Thank you to AIGAC member Chioma Isiadinso, CEO of the admissions consultancy Expartus , who graciously contributes the following article.
Managing the Recommendation Process
Choosing a recommender for your business school application is one of the easiest parts of the application, right? Wrong… managing the recommendation process should be undertaken as carefully and thoughtfully as all other parts of your application. Following is EXPARTUS’ take on the top ten things to consider to best manage the recommendation process for your business school application.
1. What is the application asking? A recommendation from a peer (as required by some MBA programs such as Stanford) is not the same as a recommendation from a supervisor. Make sure that you know and understand what the application is asking for and deliver. A peer recommendation should be just that – a recommendation by someone who is of similar title and/or rank while a professional recommendation, if it simply asks for that, should generally be from an immediate and current supervisor.
2. Often, for confidentiality reasons, an applicant cannot ask a current manager for a recommendation. If this is the case, include a very brief explanation as to why you have not been able to use your present supervisor and why you selected the person that did write your recommendation. Admissions committees are understanding in regards to this difficult topic, but be forthright in explaining your decision. You can get a recommendation from a former supervisor or even from a client if you are unable to one from your immediate supervisor.
3. Familiarity trumps title. A recommendation by a Vice President who has worked closely with you over the course of several years and various projects trumps a recommendation by a State Senator who is a family friend. Schools are looking to get to know you and a recommendation that can shed light on the type of person and professional that you are is key to this process.
4. Acknowledge the time commitment involved and respect their time. If you are applying to only two schools, it is probably okay to ask two people to write two recommendations each. If you are applying to five schools, you may want to think about how many recommendations you can reasonably ask one person to complete. Overwhelming your recommenders with several requests will most likely lead to burn out, resulting in a loss of quality.
5. So, you’ve selected the appropriate people for each required recommendation. But, do they understand your brand? Do they know what you stand for and what message you are trying to convey throughout your application? Can they effectively and eloquently describe who you are? Will they be conveying the same messages to the admissions committee as the other parts of your application? Applicants should take the time to meet with recommenders and should talk with them about their brand. What are the three to four main points that you are trying to convey to the admissions committee throughout your application? Your commitment to diversity, your proactiveness in evaluating problems, your communication skills, etc. It is a warning flag when a recommender speaks of communication skills as an area for improvement while the applicant speaks strongly about their strength in this area. Make sure that you are on the same page as your recommenders in this regard and that your recommenders know your brand and provide specific examples that support your themes.
6. Do they understand your goals? Here again, it is of utmost importance that recommenders and applicants convey the same message. It presents another cautionary point to the admissions committee when an applicant talks about his or her desire to change careers to marketing, for example, while a recommender speaks of this same applicant’s return to consulting post-MBA.
7. Help your recommender by putting together a document that outlines the projects on which you have worked, including locations and dates, as well as your specific role and tasks during each project. Not only does this process require a serious time commitment from them, but it is a key part of the application and, as such, it is of utmost importance that it contributes positively to the overall application. Don’t leave it to chance that the recommender will remember the stellar work that you did on that consulting project in Canada or that in-house marketing project. It is perfectly acceptable, and actually very important, to remind them of this information.
8. Recommenders are often asked about an applicant’s ethics… on this note, it is unethical to write the recommendation for them. Many people may ask this of applicants and it is the applicant’s responsibility to respond that, while they will be more than happy to help with the process as much as possible (see above point), they really believe that the recommendation will be much stronger if it comes directly from the recommender.
9. Help them manage their time. Give them ample time to complete the application by approaching them at least two to three months ahead of time.
10. Be enthusiastic. Get them to become a strong supporter of your brand and to buy-in to your goal of attending business school by being enthusiastic about the process. Tell them how important this process is to you, how much you would like to attend the school to which you are applying and how.