Letters of Recommendation
Dear First name / friend
In the academic world, the months of November and December are the months of letters for students for grad school, for young artists for YAPS. In the rest of the world, every day is a job application day. So we thought we would do a little recap on getting a letter of recommendation that will serve you best!
While I can't change your own process and journey, what I can do is help you understand how to get what you need from your chosen references.
✏️ Ask for your letter WELL IN ADVANCE. We ask for 2 weeks notice (minimum) so that we have time to figure out how to fit that job into our workflow - especially if its a letter for a person we have never written for in the past.
✏️ When you write your request, ask for a "positive" letter - can they write about you in a positive light to support your application? IF they can't, then you don't want them to send anything! If they have said to you "I don't' think you are ready for (fill in the blank)" then likely their letter will not be glowing.
✏️ KNOW THE DIFFERENCE between a reference and a recommendation. In our mind, a reference is about what you know about them right now and is more general. A recommendation is telling the panel that you ABSOLUTELY think they are right for their program and why. Check in with your reference to make sure you are getting what you need.
✏️ In your request, give details about what you are applying to, the deadline, how to send the letter AND what you would like them to talk about! YES YOU CAN DIRECT THE LETTER! We generally find this helpful in understanding what is important to the person asking us to write a letter of support. Don't be shy about having a conversation about how your reference can best support you.
✏️ Send a thank you. Seriously. Remember - usually your recommender is doing this service for free (though we think we should be charging for this but that is another post...)
Do you have people in your life that ask for letters? Students? Mentees? Colleagues applying for jobs? Feel free to froward this email to them as a friendly service to support them AND your process!
Finally - what did we miss? Drop us an email or jump into our comments or DMs in our socials - we are always happy to hear from you.
