DIY Recommendation?

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by Sean on March 14, 2012

Yesterday I received an email from a former employee requesting a letter of recommendation for a job application. I’m always happy to write a recommendation for a solid employee. I think it’s part of being a good supervisor. When a staff member gave me a solid two years of fantastic work, I should jump at the opportunity to tell others about his or her performance. In my view, it’s part of my contract with them.

My former staff member mentioned that another one of her supervisors had asked that the employee work up a recommendation letter and send it along and she would sign it. I’m not naïve enough to think this doesn’t happen all the time as I’ve had a former supervisor say the same thing to me (I sought out another reference). However, let’s take a moment to think about this: a former staff member is asking for your assistance in securing a position. Asking that person to write their own recommendation is another way of saying what exactly? “Sorry I’d like to help you, but you’re not worth my time?”

What are your thoughts? Is there a situation where this is acceptable (Like if you have XXX number of employees you supervise)?

Tagged as: job search

  • JenniferKeegin

    Yeah, that’s odd. Definitely don’t like the idea of anyone writing their own recommendation letter and having me sign it. No way. Individualization is my #1 Strengths Quest strength, so please understand that you’re talking sacrilege. I get to know my co-workers, employees etc. so well that I should know their individual strengths and weaknesses at a level that they might not be able to articulate. Too me it seems lazy. I mean, how many students are asking for letters that you feel that is becomes appropriate? You must be pretty darn busy. If you are that busy, just say no. 

  • Angie Carr Robinett

    I have asked students to send me their resume’ and a few sentences on what they think I should highlight as if they were to write a letter. There have been times where they undersold themself and I had a follow up conversation in person or via email advising them of their strengths and encouraging them to focus on that. I’ve also had students oversell themself and I’ve had follow up conversations regarding that as well. I have never asked them to write the letter though. When students ask me for a letter of recommendation I ask them if they want a positive recomenndation or just a recomendation. That usually sparks a great conversation too. I learned that from the fabulous Laura Bauer :) I did have one student say that he would like a positive recommendation and I told him that I couldn’t help him and he was wise enough to ask why, which again, was the beginning of a great developmental conversation.

  • Katy P

    I’ve recently applied to grad school and gave my personal essay and resume to every professor I was asking to write me a letter of recommendation.  I also enclosed an individual letter asking the professor to highlight things we worked on together.  I think it’s important for the applicant to let you as a reference know what aspects of his/her work they would like to be highlighted and what projects he/she did for you that impacted him/her in some way.  That being set you should always tweak the information and make it your own.

    • http://www.seangrube.com/ Sean Grube

      Thanks for the comment Katy. I agree that a candidates ability to provide that type of information really helps create a strong recommendation. I just hate for a former staff member to feel that I am not willing to put in the effort to write a letter for them.

  • Jenn

    So interesting.  This happened to one of my colleagues earlier this year, and she decided to go with a different person who had known her a shorter time instead.  When I was an intern at DOS, I remember our boss asked his staff to write their recommendations, and then he’d sign them.  Luckily, the rest of my office worked their butts off, so I knew government work was not all like this… But I say if for some reason you don’t have time for this, then just say no. 

  • Mdaldalian

    I haven’t had this happen with a job, but with letters of recommendation for grad school and fellowships. At first I felt like providing a CV and a few sentences about my goals was enough and would never have wanted to write my own letter for someone else to sign. After all, someone who is willing to write a letter for you should be able to actually write said letter. But since then I’ve actually written my own recommendations a couple of times and I ended up really appreciating the opportunity to do it. I was able to include all of the highlights that I wanted to be sure were in there and in both cases my recommenders added some great observations about my skills that I had overlooked. For me, that balance was perfect. I really appreciated that they took the time to add their thoughts and that they agreed with my own assessment of my skills enough to sign their name on it.

    • http://www.seangrube.com/ Sean Grube

      That’s a really good point Marina. I hadn’t thought of it that way. I think giving an individual the opportunity to highlight projects and substantial work they completed for you is a great way to tailor the rec so that is provides the most benefit for the job searcher. My disdain for the process emanates from former colleagues or supervisors who act as if a recommendation is to bothersome or takes too much time. You are certainly correct thought. The ability to specifically mention skills or projects that have transferability to the position can make a huge difference.

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