Letter of Recommendation Advice

Question

Hello team,

I wanted to get some suggestions on the choice of recommendations.

A brief career snapshot:
Graduated in 2011
Worked for a Big 4: mid 2011-mid 2014
Diploma in management: Mid 2014-mid 2016
Working for a boutique consulting firm: Mid 2016-present

I have zeroed down to the following potential recommenders and am looking for some advice on who should be my top 2 or top 3 choices.
1. My current reporting manager under whom I am working for the past 1.5 yrs 
Designation: Associate Director. (3 levels above me)
Qualification: Diploma in management from SP Jain Dubai. 
An issue here is that I will be up for a review for promotion December. Hence I'm not very keen to let him know about my MBA plans as that might jeopardize my promotion chances.

2. A project manager I worked under for 5 months from early 2018 to mid 2018
Designation: Principal Consultant (2 levels above me)
Qualification: MBA from NUS

3. A project manager I worked under for 6 months from mid-2017 to end 2017
Designation: Senior Consultant (1 level above me)
Qualification: Masters from Imperial College London

4. A director under whom I have worked on 2 projects over a 1 year period (2017-2018)
Designation: Director (4 levels above me)
Qualification: MBA from NUS

5. Supervisor from previous organization (big 4) under whom I worked for 2 years (mid 2012 to mid 2014)
Current Designation: Director at the same big4
Qualification: Chartered Accountant

6. A member of a Middle eastern client with whom I worked in previous organization for 6 months (early 2014 to mid 2014)
Current Designation: Finance Director
Qualification: MBA from Cardiff University

Now for most cases current manager would be an obvious choice, but I have an issue there as mentioned. In such a case, who should I ideally go for? 
I would ideally want to opt for one person each from my tenure in the two organizations, but for number 5 and 6, I had last worked with them in 2014. Will the fact that it was 4 years back weaken the recommendation? Will it be better to opt for both recommendations from my current organization?

For the sake of argument, we can assume that each can give LORs with the same level of impact.

Target schools (intend to apply in R1): INSEAD, Kellogg (1-yr), Cambridge Judge, IE Business School

mbaMissionMichael · Answer

Hi, and thank you for your post.
You are smart to think about your choice of recommenders with such analysis, because that is an important part of your application.

It is okay if you do not get a recommendation from your current manager due to the reason you listed. You will just have to briefly explain in the optional essay why you chose not to ask him; your reason is completely understandable. 
It is also acceptable to get two recommendations from the same firm, so I would suggest that because you have not worked at your previous employer since 2014. In choosing between numbers 2, 3 and 4, consider who can really speak to the specifics of you work, and who can provide examples of your leadership and impact. Also do some homework and find out if any of them have written LOR before, and what was the result. 
Additionally, when you do decide who to choose, meet with them to discuss what you hope they will mention. For example, we at mbaMission have guides for recommenders to help them write effective LOR. It is important for them to know that admissions committees put a good deal of weight in their letters.

Good luck and let me know if you have any other questions!

patherpachali · Answer

Hello team,
Firstly pardon me for posting such a lengthy text.
I was seeking suggestions regarding the selection of recommenders.
To provide an insight, here is my career snapshot :
Graduated in 2012, worked for an educational institution as an administrator(2012-14), worked as a probationary officer for a nationalized bank (2014-15), MBA HR(2015-17),worked as a HR officer with a manufacturing company(17- early 18). Currently working with the same educational institute in the management wing as a business development associate (responsible for a new project coming up on a much larger scale).
I have zeroed down to the following potential recommenders and looking forward to your advice on who all should be my top 2 recommenders.
1) Secretary of the management committee .I am working under him for quite a long period now.(5 months + 24 months during my previous stint with them).
Designation: secretary qualifications: MSc in Mathematics from renowned college in India,ex civil servant working with govt of India.The only issue here is the official mail ids are all on gmail and yahoo(though official letter head & seal are present).
2)A client that I have worked with during my tenure as a probationary officer from mid 2014 to mid 2015.
Current designation: Management cadre with a nationalized bank
Qualifications Bachelors degree in eng,MBA(SIBM Pune)
Designation at that time: Executive Officer with a pharmaceutical company.
3)A professor at during my MBA stint, guided me in my coursework(OD) from end of 15 to early 17
Designation: Associate Professor
Qualifications: PhD in organizational analysis
4) A professor who has guided me in my coursework(TM) from mid 2016 to early 2017
Designation: Professor
Qualifications - PhD in HRM
5) A GM (3 levels above me) from my previous organisation who has known me from early 2017 to early 2018.
Current Designation: GM
Qualifications: not known
However the glitch here is I can't trust him with my recommendations I have quit the job and he has made it clear that he wouldn't be available to attend the mails and phone calls mostly. This might risk the timely submission of my recommendations.
I would ideally want to opt for the first 3 person as my recommenders since they have seen me grow manifold in my all round competencies. I am not much keen to go to my supervisor from my previous organisation for the reason mentioned above.So my queries are as follows:
1) Is it not allowed to provide gmail/ yahoo id for providing recommendations eventhough the official letter head and seal are present?
2)Can the client be my recommender given the fact that he is no longer working with the company where we worked together?
PS: I am quite confident about the quality of recommendation the first 4 can provide.

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NMM0928 · Answer

Hey Crew,

Curious for your thoughts on my situation. Applying round 1 in the fall. I am in the midst of finalizing who I will ask for recommendations.

Issue: My current manager (1 level above me) of roughly a year is leaving to go to my target business school (top 3 b school). I'm debating whether I should ask him to write me a recommendation before he leaves. I know he thinks highly of me and can give detailed stories supporting my candidacy, but I'm worried that his status as a then-current student will be a detraction.

Notes:
- My other recommender is also an Alumni of the school and is a senior level exec I also work closely with.
- Additional recommendation choices would be more senior level folks (still know me pretty well), but not alumni
- By the time I hit submit on the application, he will no longer be my manager ( he is leaving about three weeks before apps due), and we will be at the same level within my current company at that time (I'm in the middle of a promotion/transition that will be completed in August).
- I work in Tech
- Exp: 6 years 
- The manager is the same age as me

Feels like there is some risk/reward in having him write the rec..thoughts?

mbaMissionJA · Answer

Hey patherpachali, thanks for writing! Hmm I have some questions based on the below, so just keep these in mind as you move forward with the process. My primary questions are: what programs are you looking at, and have you checked that they'll accept candidates with a previous MBA? The schools sometimes won't consider you if you already have one. I'd hate to have you waste a ton of time and then later find out they won't even look at you. So: double check on that!

Now, on to recommenders - it's a little hard to say from the list you gave but I do have a few reactions:
1) I'd worry less about where they went to school than what they'd say about you - can they give great, detailed, constructive feedback about what you've done? 
2) If given a choice, I'd steer away from professors and lean toward employers or even clients as you are suggesting unless there's a critical point that you can only address through them. 
 
As for your questions:
1) Check with your target schools on their policies about gmail and yahoo recommender email addresses; they might vary. Usually they'll just say that it merits "additional scrutiny." You can use the optional essay/additional information to explain the situation with that.
2) Yes the client can be a recommender but again you'd add an explanation of that in the optional information section

Hope this helps!

Julie-Anne Heafey
Senior Consultant
mbaMission

mbaMissionJA · Answer

Hi NMM0928, thanks for posting!

You know, the only thing I wonder is if this person is too much like a peer to write you a really good recommendation. Would he be downplaying your role in certain things because he might have also been involved with them and feel like he deserves more of the credit? I worry about that more than his entry status to the school (except again for the suggestion that he's more of a peer than a supervisor).

You don't need alums to write your letters. You just need supervisors who will give detailed, specific feedback on you and what you've accomplished and who will rate you very favorably on a peer group scale. As for the logistical issues described below on your recommender leaving - that's fine, just explain in the optional essay if you use him!

Thanks so much and best of luck to you!
Julie-Anne Heafey
Senior Consultant
mbaMission

patherpachali · Answer

Thank you for your insightful reply. I would like to inform you that I am keen to apply for a one year MBA program. To be precise, I am planning to apply to Cornell, Kellogs, Insead, NUS, NTU, HKUST, LBS, Said, ISB. I have checked with Cornell and Insead; they do accept students with an MBA degree. But I am not sure about the rest. 
I would kindly request you to provide me with information as to my eligibility for applying to rest of the abovementioned colleges.

Sent from my TSP using  GMAT Club Forum mobile app

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