By DENNIS NISHI

If you’ve been laid off and your former employer is hiring again, you might see the news as a chance to get back to work at your old firm. But first it’s important to consider whether it’s a good idea—and whether the skills you bring are what the company needs now.

The odds of getting an old job back are good if you were let go simply for budgetary reasons and the company outlook has been improving.

But before you get too excited about trying to return, do a self-assessment—and be honest. “Sometimes there is some selectivity in who is laid off,” says Jerald Jellison, a professor of social psychology at the University of Southern California who specializes in the workplace. He recommends asking yourself whether you created any bad feelings when you left or while you were working at the company. Was your work up to par? Was your role valued in better economic times?

You also should consider whether or not you feel a renewed commitment to the work you’d be doing, says Mr. Jellison. “I liken it to returning to an old flame. Is it really a good idea? Do you really want to be there?”

What the Company Needs

Next, consider what the company will need as conditions improve. If you were a marketing manager, figure out how you could return with a new angle of attack that could help make the company more competitive. If you’ve enrolled in any courses or have time to sign up for a webinar that will bump up your skills, highlight these efforts in a cover letter.

Keep in mind that even if your old firm is starting to rebuild and your position—something like it—is resurrected, you might not get the job. Approach the application process and interview as if you were a new candidate. Fine-tune your résumé, do research that shows you haven’t fallen behind on what the company has been doing, prepare for the interview and be ready to answer tough questions.

And before you apply, contact former co-workers who have kept their jobs to assess how things are now relative to when you were there. Get up to speed on any other news that can help you understand key personnel changes or staffing needs, says Ruth K. Liebermann, managing director of HR Insourcing in Boston. “Contact your former boss and let him [or her] know that you’re interested,” says Ms. Liebermann. “Tell your boss what new initiatives you plan to bring, with the benefit of hindsight, and what new energy you have coming back.”

No Grudges

When you contact your former boss or human-resources department, assure them that you harbor no bad feelings about being laid off and are eager to return to work. If you’re trying to persuade a new boss to bring you back, focus on your accomplishments and get references to back up your claims.

If there are no full-time positions available, consider asking to work on a contract basis. The pay is often higher and, though there are no benefits, the job may eventually transition into a full-time position.

Don’t be discouraged if you get through the interview process and find out the job now pays less than you earned before. “You have to consider the market conditions,” says Paul Glen, a management consultant in Los Angeles. “Everybody is taking pay cuts and losing benefits. That will change as the economy improves.”

Write to Dennis Nishi at cjeditor@dowjones.com

iStockphoto

Farms around the world are providing amenities that rival those at top hotels and resorts.

VACATIONING ON A working farm might be rewarding and educational…but luxurious? Yes, now that farms around the world are providing amenities that rival those at top hotels and resorts. Agriculture-themed getaways let you support ethical production, learn about where your food comes from and even get hands-on experience. But the best part may be enjoying the meals made from ingredients produced right outside your window. Fair-trade coffee, heirloom veggies and grass-fed beef are par for the course at these retreats.

—Joy Y. Wang

Lynn Donaldson

Trailing yearlings on the J Bar L Ranch

Home on the Range in Montana

The sweeping vistas of the Centennial Valley inspired Peggy Dulany, granddaughter of John D. Rockefeller Jr., to buy J Bar L Ranch more than a decade ago. Today it is one of Montana’s leading producers of antibiotic- and hormone-free, grass-fed beef. Guests can accompany ranchers on horseback as they round up cattle and mend fences, or go fly-fishing on a nearby river. Cap long days of riding the range with evenings in the ranch’s hot tub. Accommodations are in a pair of early-20th-century homesteads that each sleep six, or in one-to-two-bedroom cabins. From $1,900 per person per week, jbarl.com

Gibbs Farm

Gibbs Farm, Tanzania

Turf and Safari in Tanzania

Rambling flower gardens surround Gibbs Farm, a 30-acre coffee plantation on the border of Ngorongoro Conservation Area in northern Tanzania. Guests have a wealth of activities to choose from: touring the farm, where they can help milk the cows; joining nighttime game drives; indulging in the spa or going on indigenous medicine walks led by a third-generation Masai healer. In the afternoon, tea is served on a hillside looking out on the mountains. Nearly all staff is from the nearby village, and the facilities are built with local materials and labor. Guests stay in 18 modern, airy cottages. From $812 per night, meals included, gibbsfarm.net

Nigel Swinn

Wharekauhau Lodge and Country Estate

Sheep Dreams in New Zealand

On the southern coast of North Island, Wharekauhau Lodge and Country Estate is a 5,500-acre sheep and cattle station that began operating in the 1840s. Here you can watch dogs skillfully herd cattle or experience a sheepshearing demonstration. Guest cottages (pictured) overlook unspoiled Palliser Bay; you can also rent the three-bedroom Château Wellington, which has fireplaces in each room and its own pool. In the main lodge, the chef serves meals that use fruit, vegetables and eggs from the farm. The property also houses a day spa, indoor pool, hot tub and tennis courts. From about $520 per person per night, including drinks, dinner and breakfast, wharekauhau.co.nz

Organic Eating in England

The U.K. is awash in farm-based bed-and-breakfasts, but Huntstile Organic Farm stands out for its commitment to organic practices. Located in the wildflower-dotted hills of Somerset County, the 15th-century farmhouse retains some original details, like Tudor doorways and a large stone fireplace. Owners John Ridout and Lizzie Myers farm 650 acres and raise British White cattle, chickens and bees. Huntstile has six guest rooms and a cottage with a kitchen. Breakfast is served in the former stables; lunch and supper are available Tuesday to Saturday. From $120 per night, including breakfast, huntstileorganicfarm.co.uk

Inn at Valley Farms

Inn at Valley Farms

Seasonal Sampling in New Hampshire

Spanning 105 acres, the Inn at Valley Farms in Walpole is a classic New England B&B, complete with four-poster beds and chintz prints. The property includes a working farm that gives kids a chance to interact with chickens, pigs, goats and sheep. Breakfast is made from organic produce grown on-site and served with fair-trade coffee. In addition to rooms at the inn, two country-style cottages and a farmhouse can each sleep up to six and come with their own kitchens. From $195 per night, including breakfast with inn rooms, innatvalleyfarms.com

A version of this article appeared April 28, 2012, on page D10 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: FancyaFarm Vacation?.

Alternative Investing | By GREGORY ZUCKERMAN

Q: How can one invest in bank loans ? Are there mutual funds or ETFs that invest in the area?

A: As the economy improves, investors have shifted to riskier investments, such as stocks and junk bonds. Lately, more have taken an interest in so-called leveraged loans, or those made by banks to companies with lower credit ratings. These loans can have sizable yields, a nice feature in a world where Treasurys and investment-grade bonds offer skimpy interest rates. Lately, more of these loans have been placed in vehicles called collateralized loan obligations.

Investors are flocking to leveraged loans partly because of a view that corporate defaults will stay low. These loans also kept their value better than some other investments during the financial crisis.

One newer exchange-traded fund that buys bank loans and is recommended by some advisers: The PowerShares Senior Loan Portfolio

. This fund aims to track a leading index of leveraged loans, or those made to non-investment-grade companies. It has a yield of about 4.7% and as of late April owns loans including to Tribune Co. and Clear Channel Communications, two media companies.

Floating-rate mutual funds, such as the T. Rowe Price Floating Rate Fund

and Eaton Vance Floating Rate Fund,

also buy bank loans, as well as other debt securities. They have yields of 2.6% to 4%.

Scott Miller Jr., a managing partner of Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC in Blue Bell, Pa., recommends that investors use closed-end mutual funds to invest in senior loans. Closed-end funds buy a group of loans, giving an investor diversification. And because a portfolio manager buys and sells the loans, there’s a level of due diligence that’s necessary because some of these loans can be risky.

“Even though these loans are secured by cash, assets or other property, a seasoned manager with a dependable track record is essential to avoid” losses caused by defaults and other issues, he says.

As with any closed-end fund, those that trade at a premium to their net asset value are least attractive, advisers say. Buying a bank-loan closed-end fund at a discount to its NAV provides a better chance for safety and higher return than buying a fund at a premium or a new issue.

Investments in bank loans could do better than bonds if inflation flares up and interest rates climb. That’s because many of these loans are short term and their rates float. So if inflation rises and rates jump, the loans will be replaced by new, higher-yielding loans, helping an investor, advisers say.

But returns are not likely to match those of stocks or junk bonds if the economy continues to improve. And if the economy slips, loan defaults could rise, hurting these investments.

Mr. Miller notes that these loans are usually illiquid, or can be hard to sell at short notice without moving prices. And prices can tumble if a loan payment is missed. That’s why most of the mutual funds focused on this investment can only be redeemed quarterly, reducing their attractiveness, some advisers say.

Q: Are managed-futures mutual funds good investments in this rocky market?

A: Managed-futures traders use futures contracts to bet on commodities, currencies and other investments. Returns from managed-futures investing often are not correlated to stock and bond markets, which is one reason this area has attracted a surge of money in recent years. Some managed-futures investors bucked the market in 2008. Mutual funds have been rolled out that allow individuals to make these kinds of investments.

“Unlike most traditional investments, the performance of managed-futures funds is based on factors such as trend following, price movement and volatility rather than economic fundamentals,” says Robert Benson, chief investment officer at Laird Norton Tyee, a wealth-management firm in Seattle.

But there are real dangers. For one thing, Bradley Alford, chief investment officer of Alpha Capital Management, in Atlanta, warns there often are hefty fees that investors may not be aware of. “I don’t like these products, the fees are high and it can be hard to figure out all the underlying fees,” Mr. Alford says.

Indeed, managed-futures funds aren’t required to spell out all their fees. Terry Tian, an analyst at Morningstar, says some larger funds have annual expense ratios of as much as 5%, even though their websites list fees of only about 2%. “It’s very hard for investors to know” what they’re paying, he says.

Many also don’t fully divulge details of their investments. Funds often do much or all of their investing through offshore subsidiaries, giving them favorable tax treatment for investment gains, Mr. Tian says. But some of those subsidiaries also pay fees to investment advisers. Some say these performance-based fees can act as an incentive for an investment manager to take bigger risks in search of bigger payoffs. Investors usually aren’t told how much the managers are paid.

An alternative for investors who qualify is to invest directly in a managed-futures trading firm.

Mr. Zuckerman is a special writer for The Wall Street Journal in New York. He can be reached at gregory.zuckerman@wsj.com. Send questions about alternative investing to reports@wsj.com.

A version of this article appeared April 30, 2012, on page R2 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Don’t Bank On It.

By JULIET CHUNG

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.

$1.05 million

A 3,700-square-foot home, with three bedrooms and three baths, on 0.75 acre looking over the 18th hole of a private golf course

DETAILS: This single-story, Southwest contemporary-style home, built in 1991, has a U-shaped floor plan, beamed ceilings and a two-way fireplace dividing the kitchen from the family room. There’s a pool and mountain views.

FORE!: Troon Country Club has a 50,000-square-foot clubhouse with spa and exercise facilities, as well as a pool and tennis courts

REFUELING: The Quail’s Nest and Lounge, in the clubhouse, offers free hors d’oeuvres, including oysters on the half-shell and sliders, after a round of golf.

FRIDAY’S FORECAST: Partly cloudy, high 86 degrees

SOURCE:
Margy Senna, Russ Lyon Sotheby’s International Realty, 602-622-1388, margy@azgolfproperties.com

BOCA RATON, Fla.

$1.05 million

An almost 2,600-square-foot contemporary with three bedrooms and three baths, on 0.25 acre, overlooking the 15th tee

DETAILS: The home, renovated in 2007, comes furnished and features a double-height great room and dining room, glass walls overlooking a pool and garden and his-and-hers baths in the master suite.

FORE!: The Polo Club of Boca Raton, a gated country-club community, has two private 18-hole golf courses, a 145,000-square-foot clubhouse, a tennis complex and a 40,000-square-foot spa-fitness center.

REFUELING: The Polo Pub, in the clubhouse, offers post-golf dining and complimentary postgame hors d’oeuvres, including wings and hot dogs.

FRIDAY’S FORECAST: Chance of showers, high 79 degrees

SOURCE:
Thomas Walsh, Premier Estate Properties, a Christie’s Great Estates affiliate, 561-573-2226, thomaswalsh@bellsouth.net

LAS VEGAS

$1.1 million

A 4,200-square-foot Mediterranean-style home with four bedrooms and four baths on 0.25 acre, with views of three fairways

DETAILS: This single-story, 2002 home has several fireplaces and a great room with ceilings of more than 20 feet. A patio overlooks one of the two golf courses. The master bath has a black granite shower.

FORE!: Red Rock Country Club has two Arnold Palmer-designed golf courses—one private, one public (the home overlooks the public course). A roughly 10,000-square-foot sports club features gym, pool, tennis and spa facilities. There’s also a 44,000-square-foot main clubhouse.

REFUELING: The Oasis Grill, on site, serves a shrimp-and-crab BLT with avocado ($14).

FRIDAY’S FORECAST: Partly cloudy, high 82 degrees

SOURCE:
Pawel Szott, Realty Executives, 702-349-2131, szott@cox.net; Realtor.com