The following is a guest post by Melanie Foster.
Image Credit: Explore Your Degree
Sometimes in life you’ll need a recommendation letter. Whether it’s for graduate school, employment, or even for a court to cut short jail time (hopefully the latter isn’t the case for you), recommendation letters are often a critical piece of the puzzle in achieving your professional or academic goals. But what’s the best way to ensure you get the right recommendation letter from the right person? How do you go about asking for one?
As an experienced recommendation letter writer (I was an English professor for several years), I can say there’s definitely a right and wrong way to request recommendation letters. One thing you should know from the get-go is that it’s better to get no recommendation letters at all than to receive mediocre ones. As such, you should aim to get the best letter possible. Here’s how:
Seek professionals with whom you have an actual relationship.
This is the most important piece of advice I have for young professionals seeking a letter of recommendation. Don’t ask for a letter from the CEO of your former company, someone who might not even know your name. Rather, ask for a letter from someone who’s worked with you closely and can honestly speak to your professional strengths, even if their position within that company isn’t very high. Similarly, don’t ask for a letter of a recommendation from a professor whose class you took but barely attended.
The whole point of a recommendation letter is that it gives personal insight that goes beyond accomplishments you can list on a resume. If you don’t yet have a close relationship with a former employer or professor, start developing one before requesting recommendation letters.
How do you ask for one? Just ask.
Whether you request a recommendation letter in an email, in person, or over the phone, it doesn’t really matter. It’s likely that the professional you are seeking has written many recommendation letters before. Ask politely, and be sure to give your writer ample time to produce and send the letter. A good rule of thumb is to ask at least two or three weeks before you need the letter to be sent out.
Give your recommendation writer information that will help them write a letter for you.
Even if your letter writer knows you quite well, they’ll still often need supplementary information to help them compose their letter. Send them your resume and a short, bulleted list of accomplishments that relate to the job or program for which you are applying. Many former students of mine have been shy about giving me more information, but understand that your recommendation writer absolutely needs this information.
When you send off your resume, list of accomplishments, and a short explanation detailing the position or program you’re applying for, be sure to ask your recommender if they need anything else that can make the process easier for them.
Be sure you understand precisely why you’ve decided to pursue a particular job or program of study.
While this point isn’t necessarily related to writing recommendation letters, I include it because this information has helped me write the best letters. Most of the time, my students who needed letters applied to graduate school, but many of them could not really explain or articulate in an interesting or convincing way why they wanted to apply to that specific program and that specific school.
If you’ve gotten to the point of starting the application process, whether for work or for school, stop yourself and ask why? If you can come up with a list of very specific, considered reasons this opportunity will help you achieve your future goals, then share this list with your recommender. If you can’t, then consider not applying at all.
Understand that your letter writer is doing you a favor.
Last but not least, it’s important to acknowledge that receiving a letter of recommendation is a privilege, not a right. As a former professor, I considered writing letters a standard part of my job. Still, writing recommendations is and always has been a personal favor that one person does for another. Send your recommender a prompt thank you note, and be sure to share with your recommender your success when you get the job or into the school you were aiming for. Professionals and professors love to see their students and former employees succeed.
As someone who’s also been on admissions committees before, I can say without doubt that good recommendation letters can make or break you. I’ve often admitted students to a graduate school program with mediocre grades but excellent letters. So take the recommendation letter seriously, and you’ll see what a difference a good one can make!
About the Author:
Melanie Foster is a former professor of English who now writes for a living. She enjoys giving young professionals advice about their future careers, whether it’s in academia or in the public or private sectors. You can find more of her writing at www.OnlinePhDPrograms.com.
