I'm in a tight spot. Reference Letters

Question

I need to provide two reference letters from people who are familiar with my professional skills and abilities. My dilemma is that I work for the family business and the people who are supposed to write my recommendations would be my dad and uncle. Would the AdCom accept letters from family members? I really don’t see why they wouldn’t. I mean, you are typically going to choose someone who is going to write you a positive recommendation. What should I do?

unplugged · Answer

You can provide letters of recommendation from your suppliers/vendors, business partners or customers

Codex · Answer

You could also look outside your professional life for one of the letters. If you demonstrate leadership or utilize your skills with a nonprofit or any kind of outside organization, you could probably get a good letter from your supervisor there as well.

milias · Answer

It's usually not a good idea to have family members write your recommendations. It would inevitably constitute a conflict of interest. Like previous posters said, you can ask non-family business associates or someone from your extracurricular activities. Just make sure that they know you fairly well and can provide concrete examples. Good luck!

PaulLanzillotti · Answer

Hi TXTdryfly:
I just wanted to chime in and say that the above is correct IMO. I also wanted to point out that this type of situation is something that you may want to explain in an optional essay. Keep it to the point as the admissions committees have seen this situation before. Just get out in front of it so it becomes a case of your full disclosure, rather than a potential red flag.

I also wanted to pull some info out of a recommendation guide that I wrote on the subject:

Another situation you may encounter is a recommender who is too closely related and whose recommendation may be considered too partial in the eyes of the admissions committee.

• An example of this would be nepotism. That is, your father or mother is the owner of the company or perhaps your cousin is your direct boss.
• In this case, I would look outside of the company for a recommendation. In a client-facing business, it is completely appropriate to get a few significant clients to write glowing letters of recommendation.
• Just keep in mind that some admissions committees will want you to explain why you did not get a rec from your current supervisor. That simple fact that they ask you to explain means the admissions committee understands that there are exceptions to the rule.
• It's not a huge issue if you handle it correctly. Do not let it become another red flag on a path to the recycle bin.
• Remember, admissions committees take recs with a grain of salt. As an analogy, they are the mortar between the bricks (your story) and not the primary supporting evidence for your candidacy.

The full version of the guide is available for download, for free, here (https://www.amerasiaconsulting.com/mba_r ... ion_guide/). It may help answer a few more questions about the grid, points to hit on, etc. If you need an example of a good rec, please PM me.

Thanks,
Paul Lanzillotti

TXTDryFly · Answer

I appreciate the help

lfa · Answer

Thanks Paul! That's really helpful.

MDF · Answer

I'm in a similar situation with regards to my involvement in two companies. I work for a family business and I own a startup on the side.

So using a supervisor isn't possible for me. Instead, I used a senior (non-relative) colleague at the family business I work for one LOR and a colleague who has been with me since the launch of my startup for the other.

I've noticed that for CBS and Booth, they recommend applicants use a colleague, bank, or customer if a LOR from a supervisor isn't possible. I certainly have strong relationships with a handful of customers, however, they haven't witnessed my managerial capabilities first hand and I think that their letters would be a bit dry and limited in scope. This is why I went with colleagues instead.

I'm in a tight spot. Reference Letters

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