Asking for Letters of Recommendation

[John Galt]

For me, I don't think there is anything more awkward to do. I've had to do it many times and have been doing it again recently. I just don't know how to approach someone to ask for one. And I definitely don't know how to ensure it is going to be a very good one. Even worse, once you get a commitment and then they are slow doing it, I feel even weirder about harassing them about it.

[JasonC23]

During my annual review, my boss, unprompted, told me she would happily write me a letter of recommendation if I ever needed her to.

I wasn't sure what to do with that comment...

[RendeR]

During my annual review, my boss, unprompted, told me she would happily write me a letter of recommendation if I ever needed her to.

I wasn't sure what to do with that comment...You say : "Thank you, I really appreciate your confidence and support."

[st.cronin]

Whenever I ask for one, I offer to compose a first draft. About half the folks I have asked have simply signed the draft with no changes.

[Pumpy Tudors]

I worked at a place for three days as a temp last month, and I was offered a letter of recommendation. As for how to ask for one, I would go as far as saying that if you're not sure the person would write you a good one, you need to think about asking someone else.

[Raiders Army]

Whenever I ask for one, I offer to compose a first draft. About half the folks I have asked have simply signed the draft with no changes.
I agree. If they are slow, I'd offer to write a draft for them...maybe not right off the bat. I would offer to give them a list of accomplishments when you ask.

Just as an aside, when I have written letters of recommendation, I've always sat the person down beside me while I write it so I could make sure I covered all of their accomplishments.

[Maple Leafs]

Damn, I thought John was actually asking for a letter here. That would have generated some fun replies.

[John Galt]

Damn, I thought John was actually asking for a letter here. That would have generated some fun replies.

:D

[Buzzbee]

Now, now John. Don't be shy. I'm sure Blackie would be happy to oblige. ;)

[John Galt]

Now, now John. Don't be shy. I'm sure Blackie would be happy to oblige. ;)

Is he still banned? Ah, too bad.

[Poli]

"Hey, uh, can I get a letter of recommendation? Thanks." :)

[Joe]

Here's your letter:


Why is it that some people are so devoid of a sense of humor? Naturally, I'm referring to Mr. John Galt's latest proposed social programs. I urge you to read the text that follows carefully, keeping an open mind, from the beginning to the end, and without skipping around. I further recommend that you take breaks, as many of the facts presented will take time to digest. Many people are incredulous when I tell them that Mr. Galt intends to twist my words six ways for Sunday. "How could Mr. Galt be so mutinous?", they ask me. "It doesn't seem possible." Well, it is indeed possible, and now I'll explain exactly how Mr. Galt plans to do it. But first, you need to realize that it is not uncommon for him to victimize the innocent, penalize the victim for making any effort to defend himself, and then paint the whole neurotic affair as some great benefit to humanity.

It is imperative that all of us in this community bring strength to our families, power to our nation, and health to our cities. This cannot occur unless there is a true spirit of respect and an appreciation of differences. My point may be made clearer by use of an allegorical tale. Suppose a hypothetical group of three people is standing in a room. One of those people realizes that Mr. Galt should be in better control of his hormones. Another goes on and on about Mr. Galt's insipid artifices. But the third can't understand why what Mr. Galt is doing falls just short of giving handguns to schoolchildren. In this hypothetical situation, it should be obvious that Mr. Galt is planning to promote the sex-crazed practices of malignant cheapskates. This does not bode well for the future, because in a rather infamous speech, he exclaimed that his blessing is the equivalent of a papal imprimatur. (I edited out the rest of what he said because, well, it didn't really say anything.)

Whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I myself am willing to stop defending the vindictive status quo and, instead, implement a bold, new agenda for change. When it comes to Mr. Galt's perorations, I honestly contend that we have drifted along for too long in a state of blissful denial and outright complacency. It's time to focus on what unites rather than divides us. The sooner we do that, the better, because when I say that Mr. Galt's roorbacks are malicious, I mean it. I don't mean that they remind me of something malicious or that they have one or two malicious characteristics. I mean that they are malicious. In fact, the most malicious thing about them is the way that they prevent people from seeing that Mr. Galt's threats are now a staple of his surrogates' stances. That's pretty transparent. What's not so transparent is the answer to the following question: When Mr. Galt looks in the mirror in the morning, does he see more than the same, uncontrollable face that all incontinent humanity-haters share? A clue might be that for his mentally deficient plans to succeed, Mr. Galt needs to "dumb down" our society. An uninformed populace is easier to control and manipulate than an educated populace. Before the year is over, schoolchildren will stop being required to learn the meanings of words like "counterrevolutionist" and "psychotherapeutical". They will be incapable of comprehending that Mr. Galt argues that he would sooner give up money, fame, power, and happiness than perform a xenophobic act. I wish I could suggest some incontrovertible chain of apodictic reasoning that would overcome this argument, but the best I can do is the following: His occasional demonstrations of benevolence are not genuine. Nor are Mr. Galt's promises. In fact, I have a problem with his use of the phrase, "We all know that...". With this phrase, Mr. Galt doesn't need to prove his claim that doing the fashionable thing is more important than life or liberty; he merely accepts it as fact. To put it another way, given the amount of misinformation that he is circulating, I must clearly point out that he has declared that he's staging a revolt against everyone who wants to offer true constructive criticism -- listening to the whole issue, recognizing the problems, recognizing what is being done right, and getting involved to help remedy the problem. Mr. Galt's revolting all right; the very sight of him turns my stomach. All kidding aside, there's something fishy about his précis. I think Mr. Galt's up to something, something fatuous and perhaps even morbid. I must, on principle, examine the warp and woof of Mr. Galt's epigrams. That should serve as the final, ultimate, irrefutable proof that his cringers actually believe the bunkum they're always mouthing. That's because these kinds of shallow Philistines are idealistic, have no sense of history or human nature, and they think that what they're doing will improve the world some day. In reality, of course, Mr. Galt may introduce, cultivate, and encourage moral rot right after he reads this letter. Let him. In a matter of days, I will expose the connections between the uncivilized problems that face us and the key issues of charlatanism and masochism. So maybe there is no justification on any level whatsoever for Mr. Galt's viperine projects. Big deal. What's more important is that Mr. Galt's perspective is that his ballyhoos are our final line of defense against tyrrany. My perspective, in contrast, is that we must arraign Mr. Galt at the tribunal of public opinion. Those who claim otherwise do so only to justify their own paltry quips. The bottom line is that Mr. John Galt is unable to separate fact from fiction.

[Eaglesfan27]

I've had to ask for letters many times, and also find it awkward. However, I think Pumpy nailed it on the head.

[Dutch]

Forgive me (I've been in the military too long I guess), but what good do Letters of Recommendations do and who should be writing them?

[Desnudo]

Previous managers. People ask for them as part of the job hiring process.