Handling Recommendations

There are three important steps to be followed to emerge with a successful recommendation:

Selecting the recommender: The best recommender is a supervisor of yours who has interacted with you closely. Recommendations from CEOs or CFOs are absolutely of no use unless you have closely moved with them. A supervisor who can talk of your strengths, weaknesses and the material you are made of, is one of the best choices. A peer review is sometimes sought by schools. But when the recommender selection is left as a open choice, I would say a supervisor weighs far more than a peer.

Coaching the recommender: This is an essential and crucial step. Make sure you coach your recommender about your goals and aspirations. Tell him/her why you are looking for an MBA. The recommender may very well be mindful of your work culture, team spirit, attitude etc. But it is also important that he is aware of your professional goals. Its your duty to make an appointment and enable him to know your goals in detail. The next step is to tell him/her about the time lines and don't hesitate to send across a gentle reminder if need be.

The recommender's say: In short, the recommender must fortify what ever you said in your essays. In fact, the recommender gets a chance to narrate instances and elaborate on many of your attributes. You can make sure that your application bundle is tied together if your recommender reinforces your ideas and elucidates your qualities. All this will lubricate and smoothen the recommendation letter handling and also the application process.