How not to get a recommendation letter
Last month I was approached by one of my team members -"Bob".- He wants to apply to B-School and wants me to write his recommendation. Although I have not officially announced my B-School plans to my team in general, I suspect that the folks do know about my plans to attend B-School. Anyways, last week, he stopped and told me that he has decided to apply to Insead and that I need to finish up by May 10. Now here are some things that one should do if they don't want an effective recommendation letter. Bob is doing all of these things and as much as I want to write a good letter for him, I honestly don't think that the letter will be good enough.
- Don't give your recommender time to write
While I would love to help him, my schedule happens to be really packed for the next week. I will be finishing up the letter in time, but it would have been nice if I had more time to write.
- Don't explain your resume
While I have worked with Bob over the years, I am do not have any clue as to how some of things mentioned in his resume actually translate to anything worthy of putting in the letter. More specifically, his resume is full of technical accomplishments but I am actually having a hard time remembering exemplary leadership contributions.
-Don't give any background of your school
Although, I know of Insead, I really do not know what the core values of the school are. I think that if a recommender can add another dimension that relates well with the core values of the school, the recommendation letter has an added punch.
-Don't give any sample letters
No, I am not asking for a draft but some example of what type of letter is needed. European schools have a slightly different format and I wish I did not have to go and research what format/content to use.
-Don't explain your goals or objectives
In my opinion, one should provide a draft of the essay so that the recommender can align some of the answers where relevant. For example, if the leadership example mentioned was something that I could comment on, it would make the overall application a lot more powerful if I mentioned this in the letter.
In any case, it seems weird to be in this position, and I have set up another meeting with Bob to get clarification on some points. I really hope this works out for him ...
- Don't give your recommender time to write
While I would love to help him, my schedule happens to be really packed for the next week. I will be finishing up the letter in time, but it would have been nice if I had more time to write.
- Don't explain your resume
While I have worked with Bob over the years, I am do not have any clue as to how some of things mentioned in his resume actually translate to anything worthy of putting in the letter. More specifically, his resume is full of technical accomplishments but I am actually having a hard time remembering exemplary leadership contributions.
-Don't give any background of your school
Although, I know of Insead, I really do not know what the core values of the school are. I think that if a recommender can add another dimension that relates well with the core values of the school, the recommendation letter has an added punch.
-Don't give any sample letters
No, I am not asking for a draft but some example of what type of letter is needed. European schools have a slightly different format and I wish I did not have to go and research what format/content to use.
-Don't explain your goals or objectives
In my opinion, one should provide a draft of the essay so that the recommender can align some of the answers where relevant. For example, if the leadership example mentioned was something that I could comment on, it would make the overall application a lot more powerful if I mentioned this in the letter.
In any case, it seems weird to be in this position, and I have set up another meeting with Bob to get clarification on some points. I really hope this works out for him ...
posted by FooBarMe at
8:23 AM
12 Comments:
This is such a great post. I think a lot of people just assume that recomendations are out of their hands and make all the mistakes you listed up above. I think the trick is to link up your essays with your recomendation. Your entire application package should be written in the same language and should tell the same story.
By
Marina, at May 01, 2006 10:00 PM
i think that's one of the very good posts. not everyone of us realise how best to help managers craft a good recommendation, and i believe your post will surely assist all such people.
By
Forrest Gump, at May 01, 2006 11:09 PM
What an asshat. And this guy expects to receive an acceptance anywhere?
I approached my recommenders 6 months ago and have followed-up with each of them every month letting them know that I will soon be approaching them for my applications this year (Class of 2009).
Some pointers:
1) DO NOT expect a recommendation letter to be worth much unless you provide your recommenders with your essays for your application(s). Your recommendations and your essays have to communicate the SAME POINTS.
That is, if you say you are a good leader, etc. and your recommendation does not state this, you might as well ding yourself because AdComs look for consistency in these items.
2) Give your recommender PLENTY of notice.
3) Show your recommender a previous years recommendation materials, WELL BEFORE you will need their services, so they know how much time they will need to set aside.
4) Give your recommender AS MUCH information as possible! Essays, copy of your applications. Essentially ANYTHING that will help them understand who you are so they can communicate as such in your recommendation letter.
5) Budget anywhere from $50 - $100 for a nice gift FOR EACH recommender. I plan to purchase each of my recommenders a Mont Blanc pen.
Remember, they are writing approximately 1,000 PER APPLICATION you want to submit.
In other words, if you have three recommenders and plan to use them for each of your (5) applications, expect each recommender to write approximately 5,000 words.
This is A GREAT DEAL OF WORK!!!
By
Anonymous, at May 02, 2006 6:32 AM
You are right on. Perhaps you should mention all these points to Bob? It seems he may be clueless to all this (and didn't do his research well), but I know people do appreciate the wise advice. He chose you as a recommender because he looks up to you. So, help to give the lost soul a gentle knudge in the right direction? :-)
By
i_will_make_it, at May 02, 2006 9:51 AM
BTW, forgot to mention. Love the new painting!
By
i_will_make_it, at May 02, 2006 1:37 PM
Ditto what everyone has said. Maybe "Bob" is rushing his application? Might be worthwhile to speak to him about applying later, etc.
By
SgHama, at May 03, 2006 1:02 AM
Good post. Despite Bob's attitude, I feel that personally you should have a frank discussion with him and ask him to explain his story to you. He should be more careful, but lets just give him the benefit of doubt.
By
Unknown, at May 04, 2006 10:56 AM
Great post!
There's also the McKinsey ppt that talks about how to coach your recommenders:
http://s2s.wharton.upenn.edu/wh-wharton/messages?msg=6482.2
The other thing to point out is that when one of your recommenders asks you to write the entire recommendation for them, you have to be extremely conscious about the tone you use in the recommendation so that it doesn't sound exactly like the tone in your essays (obviously, the story should be consistent and the recommendations should highlight the same points you stress in your essays, giving them credibility; what I mean is if your recommender is a 40-yr old MD with 15 yrs in the industry, the recommendation you write on his behalf had better not sound like something written by a 24-yr old analyst). This is a lot easier said than done.
By
DesiGalNYC, at May 04, 2006 7:14 PM
Great tips for the recomendations. This helped me alot.
By
Anonymous, at May 05, 2006 4:25 PM
This s such a wonderful post. Kudos to you!!!
-Sandeep
By
Sandeep, at May 26, 2010 9:38 PM
Interesting article, added his blog to Favorites
By
cialis, at November 24, 2010 3:39 AM
Interesting post. Cheers to the author!
By
Satyesm, at July 23, 2013 6:04 PM
Post a Comment
<< Home