letter of recommendation from your current supervisor : The B-School Applications

gotomba

Intern

Joined: 04 Apr 2009

Posts: 21

letter of recommendation from your current supervisor [#permalink]

06 Nov 2009, 03:26

How important is it to get a recommendation letter from your current supervisor? I see schools like Stanford requires applicant to obtain at least one recommendation from your current direct supervisor. Does it really harm my application if I couldn't submit one? My role is completely different from what my administrative supervisor and my role is client facing so I pretty much work with another technical team and clients most of the time. Would it harm my application if I ask a team lead from the other team and a client to recommend me?

Thanks!!

formerlyknownas

Current Student

Joined: 03 Oct 2009

Posts: 160

Re: letter of recommendation from your current supervisor [#permalink]

09 Nov 2009, 10:20

gotomba wrote:

How important is it to get a recommendation letter from your current supervisor? I see schools like Stanford requires applicant to obtain at least one recommendation from your current direct supervisor. Does it really harm my application if I couldn't submit one? My role is completely different from what my administrative supervisor and my role is client facing so I pretty much work with another technical team and clients most of the time. Would it harm my application if I ask a team lead from the other team and a client to recommend me?

Thanks!!

My guess is probably not. Look at the recommendation questions and select the best people to respond to those questions. Schools understand that not everyone can ask their current supervisor.

gurpreetsingh

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Schools: ISB '15 (M)

GMAT 1: 670 Q49 V31

GMAT 2: 710 Q50 V35

Re: letter of recommendation from your current supervisor [#permalink]

09 Nov 2009, 12:12

formerlyknownas wrote:

gotomba wrote:

How important is it to get a recommendation letter from your current supervisor? I see schools like Stanford requires applicant to obtain at least one recommendation from your current direct supervisor. Does it really harm my application if I couldn't submit one? My role is completely different from what my administrative supervisor and my role is client facing so I pretty much work with another technical team and clients most of the time. Would it harm my application if I ask a team lead from the other team and a client to recommend me?

Thanks!!

My guess is probably not. Look at the recommendation questions and select the best people to respond to those questions. Schools understand that not everyone can ask their current supervisor.

I do agree , its good if you can get letter from the people who can explain why you deserve to be in the school,your strengths and weakness and how you tackled your problems in efficient way.

The crux is get the letter from the person who can explain you better.

Jerz

VP

Joined: 09 Dec 2008

Posts: 1221

Schools:Kellogg Class of 2011

Re: letter of recommendation from your current supervisor [#permalink]

09 Nov 2009, 16:58

1

Kudos

Most schools will understand if you don't have a recommendation from your current supervisor. If you don't though you should explain why in the application, focusing on how closely your recommenders do know you and your work.

JCTplus3

Manager

Joined: 14 Oct 2009

Posts: 59

Location: DFW

Schools:Booth (admit after R1 waitlist), Wharton (R2 ding), Harvard (R2 ding), Darden (R2 waitlist), McCombs (ding after waitlist)

Re: letter of recommendation from your current supervisor [#permalink]

09 Nov 2009, 21:06

I had a real struggle with this as well, but I eventually decided to apply to Wharton, Chicago, and McCombs without my current boss. Both were former supervisors who I trusted to give me a good reference, and I knew they could write persuasively. That got me an interview at McCombs and Chicago. I'm in round 2 in Wharton, so I don't know about that one yet.

When I finally got in a position to have the talk with my boss, I wish I had asked earlier. It went very well. He is going to be a reference to HBS, which might make or break that one.

miccarlo

Manager

Joined: 17 Mar 2007

Posts: 123

Location: San Francisco, CA

Schools:Haas, Booth, Kellogg, Stanford

Re: letter of recommendation from your current supervisor [#permalink]

10 Nov 2009, 10:08

If a school specifically requires it, I would use the option essay (if available) to explain the reason why you chose a different person to give you a recommendation. I think the schools would be flexible with this if you explain it clearly.

hogann

Manager

Joined: 29 Jun 2009

Affiliations: CFA Level 2 Candidate

Posts: 117

Schools:RD 2: Darden Class of 2012

Re: letter of recommendation from your current supervisor [#permalink]

10 Nov 2009, 14:16

I would like to continue this thread by asking a different question - How far back do you think you can go with recommendation letters.

I have really only ever worked for 3 supervisors. I am going to need to ask my current Supervisor for a letter. Unfortunately my previous supervisor (2 years ago) was fired from the company under bad terms. This means I would need to go back 4 years to the next previous employer. Is that too far back. Will schools feel that I might have changed drastically as a person over that period?

go2bizSkool

Manager

Joined: 25 Sep 2009

Posts: 96

Location: USA

Schools:HBS, Sloan, Columbia, Stern, Tuck

Re: letter of recommendation from your current supervisor [#permalink]

10 Nov 2009, 14:58

i dont know if how your old boss was fired matters. you could prob still ask him/her. usually schools like a focus on the last 3 yrs.

h3nG

Intern

Joined: 08 May 2011

Posts: 3

Re: letter of recommendation from your current supervisor [#permalink]

27 Jul 2011, 18:42

Does "rank" of the supervisor in the organization matter much?

B

EBM

Director

Joined: 16 Dec 2010

Affiliations: HBS Class of 2013

Posts: 750

Location: United States (TX)

Schools: HBS '13 (A)

Re: letter of recommendation from your current supervisor [#permalink]

29 Jul 2011, 13:15

h3nG wrote:

Does "rank" of the supervisor in the organization matter much?

No.

Adcoms want to hear from someone who is very familiar with you and your work, not from a boss of a boss of a boss who doesn't really know you well but has a prestigious title.

xerox

Current Student

Joined: 01 Feb 2007

Posts: 462

Location: Silicon Valley via Russia, China, Canada and Wharton/Lauder

Schools:Wharton/Lauder (Mandarin Chinese)

Re: letter of recommendation from your current supervisor [#permalink]

31 Jul 2011, 01:45

gotomba wrote:

How important is it to get a recommendation letter from your current supervisor?

The ideal situation is when your supervisor knows you very well; the world is not perfect, however, and sometimes you may think your supervisor is a dick, or you are a dick in your supervisor's opinion (or they simply do not know you that well), and you would certainly want to avoid the risk of getting a prefab recommendation letter.

If you decide not to use your supervisor's precious opinion about your valuable self, in spite of the school's requirement to do so, then do find a way to explain your alternate choice of recommender somewhere in the application.

MBAbot

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Joined: 01 Oct 2013

Posts: 908

Re: letter of recommendation from your current supervisor [#permalink]

04 Jan 2020, 04:50

Hello from the GMAT Club MBAbot!

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gmatclubot

Re: letter of recommendation from your current supervisor [#permalink]

04 Jan 2020, 04:50

letter of recommendation from your current supervisor

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