Common Mistakes Managing MBA Recommenders
We recently worked with a business school applicant who believed poor recommendations were the main reason she didn’t get into any of her dream business schools. She carefully selected her MBA recommenders and gave them several months’ advance notice. Her first recommender gave her a copy of his letter after submitting it. It was six pages long, written with care—and totally missed the mark.
Despite his good intentions, he emphasized the wrong qualities, rambled like crazy, and did not provide relevant examples. Unfortunately, this is not uncommon. That’s why properly managing your MBA recommenders is just as important as selecting the right ones.
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The 5 Don’t’s of Managing MBA Recommenders
Heed the following five tips, and you’ll avoid a lot of unnecessary anxiety when you are already under a lot of pressure.
1. Don’t assume they know what to write about or will remember all of your achievements.
Your recommender is probably time-strapped and doesn’t remember those three outstanding examples of your leadership. They also probably don’t know what schools are looking for in letters of recommendation.
Show your recommender your essays and decide on four or five characteristics you would like them to emphasize throughout the letter. For example, think of leadership, teamwork, creative thinking, determination, focus, intelligence, charisma, and integrity. Next, come up with at least one concrete example that illustrates each characteristic.
Here’s what an instance of initiative might look like: “Last year, when I learned that international sales were declining, I took it upon myself to research the competitive landscape and learned of two recent market entrants. I then offered to lead a team to analyze these new competitors and develop a strategy for regaining our market share. Our team of five analysts proposed a solution after one week of work. The solution was implemented and within six months, we gained back 5 percent of lost market share.”
Listen to B-Schooled Podcast #133: 10 Things I Wish I’d Known About Recommendations When Applying-Part 1
2. Don’t bombard them with too many materials or reminders.
Doing this can overwhelm your recommender and lead them to ignore what you’ve prepared for them. First, create a bullet-point list of the projects you have worked on. Next, give them an outline of your strengths that goes into more detail than your resume.
You want your recommenders actually to read this document. So try to keep it to one page and don’t overload them with information. It should be a quick, helpful reference.
3. Don’t allow your recommender to provide a rave review without supporting their statements with solid facts.
The cardinal rule of good writing—show, don’t tell—is equally important in a letter of recommendation. The admissions committee wants to get that third-party perspective missing from your essays, test scores, and interview.
No one expects the applicant to be perfect, however. The best recommendation letters paint a vivid picture that brings the candidate on paper to life.
4. Don’t let them submit late under any circumstances.
It’s essential to get started on this process as early as possible. Your recommender should know that writing such a letter is both an honor and a responsibility.
Give them plenty of time to prepare for your deadline. You may find it helpful to advance the due date by a week to remove one last-minute worry from your plate.
In this TikTok, SBC consultant Erika outlines the crucial difference between guiding and micromanaging your recommenders.
@stacyblackmanconsulting #sbcyourfuture #bschool #mba #businessschool #bschooladmissions #recommendations #recommenders #recommendationletters #recommendationletter ? Lava Lamp – Happy Trees
5. Don’t write the recommendation letter for them.
To save time or ease their burden, a recommender may ask you to write the letter for them to sign. Please don’t do it! For one, the admissions committee will probably recognize your writing style from your essays. So, that will immediately raise a red flag. And secondly, if the individual doesn’t have enough time to write a proper recommendation, you would be better off seeking someone more enthusiastic about championing your business school dreams.
On the other hand, if the request is because English is a second language for your supervisor and they are worried about sounding unprofessional, you have two options. The first is to not worry about it and explain that the admissions committee is focused solely on the content of the message and understands any language limitations that may exist. However, if you fear it might become a distraction, hire a translator and eliminate that concern.
If you can help your recommenders stay on message, deliver on time, and provide vivid examples of your professional skills, you will have this element of your MBA application well in hand.
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