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GMAT 2009

How to manage Recommendation Letters? (Discussion)

Sureshbala said – Sun, 29 Mar 2009 19:37:29 -0000 ( Edit Link )

Most business schools request to see at least two letters of recommendation during the application process. Recommendation letters provide admission committees with information that may or may not be found in your business school application, including academic and work achievements, character references, and personal details.

Good Business School Recommendations
A good recommendation letter will supplement your business school application. It will also provide specific examples of your accomplishments and/or work ethic.

It is very important to choose the right person to write your business school recommendation. Do not pick someone based on their name and title alone. It will hurt you in the long run. You will be much better off choosing someone who knows you well. This person will be able to provide you with an honest, detailed, and heartfelt recommendation.

The best business school recommendations come from someone who writes well, speaks highly of you, and gives specifics that back up their claims.

Bad Business School Recommendations
Business school recommendations that are poorly written can and will make you look bad. Before turning in your recommendation letter, make sure that it is up to par. Begin by checking for spelling and grammar errors. Then, think about your business school application and essay(s). Does the content of the letter support what you said previously? It should. If there are any contradictions, fix them before turning in your documents.

Finally, evaluate the accuracy of the recommendation. Does it properly reflect your character and work ethic? If not, get letter from someone else. You should never turn in a business school recommendation unless you are completely satisfied with it.

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Author: Sureshbala; Authority 787

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Harikishore said – Mon, 30 Mar 2009 04:53:17 -0000 ( Flag Edit Mark / Unmark Best Link )

Whom should we choose for writing recommendation letters? How much is official position of that person matters? Is it advantageous to choose very senior persons like company Directors/EDs? Can we make a draft recommendation letter and ask him to finalise based on his perception about us?

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Author: Harikishore; Authority 75

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oLahav said – Mon, 30 Mar 2009 13:02:25 -0000 ( Flag Edit Mark / Unmark Best Link )

I’m not a major expert but I can give you my opinion. I believe it’s probably better to ask a direct supervisor or manager than a very senior executive. The reason is that your own manager will be able to better judge your activities, efforts and skills than a company director who is too busy to really see you in action. It’s important to get a letter from someone who really knows you.

In some cases I’ve encountered, your manager will ask you to prepare a draft and he will finalize and authorize it. Other managers will rather write the entire letter themselves. It’s best to ask the person who’s writing the letter whether they would rather write their own, or modify your version.

Hope this helps.

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Author: oLahav; Authority 712

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Sureshbala said – Wed, 01 Apr 2009 05:34:08 -0000 ( Flag Edit Mark / Unmark Best Link )

Dear Harikishore,

As I pointed out in my discussion (oLahav said the same) it is very important to get a recommendation letter from someone who really knows you. So it would be someone to whom you have been directly reporting in your job for quite sometime. Also, since most of the B-School aspirants possess a minimum work experience of 3-4 yrs the position of the person to whom they report will be in a managerial post. In case if your work experience is high (8-10 yrs), you can consider the senior most executive of the company. Rather than the official position of the person, the recommendation letters must be in coherent with your ideas and goals mentioned by you in the admission essays.

Regards

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Author: Sureshbala; Authority 787

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Harikishore said – Wed, 01 Apr 2009 11:45:59 -0000 ( Flag Edit Mark / Unmark Best Link )

Thanks oLahav and Sureshbala!

I got your point! It must be coherent with our admission esays. Position and seniority doesn’t matter. However Since,I my self a senior officer (19 years experience) I can get the recommendations from known (Very) senior persons.

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