cheetarah1980 wrote:
jxatrillion wrote:
Hello Clubbers,
Interesting situation. I asked my manager, who I thought was going to write a raving review of my performance the past year as his Team Leader, today for a LOR. He responded, "You're the writer between us two. Write something and I'll sign it." I don't feel comfortable about this and I understand that he's not the best writer out there. I am willing however to coach him into his essay (send him a sheet with many questions so that we can put his short answers together) but he's not willing to do so. What is your advice for someone in my predicament?
Ask someone else. He should not be your recommender because he's not enthusiastic about your candidacy. You shouldn't write your own rec letters. If he can't or won't take the time to simply regurgitate the information you give him into a 1-2 page recommendation then he's not going to give you a raving review. Sorry.
I don't think its as simple as "he should not be your recommender because he's not enthusiastic about your candidacy." It is not uncommon for recommenders to ask applicants to write their own recommendations (and from what I understand, in some parts of the world it is common practice). It is a lot of work after all. This isn't necessarily because the recommender does not support your candidacy. He may very well lack confidence in his writing and does not want to write what he feels will end up not being a great recommendation.
You of course shouldn't write your own recommendation. I would suggest talk to him openly about your concerns with writing your own recs, and offer him any help he may need to write it on his own. Send him a list of your achievements and give him details of different projects of yours that he can highlight. Give him the stories that you would want him to mention in your recommendation. Once he has all of this in front of him, maybe he will feel differently about writing the recommendation.
In the end, if he is truly not enthusiastic about your candidacy, then find another recommender. But don't assume he isn't, just because he wants you to write your own recommendation.