theblueknight wrote:
Hello, I would really appreciate the expert/peer opinion on this:
I am applying to Booth and Wharton in R2 - both require 2 recommendations. I am an entrepreneur in a brick and mortar business with a total 10 years of work experience, the last 5 of which were spent starting and growing my business successfully. Prior to that, I worked as an IT management consultant with a well-known firm.
I have the option of choosing 1) My Auditor/Financial adviser/mentor from my current business, 2) A senior customer representative from my current business or 3) My Practice partner from my previous consulting job as my recommenders. I am planning to choose the first 2, but that makes my application pretty uni-dimensional as my essays also focus on my business venture. My practice partner from consulting can bring a different perspective on my managerial/leadership skills (examples of my leading teams internationally across different countries). On the other hand, if I choose the partner from my previous job, it makes the recommendation content 5 years old. That makes the recommendation's current relevance questionable.
So, I am pondering over whom to choose as my recommenders. Would be grateful for your inputs.
Thanks.
That's a tough one. I am very wary of using recommenders (or stories) that are more than 5 years old. It has been a pretty long time since the practice partner has worked with you. To put this into context, there was a totally different person in the White House when you two worked together. An adcom may wonder if his experiences with you are still relevant to who you are today. On the other hand he does offer a different perspective than two people from your business. Could you ask a competitor to do a recommendation for you? That would be unique and relevant.