Hello team!
I will be applying to schools in the fall of 21' and so was beginning to prepare for the letter of recommendations since that has the most amount of external dependencies. I had a few options for recommenders and was confused about the same. I have experience in the field of electrical engineering in a metal & mining (manufacturing plant) and social-impact consulting in India. I present below the various options I could explore to ask for a recommendation and would love your advice on which two I should look at picking.
Arranged in chronological order of the ones I have worked with, please find the recommender profile, my experience with them and what qualities they could highlight:
1. Reporting manager at the metal & mining plant (1 year): My direct reporting manager who doesn't have a fancy MBA thinks highly of me and worked closely with him. Good rapport. Can attest to the initiatives I had taken during my time at the plant and also to my people management skills (managing 20+ semi-skilled workers to ensure operations of a large section of the plant)
2. Reporting manager at the social-impact consulting firm (1 year direct report and 1 year working together on initiatives): Holds an MBA from one of the best MBA schools in India. Great at writing and is a brand cheer-leader of mine. Can attest to my problem-solving, stakeholder management and team-leadership skills.
3. Principal at the social-impact consulting firm (6+ months reported to her on the same project): Had a good rapport with the Principal who holds an MBA from one of the M7 B-schools. Will be willing to write a good recommendation on my initiative, client-centricity and emotional maturity.
4. Head, CSR division at one of the FAANG (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Alphabet) -India division (Worked closely for 3-4 months): Collaborated very closely on the project and can attest to my diligence, learning capability compared to other peers in my designation
5. Managing Partner at one of the world's top VC firms (Think Khosla, Sequoia, etc)- India division (Worked closely for 6 months)
Collaborated on a Covid response initiative and can attest to my Leadership, problem solving and stakeholder management however no deep engagement on the personal front.
6. Managing Partner at my social-impact consulting firm (Worked together on and off for 2 years): Good writer and highly supportive. Although limited personal engagement, can attest to similar traits as the other potential recommenders.
Given these are the choices I am faced with, and my target schools are Wharton, Kellogg, Tuck, Yale Haas etc, which are the 2 recommenders I should approach for a recommendation letter? Any advice here will be super-helpful! Thanks in advance.