Are you willing to write a letter of recommendation for an MBA aspirant? Well, that’s a responsible job in itself. Having an impressive letter of recommendation will give the aspirant an extra advantage over others. So, what is a letter of recommendation or LOR?
A letter of recommendation is written by a person who is recommending another person by assessing his characteristics, qualities, skills, etc. Generally, recommendation letters are required during employment, or admission to institutes, or scholarship application. Typically, teachers, professors, previous employers, etc can write an aspirant recommendation letters.
What Is The Importance Of A Letter Of Recommendation?
Producing two or three recommendation letters can really help strengthen your MBA application.
- A LOR provides deeper insights upon the candidacy of the aspirants.
- It focuses on the candidate’s qualities, skill sets which can get better with an MBA program.
- A LOR highlights the candidate’s important achievements during his academic and working years.
How To Choose Recommendation Letter Writers For MBA Application?
Deciding whom to ask for a recommendation letter can be tricky. A student’s choice must depend on a couple of factors.
- The student-professor relationship or the employer-employee relationship.
- The impact of your professor or previous employer in your career and work.
Moreover, since MBA aspirants typically require 2 to 3 years of experience, they will be able to showcase an ample amount of skills to their employers. Thus, asking your previous employer to write a recommendation letter will be a good decision if you want to pursue an MBA. Additionally, instead of producing two identical LOR, one can approach an employer and a professor. In this way, both the recommendation letters will have a different approach to your skills and capabilities.
But how to write a good recommendation letter? Without wasting time, let’s jump right into it.
How To Write A Letter Of Recommendation For An MBA Applicant?
Before you begin drafting a recommendation letter, there are few things that must be kept in mind.
- For the purpose of composing a cohesive application, the tone of a LOR must be in parlance with the candidate’s statement of purpose or SOP. Ask the student or the employee for their statement of purpose before writing them a LOR.
- In order to write an impactful LOR, one must be aware of the student’s goal. Thus, always have the candidate’s resume handy. In this way, you can extract every detail you need about the MBA aspirant.
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- Focus on the key skills of the candidate, scan through the academic records and highlight the places where the candidate did well.
- Maintain a formal tone throughout the LOR since this LOR will be used to secure either employment, admission, or scholarship.
What Makes A Letter of Recommendation For MBA Credible?
The credibility of a LOR is important in today’s world. Thus, certain important points are to be kept in mind while deciding the credibility of the LORs.
- According to studies, MBA programs in top B-Schools such as Harvard University and Wharton Business School prefer recommendations from direct supervisors. However, there is an exception to this. While enrolling in the 2 + 2 program, you can submit recommendations from faculties, head of departments, and advisors.
- Instead of painting only a good picture of a candidate, give a clear picture of the candidate’s temperament, both professionally and personally. Such a practice will make your LOR more credible, and give your candidate an edge over the others.
- Specifying how the candidate has contributed to the institute or the company largely contributes towards making your LOR credible.
Letter Of Recommendation Samples For MBA Candidates
Writing a LOR requires attention to details, a formal tone and language. Achieving the requirements might seem easier, but takes a little practice. Here’s how you can write a LOR perfectly!
Introduction
- Start off with a formal greeting where you provide your introduction, designation, and affiliations.
- Next comes the introduction of the candidate.
- Lastly, describe your relationship with the candidate and why you are recommending the candidate for the MBA program.
Body
The body of the LOR must be sub divided into two paragraphs where you dive deeper into describing the suitability of the candidate for the MBA program.
First Paragraph
Keeping the tone of the body as formal, talk about the candidate’s qualification and positive attributes. Refrain from sounding overly complementary. Do not shift from the objective, which is, highlighting the candidate’s profile. Describe the candidate’s leadership skills, professional approach, work ethics, and problem solving abilities.
Second Paragraph
Now, in the second paragraph, describe the candidate’s character as a professional in details. For example, talk about how certain trait of the candidate helped them manage professional responsibilities. Talk about why you think the candidate is suitable for an MBA program. Even if the candidate has some shortcomings, talk about how they have improves in overcoming them.
Conclusion
While concluding your LOR, summarize why you are recommending the candidate for the MBA program. Briefly focus on the strengths of the candidate that could really help them in getting accepted. In the end, ask the university or employer to contact you for further information, if required. Lastly, sign off with your full name and signature.