Letters of Recommendation – Yay or Nay?
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Given our online world, what is the relevancy of traditional letters of recommendation?

The concept of the letter itself is very relevant. The value derives from the ability to have others, that know your work very well, speak about your experience in a way that entices and connects with employers.

Traditionally, letters of recommendation were written on embossed letterhead of your former company and was signed by your supervisor. You might have just 1 original letter in a 9×12 envelope so you could show it to a potential employer…or perhaps you had your former boss sign multiple copies so you could actually give it to the potential employer for your candidate file. The information was glowing (of course) and often mentioned what a nice person you were and how you were dependable and arrived to work on time. Not particularly relevant or useful in today’s world!

Fast forward a decade or two. Nowadays, that ‘letter’ might be in the form of an email you have saved, a copy of a letter written, or a recommendation on LinkedIn. Whatever the format, make sure the content has the right information so it is actually useful in deciding whether you are a qualified applied for a job! How do you do that? Read on…
  • Who Can Write It? Ideally your former managers are willing to vouch for your expertise. If they are not a choice for some reason, look to former customers, managers that had dotted line to you, cross-functional team leads you worked with, or anyone that has been on the receiving end of your work. If you are a new grad, you can ask the manager from the company where you had an internship or you can ask a professor that knows your work well. A manager from the organization where you volunteer will be good, too. Family and friends are off limits. Co-workers are a last resort for formal letters, but work really well on LinkedIn.

  • What should it say? The comments in the letter should be aligned as specifically as possible to the skills and qualifications required in your potential job. That, of course, means you need to be clear with people about the kind of job you are going after, what is required in the position, how your past relates to that position, and what is important to the companies that you are pursuing. If you are conducting a focused job search, this shouldn’t be too difficult.

  • When and How do you use it? For some job seekers, it will be completely obvious when to pull out the letter because the potential employer will ask for it. This will probably be more true for newer grads than it is for those with years of experience. For others, you might bring it up in an interview. For example, “Yes, I do have extensive experience developing international business continuity plans; in fact, my former director even wrote about a large project I did in that area in a letter of recommendation for me.” This gives you an opportunity to point specific experiences others compliment you on, then if you are asked for the letter, you can hand it over. Some professionals will simply let their recommendations live on LinkedIn and refer to them only when the topic is brought up.
Traditional letters of recommendation are not used as often as they used to be. Because those letters have a reputation for being ‘fluff,’ coupled with the access employers have to information online, they have fallen a bit by the wayside in society. However, recommendations on LinkedIn are very relevant, and having that traditional letter from a manager that actually says something meaningful and specific about your work and your area of expertise will never fall out of favor with potential employers.