Ooo!
New topic for us here my little chickadees!
Today I'll be covering Letters of Recommendation.
Are they worthwhile?
Usually.
Would I recommend them?
In most cases, sure, why the hell not?
Do we think some people fake or forge them?
Of course!
Does it matter?
Eh. Maybe.
I suppose if we were to actually call the person that is endorsing that particular letter to verify said candidate's stellar performance and then we discovered it was all made up, then we'd have a problem. But usually, this is not the case.
So now that you know I'm generally on Team Letter of Recommendation (NOT Team Objective, but don't get me started on THAT again...), here's two examples of the kinds of letters not to use.
Some girl we'll just call "Erin" was a property manager. She submitted a LoR.
The ENTIRE thing read like this:
"Dear Sirs,
I'd like to tell you what a wonderful property manager Erin ________ is. I've been living here for almost ten years and never have I gotten such a quick response as Erin. I'm an elderly woman, so I need people to help me change my light bulbs occasionally and while I kept requesting this one bulb be changed for a couple of years, once Erin was hired, she had somebody take care of it immediately! And she was kind about it too. So in closing, I'd like to say that I recommend Erin immensely. She'll get the job done!
Sincerely,
Eleanor _____________"
While tempting to insert a "How many property managers does it take to change a lightbulb?" joke here, I'll just pass on that golden opportunity and skip to our next stunning LoR example.
"To Whom It May Concern:
If Ron __________ is applying for a job as a salesman, hire him.
I am a Director of Marketing and Sales Manager at ___________ company. I can tell you that Ron's suggestions on product introduction were important factors to the growth of our facility. We had an unfortunate disaster strike our company and again (and again single-handedly), Ron ground out the sales. He always sold around $600 to $800 per year extra despite the disaster. He did this strictly on his strength with store buyers in face-to-face situations. I think we and our customers are going to suffer badly by the loss of Ron ___________. If I may amplify any portion of this, please feel free to contact me.
John ___________
Director of Sales and Marketing
________________ Company"
$600-$800 and 1 light bulb changed? Wow and big whoop.
I'm so totally not impressed.
Why can't people see how STUPID it is for them to be submitting these LoR's? It's shocking to me.
So if you're ever in doubt on whether you should use one, yes- but only if it's good.
If you're having any doubts about whether or not it's any good? For criminey sakes, ASK SOMEBODY.
Oh and PS- to poor little ol' Eleanor's family that wouldn't help her change a damn light bulb in her little ol' apartment- YOU SUCK.
And PPS- Did you all know there's clip art out there of light bulbs that snorkel? Me neither.
New topic for us here my little chickadees!
Today I'll be covering Letters of Recommendation.
Are they worthwhile?
Usually.
Would I recommend them?
In most cases, sure, why the hell not?
Do we think some people fake or forge them?
Of course!
Does it matter?
Eh. Maybe.
I suppose if we were to actually call the person that is endorsing that particular letter to verify said candidate's stellar performance and then we discovered it was all made up, then we'd have a problem. But usually, this is not the case.
So now that you know I'm generally on Team Letter of Recommendation (NOT Team Objective, but don't get me started on THAT again...), here's two examples of the kinds of letters not to use.
Some girl we'll just call "Erin" was a property manager. She submitted a LoR.
The ENTIRE thing read like this:
"Dear Sirs,
I'd like to tell you what a wonderful property manager Erin ________ is. I've been living here for almost ten years and never have I gotten such a quick response as Erin. I'm an elderly woman, so I need people to help me change my light bulbs occasionally and while I kept requesting this one bulb be changed for a couple of years, once Erin was hired, she had somebody take care of it immediately! And she was kind about it too. So in closing, I'd like to say that I recommend Erin immensely. She'll get the job done!
Sincerely,
Eleanor _____________"
While tempting to insert a "How many property managers does it take to change a lightbulb?" joke here, I'll just pass on that golden opportunity and skip to our next stunning LoR example.
"To Whom It May Concern:
If Ron __________ is applying for a job as a salesman, hire him.
I am a Director of Marketing and Sales Manager at ___________ company. I can tell you that Ron's suggestions on product introduction were important factors to the growth of our facility. We had an unfortunate disaster strike our company and again (and again single-handedly), Ron ground out the sales. He always sold around $600 to $800 per year extra despite the disaster. He did this strictly on his strength with store buyers in face-to-face situations. I think we and our customers are going to suffer badly by the loss of Ron ___________. If I may amplify any portion of this, please feel free to contact me.
John ___________
Director of Sales and Marketing
________________ Company"
$600-$800 and 1 light bulb changed? Wow and big whoop.
I'm so totally not impressed.
Why can't people see how STUPID it is for them to be submitting these LoR's? It's shocking to me.
So if you're ever in doubt on whether you should use one, yes- but only if it's good.
If you're having any doubts about whether or not it's any good? For criminey sakes, ASK SOMEBODY.
Oh and PS- to poor little ol' Eleanor's family that wouldn't help her change a damn light bulb in her little ol' apartment- YOU SUCK.
And PPS- Did you all know there's clip art out there of light bulbs that snorkel? Me neither.
But now we all do.
So that means I can officially say we've all been "enlightened".
Hardy har har.
(Sorry...couldn't resist!)
I love when you ask for a letter of reference and the person you're asking says, "Well you just write what you want and I'll sign it." I'm sorry, did you not hear me above the eye rolling? I asked for YOUR opinion on my work. Sheesh. I've never been brave enough to write something totally ridiculous and off the wall just to see if they even read it before signing.
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