Tips for Letters of Recommendation

Applying to b-school for 2011 is still on and I got a few queries on LORs. So here it is. A lot of this was mentioned in an earlier article, but thought its worth mentioning it again.

Letters of Recommendation

This is one of the significant constituents of a b-school application. References or Letters of Recommendation (LORs) are a must to submit. Unless otherwise specified you must submit a reference from your immediate manager from your current company (or the previous company, if you have quit recently). Most schools need 2 recommendations, while others ask for 3.

You can provide references from your professors of the last school/college you attended. Also it is advisable to get at least one recommendation from your current supervisor/manager.  If you cannot manage a reference from your current company, you must explain the reason for the same in your application, and provide alternative recommendations, like from some client/vendor you might have worked with. If you also work in an NGO or sorts, it’s sometimes good to include a recommendation from such people as well. Remember, that b-schools want to know about you as a person, more than what your resume or application or degrees say. Also remember that what’s written in the letter of recommendation matters more than who writes the recommendation.

Remember, if you are making 5 applications, you will need at least 10 LORs. Make sure that you give enough time to those writing your recommendations and discuss beforehand the specific areas you want them to focus the LOR on. Make sure that your application, your essays and your LORs make a coherent theme. Your recommendations should, preferably, enforce the claims you make in your essays. Word of caution – do not write your own letters of recommendation.

Planning for Essays and Recommendations:

Needless to say, this phase begins once you have figured out the list of schools you want to apply to. Do not do the mistake of selecting the schools based on the number or level of difficulty of the essays to write. Even before you start selecting schools, or get started with GMAT you should have your resume (preferable one page) and SOP (statement of purpose) ready. Write your SOP in a detailed and exhaustive manner, listing down all you have done and achieved in your life so far, all the significant events in your life and all that you want to achieve in future. This should answer all the basic questions which most b-schools ask in their essays like ‘Why MBA?’, ‘Why Now?’

Here are a few other points to be taken care of while submitting your LORs.

1. Do not write your own letter of recommendation, and ask your referee to just submit it. Believe me, the readers who go through the application are experts and read a hell lot of such letters daily and they will know by the style of writing that you have written it yourself. Moreover, there are chances that you will miss some of your own strengths and weaknesses, if you access yourself. Remember, it’s a good point in your career to find out more about yourself and hence advisable to start this process as early as possible so that you can take corrective actions if needed.


2. If you want, you can write the basic qualities of yourself, or a basic skeleton/format which you want your referee to follow. But not the whole thing. Make sure you give your referee enough time and liberty to write a full detail of what he thinks of you and how he thinks you are ready for an MBA and/or a senior leadership role.


3. Make sure each LOR focuses on your different qualities, and not on the routine things like hard working, good leadership etc.


4. Make sure you ask your referee to add a few personal qualities, other than technical/business skills. Also ask for examples. Just writing about qualities is not enough unless corroborated by evidence.


5. Make sure you submit in time. Also make sure you remind your referees, and give them enough time to submit. (Typically 4 weeks). Most LORs are to be submitted online, or to be sent via their official email ids. Make sure you find the process of providing recommendations beforehand, and have a meeting early to discuss everything.


6. If you are applying to a large number of schools, make sure your referee is OK to that, as it might be overwhelming, and the same LOR might not be usable everywhere.(Different Schools follow their own way, some accept essay type LORs, some have questionnaires etc.).