Who should give a recommendation?

Thanks for your reply. What makes you feel so strongly about this point?

Just past experience and the research that we did for Your MBA Game Plan. The people who tend to succeed realize that what their recommenders say matters much more than what job titles their recommenders have.

Scott

Hi Scott,

This issue is exactly what I am struggling with now. Could you pls help rank these people in terms of who should be my two recommenders for applying to a certain school?

Background: My company is hiring a consulting firm for a strategic project, and I am a team leader who works closely with the consultants for that project.

Choice of my recommenders are...
1. My previous boss from my 1st job (in my current company), who is an Executive Vice President: Should write me an outstanding letter.
2. My previous boss from my 2nd job (also in my current company), who is a Senior Executive Vice President and also in a Board of Director: Possible to write me an outstanding letter.
3. My other previous boss from my 2nd job who is a Vice President: Should write me an outstanding letter.
4. A partner from the consulting company, which I am working with, who has known me for half a year, but graduated from that school.
5. An esteemed person who has not worked with me, but graduated from that school, and seem to be very influential on that school's admissions.

My concerns are:
1. Since there are a wide range of hierarchy in my company, there are several positions as mentioned: namely, Senior Executive Vice President, Executive Vice President, Vice President. I wonder if the admissions can understand implications of each position well (since such wide range of ranks might not exist in the other company.) Suppose all of them can write me an outstanding LOR, should I try to get a letter from the guy with the highest rank?

2. If the school requires only two LOR, is it strongly discouraged to submit the 3rd LOR, esp. when the 3rd one is a introducing letter from an esteemed person?

3. Following my previous question, if I can get a LOR from an esteemed person who graduated from that school, but has not worked with me, should I just ask him for a one-paged supporting letter, or for a full-formed LOR?

4. What if I just get two LORs from my previous bosses who are of same ranks, such as VPs, and are nobodys (esp. to the admissions committee), but can write me outstanding letters?

Looking forward to your replies. Thanks and Happy Thanksgiving!

Hi again, Scott.

Following my previous and very recent post, I have extended my choice of my recommenders a bit more. I would really appreciate your comments on choosing each of them.

1. My previous boss from my 1st job (in my current company), who is an Executive Vice President: Should write me an outstanding letter.
2. My previous boss from my 2nd job (also in my current company), who is a Senior Executive Vice President and also in a Board of Director: Possible to write me an outstanding letter.
3. My other previous boss from my 2nd job who is a Vice President: Should write me an outstanding letter.
4. A partner from the consulting company, which I am working with, who has known me for half a year, but graduated from that school.
5. A consultant from the same consulting company, who also graduated from that school and has worked rather closely with me, but has known me for half a year as well.
6. An esteemed person who has not worked with me, but graduated from that school, and seems to be very influential on that school's admissions.
7. My Ph.D. instructor from undergrad college who can surely write me an outstanding letter about my performance and leading roles in college activities. However, I graduated almost 5 years ago, and already got a Master's degree from a university in US.
8. As esteemed person who can comment on my community project.

Sorry that my questions is quite long and detailed. I deem my selection of recommenders quite important for my app so want to be very careful.

Thank you.

Here's my rank, starting with the one I would use first, using the numbers you used. One caveat is that I don't know how long ago you worked in your first and second jobs. If that was 5+ years ago, then those recommendations won't be worth much. Assuming that it wasn't that long ago...

2 & 3
1
5
4
6
8
7

Above all, you should always choose someone who has worked (in the workplace) with you rather than someone who merely knows you, no matter what school they went to.

Scott

Thanks Scott. Pls excuse me if I still bug you with a few more concerns.

1. It seems like you prefer to choose my boss from my most recent job, doesn't it? What if my 1st job's and 2nd job's time differ for only a year, then either one might not make much difference?

2. If I ask for an LOR from a consultant from a consulting company whom I have worked with, is rank "consultant" not creditable enough, comparing to "partner" or "manager"?

3. Since HBS puts undergrad experience as 1st essay in order this year, don't you think getting an LOR from my instructor of my undergrad college would be a good idea?

Thank you.

I'm not sure that I understand your first question, but always go with your most recent boss, all other things being equal.

Don't get too hung up on job titles. Again, it's more important that your recommender be able to write a great LOR.

It probably won't hurt to have a reco from your professor, but I wouldn't choose that over someone you've worked with.

Scott

Scott,

Thank you for your replies, and sorry that I didn't make my 1st question clear.

What I meant was the lag time between my 1st and 2nd tasks was only one year, so I guess it doesn't matter much whether I get an LOR from my 1sk task boss or from my 2nd ?

Thank you.

I think that a year's time is enough to make a difference, so I would go with the more recent one, UNLESS you think you can get a much stronger reco from the person in your 1st job.

Scott