As a job-seeker, you can imagine the challenges that confront hiring managers as they struggle to separate fact from fiction. Good recommendation letters will empower them to make decisions more efficiently and successfully.
Why recommendation letters?
Have you ever asked a friend for advice about a purchase? Maybe you wanted to buy a product or a service and you didn’t know where to start. Then maybe you received advice from someone you trust. Isn’t that helpful? People often rely on the opinions of others to help make big decisions. That is essentially the power of good recommendation letters.
Picture this: You are the final decision maker assigned to hire the best worker from 100 applicants. Your assistant has helped you narrow the list down to just two CVs. Both are a good fit, but only one has attached a Letter of Recommendation. The recommendation confirms the message of the CV from the voice of an employer. As a hiring manager, you can now start to prioritize which profile you like best because one has given you more assistance in your vetting process. This is the power of a good recommendation.
What should your ideal recommendation letter look like?
1) Letterhead – Ideally, the letter is on company letterhead. This adds a sense of formality. At the very top, you will want to have the words “Open Letter of Recommendation” if you can. This text will confirm your intent to open this document to the public if you desire.
2) Direct is best – It should be from a direct supervisor of yours that has direct knowledge of your work through a reasonable period of time, generally the longer the better. If you are the business owner, you may use some of your best and longest served clients instead.
3) Relevant Content – The content of the recommendation letter should address areas where you perform well, for example, maybe your top skills, the quality of your work, your reliability to get things done to specification / code, your attitude about taking directions from managers and getting on well with the team. Some content should be devoted to the value that you have brought to the company. If the person signing the reference letter is also willing to be contacted for further information, this is a nice gesture to see in a reference letter because it tells the reader that these statements can be backed up with examples and details if needed.
4) Formatting – The format is less important and sometimes outside of your control because each manager will have a different style. Some will be very formal and wordy. Others may offer 3 sentences and 4 bullet points. This usually reflects industry norms. The main issue is content of course.
Who from your professional past needs your recommendation letter?
If it is quality recommendations you seek, why not begin by giving others the best recommendation letters that you can offer. For example, almost every professional has helped train or manage people at some point in their career. Are there any of them that deserve an official recommendation letter from you? Maybe they are afraid to ask just as you might be hesitating to ask your boss? Why not give these people a well-deserved recommendation letter clearly explaining their core skills and their value to the company in a way that is suitable for their future hiring managers?
“It’s not how much we give, but how much love we put into giving.”
-Mother Teresa
If you want to be remembered for the rest of your life and give something back at the same time, just give a former team member a letter of recommendation. Often, the most deserving are the least likely to ask and the most appreciative when it happens.
What should you write in your recommendation letter?
There are no rules. A genuine effort to explain the value brought to your projects and your company by this person will never be forgotten. Just remember that you are writing to a potential boss so it should have a level of formality to it.
This effort will help you become clear about what you want others to say about you. Maybe you will have another good way to request the same from your boss. Imagine saying this: “Hi Boss, you know how much my Letters of Recommendation were received by my former trainees / employees? It is amazing. Could I ask you to do the same for me?”
Here are two effective ways to get good recommendation letters from your bosses:
#1 Go Direct – My favorite suggestion is to go directly to your boss and ask for a recommendation letter. Here is a general guideline to consider: “May I speak to you for a few minutes about something that is important to me? I guess I should first ask if you have been happy with my performance over the years?” Obviously, now you pause. Listen to the answer. If the answer is “Yes”, then you may ask for the recommendation letter. (Note: If your boss says “no”, this is your opportunity to make corrections before asking again.)
When your boss confirms a willingness to give you a recommendation letter, this is the time to suggest something similar to the following: “Thank you very much, I appreciate it. May I offer you a draft example to edit? It may save you some time as long as I am honest. There are a few things that are important for my job search that I would like to have in there.”
After receiving your recommendation letter, always thank the author and you might also offer a small gift if appropriate. Remember to keep in touch periodically also because this person may be taking a reference call from your future boss someday in the future.
Writing the draft recommendation letter for your boss to consider and sign might be the most effective thing you can do for this entire exercise.
#2 Leverage LinkedIn – The online space continues to grow and LinkedIn is the leading professional platform globally. Having a LinkedIn presence is becoming the norm for most industries so it helps to boost your visibility here. Getting and receiving recommendations is just one of the many areas where LinkedIn offers job seekers an opportunity to set their profile apart from others. As mentioned, hiring managers are mostly interested to see the opinions of your direct bosses. However, LinkedIn also offers a compact way to represent your skills from many people.
You may also request skills references from LinkedIn and if you get one from a boss, you may consider if it is appropriate to ask for a written reference on company letterhead from that point.
To add credibility to your LinkedIn profile, you may post scans of your signed recommendation letters and add it into the “featured” section of LinkedIn, which will then be prominently displayed near to the top of your profile landing page, along with other professional documents and videos that you consider worth making “featured” for others to see.
A word of caution about LinkedIn:
Unfortunately, LinkedIn cannot replace your direct contact to hiring managers. Nothing will ever beat your face to face or phone to phone interaction with a hiring manager. Also, LinkedIn can waste a lot of your time if you aren’t careful. To rank the importance of various job-related tasks, just ask yourself: “What is the most important thing that hiring managers require from me in my target market in order to decide to interview / hire me?”
Conclusion about recommendation letters
Recommendation letters are very useful addendums to your CV because they help communicate your core qualities from the perspective of someone who knows how you delivers value in the past. Hiring managers will use this as a vetting tool to help justify their decision to hire. The most effective letters of recommendation will showcase your core skills from your CV. The most effective job finding efforts will align your core skills to your job targets.
If you want objective feedback and assistance with any part of your job finding efforts, consider sending your CV to me with a few sentences about your immigration goals and readiness to find jobs. I typically respond in a day from here: Tate@EmploymentForImmigration.nz
Employment for Immigration to New Zealand, Australia and Beyond 