Asking for recommendation letters to help you in your job search is not an easy task. Talking with a supervisor or manager to get him to consider printing your recommendation letter with his company’s logo, then sign it, can be a challenge. How do you break it to your recommender that you think you can do a better job writing your letter than he can? Recommenders often lack writing skills, but they don’t often lack egos.
What’s more, we’ve all been taught that tooting our own horns is something we should avoid. What’s your recommender to think if you try to force some brag letter on him to sign? He might think you’re a self-righteous person!
If you know how to go about this, this will be an effective tool in getting the recommendation letters that will allow you to succeed in securing that job you want.
Oftentimes, the reluctance of recommenders to write someone a letter of recommendation stems from these facts: their schedule is too full leaving them no time to write or they don’t think they can write that well. In lots of cases, it’s the second category that’s prevalent, but most people give the first excuse instead.
Regardless of whether it is painfully obvious that your recommender has all the time in the world, you need to run with the premise that the real issue is time availability; never even hint that he might be afraid of being embarrassed by his poor writing skills.
You can tell your recommender something in this context:
“I know you might be very busy and you probably have a lot on your plate right now to write a recommendation letter for me, and if it weren’t important, I wouldn’t request it of you. If it’s not too much of a bother, I can write a draft letter and you could review it. I can give it to you in electronic format so that you can make whatever edits you need to. It would just take up a little of your time and it could really help me in the job that I’m applying for. When would be a good time for me to send it to you?”
For more information, including tips, samples, and templates, please check out our website: Letter Of Recommendation
- Letters Of Recommendation: How Your Recommendation Letter Affects The Credibility Of Your Recommender When another person offers to do a favor for you,...
- Recommendation Letter: Writing A Good Letter Of Recommendation That Will Get You The Job You Want If lots of bosses lack confidence in their ability to...
- Recommendation Letter: Get A Well Written Letter Of Recommendation To Get Ahead Of The Job Search Game Doesn’t it drive you nuts when less qualified people get...
- Letters Of Recommendation: The Secret Why Others Are More Knowledgeable With Regards To Getting The Right Letters Of Recommendation Trying to penetrate the jobs market has never been harder....
- Recommendation Letter: How To Focus Your Letter Of Recommendation To Maximize Its Effect Competition is fierce, that’s why you have to make sure...