Recommendation
Overview
by
ResumeEdge.com
- The Net's Premier Resume Writing and Editing Service
I. Letter
of Recommendation for Job-Searching
Letters of recommendation are convenient
substitutes for work references: they neatly sum up a previous or current
employer's perspective and allow prospective employers to avoid the sometimes
awkward and vague conversations that result from interrogating references
over the phone about your strengths and weaknesses. In addition, such letters
help prospective employers to skirt the difficulties of reaching a reference.
Finally, they are also a great advantage for the job-seeker, because they
offer concrete, credible, and readily available evidence of past accomplishments
and abilities.
If you have been laid off but left
the company on good terms, a letter of recommendation will provide prospective
employers with a credible, thorough account of why you had to leave the
company -- for instance, if the layoff was part of a general downsizing
II.
Letters of Recommendation for Applications
Most undergraduate and graduate school
applications require two or three letters of recommendation. Depending
on whether you are applying to an academic program or professional degree--
for instance, business or law school -- these letters should come from
former or current professors, employers, or supervisors who are familiar
with your work and performance.
For academic applications, letters
from teachers or professors are generally preferable to letters from employers.
Admissions officers are looking to supplement their knowledge of your academic
performance and aptitude -- gleaned from your transcript and standardized
scores -- with concrete evidence that you are a dedicated and enthusiastic
learner. Remember: most schools nowadays recognize the value of a dynamic,
diverse student body and are thus eager to fill their spots with candidates
who have been actively engaged in both academic and extracurricular activities.
These letters should reflect not only your participation and performance
in the classroom, but also your initiative (for instance, through research
projects undertaken with the professor, through leadership in group activities,
and through active contribution to classroom discussions).
If you are applying to a PhD program,
make sure that at least two out of the three recommendations come from
people within your field (or from a field that is closely related to the
one you are about to enter. for instance, you might have a letter from
a political scientist for an application to a PhD in Sociology, but you
better have a real good reason to include a letter from your Medieval Poetry
professor if you are hoping to enroll in a doctoral degree in Biochemistry). |
