As the head of a high school, I read and write more than my fair share of letters of recommendation and I have frequently found myself asking if what I鈥檓 composing, or what I鈥檓 reviewing, carries enough importance to merit the amount of time and energy that goes into it.
Yes, there are weaker and stronger letters, but have you ever read a recommendation that 诲颈诲苍鈥檛 recommend the person? Our society has become so sensitive to legal actions that I wonder if anyone really says all that they honestly feel when asked to write a letter for a person who you know is not exemplary. If that鈥檚 the situation, then what is the usefulness of these endorsements when their accuracy is questionable, at best?
I recently had to retrieve the academic records for a former student of ours who graduated in 1966. The head of the school had written him a recommendation letter, which concluded with the following statement: 鈥淥n his good days, his interest can be engaged and his intelligence stimulated.聽 During the last five months, his bad days have far outnumbered the good ones.鈥澛 Would anyone today really be as candid? And if we鈥檝e learned not to be candid, straightforward, and genuinely sincere, how much does a letter of recommendation really help you learn about the applicant? Often, it speaks more about the writing skills of the recommender than it does about the skills of the person about whom it is being written.
There has to be a better way! Whether you鈥檙e a potential employer or an admissions counselor, there are clearly other factors at your disposal that would be better indicators of the qualities you seek in an applicant.
Why not take these into consideration:
- Standardized Verbal Test Scores:聽 Compare these results with the quality of an applicant鈥檚 essay. Do you think that the person who took the test is the same person who wrote that essay?
- Clear Focus: Are there evident areas of concentration that would reflect a candidate鈥檚 interests and abilities?聽 Many inferences can be made about a candidate if you pay attention to certain indicators.
- Syntax: Are the application and essay completely free of grammatical errors? We can all make a mistake when working our way through daily emails, but a person has all the time needed to make an application perfect. Mistakes say a lot about the work ethic of the person who is trying to put his/her best foot forward.
- Presentation: Is the visual impression of the packet that you鈥檝e been given neat, clean, and well-organized? The application packet is what gives the first impression about an applicant and it is a reflection of his/her attention to detail and organizational skills.
- Authenticity: Does anything contained in the information you鈥檝e been given show originality and creativity? Often, the interests people express are the interests of almost everyone. Who doesn鈥檛 like to travel or see a movie?
There are so many more subtle factors that are far more enlightening than a letter of recommendation that is filled with clich茅s and aggrandizements. Some of the weakest candidates I鈥檝e met came with some of the warmest letters I鈥檝e ever read. I think it鈥檚 time we focused on other features when evaluating an applicant. If all letters of recommendation are, to some degree, good, then what鈥檚 the point? Is everyone either 鈥減retty good鈥 or 鈥渞eally good鈥?聽 If only that were true鈥