my family is still like this in the future. I'm sure my two married sisters will have children by then, so it will be fun to watch our family grow. I also pray to God that everyone in our family is still healthy. My parents will be over 60, so I hope that when I'm 30 I get to see them a lot and take care of them.
Venting about this almost makes me feel sad. Just knowing that everything will be so different frightens me. I don't like to think that these are the best years of my life. I try to stay positive. The future is inevitable, so the best time to prepare for it is now.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Web 2.0
I had to watch this video more than once to get the full grasp of it since it moves so quickly. I think that the part from the title "Us/ing us" means that we are using the internet to do so much in our lives, but most of us don't fully understand it. I'm sure that the little background information on HTML and XML lost a lot of people. I know a little bit about it, but not much. Web 2.0 is changing our lives drastically. When we get a job in the real world, we will be doing things way differently than people who did that job ten or fifteen years ago. It is important that we learn how to use the internet safely. My sister once had her credit card information stolen. She probably went on an unsecured web site. Web 2.0 is worse for people who are already in the work force. They have to relearn how to do everything electronically now. Our generation grew up with computers, so we have an advantage. I can do a lot of things with the internet, but my parents barely even know how to check their email. We can almost use this as an advantage when trying to get a job. I don't really agree with what it said we will have to "rethink everything." It's not like the internet just popped up overnight. I was confused why we would have to rethink things like 'love' and 'family'. I thought it was funny how the author went on wikipedia and just deleted everything on that page to try and prove a point.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Introduction to My Life
Hello, my name is Kenny D. I am currently a junior at Clemson University majoring in Financial Management. I'm not really even sure if I enjoy Finance since I am finally taking my first class in it this semester. I am a big fan of any sports teams from Boston, and I was severely disappointed when the Patriots lost the Super Bowl. Before attending Clemson I went to high school in Vermont. Sometimes I miss the weather up there when it scorching hot here, but I am so happy to not have to deal with 3 feet of snow down here.
I love hanging out with family and friends. I'm not really into just sitting around and talking. I like to try and be active. I enjoy playing sports such as tennis and football. Tennis is probably my favorite sport overall to watch and play. I'm hoping that Roger Federer can make a comeback next year and regain the world number 1 ranking. I also watch a lot of movies in my spare time. I firmly believe that a movie's top priority is to entertain, so I hate it when people give movies bad reviews if it isn't perfect. I am looking forward to this course and getting to vent my feelings on this blog weekly.
I love hanging out with family and friends. I'm not really into just sitting around and talking. I like to try and be active. I enjoy playing sports such as tennis and football. Tennis is probably my favorite sport overall to watch and play. I'm hoping that Roger Federer can make a comeback next year and regain the world number 1 ranking. I also watch a lot of movies in my spare time. I firmly believe that a movie's top priority is to entertain, so I hate it when people give movies bad reviews if it isn't perfect. I am looking forward to this course and getting to vent my feelings on this blog weekly.
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