Rec letter and laid off.

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ketnet1
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Topic: Rec letter and laid off.
PostWed Oct 28, 2009 2:01 am
Hi,

If I just got laid off today, when is the best time to ask the manager for a recommendation letter and in what way of asking? Should I ask 2-3 weeks from today or wait a little longer?

For example, since i'm not sure if I will get a gmat score that meets the school's 80% range, I am not sure which schools I will apply to. In this case, should I have the recommender write a generic letter and keep it on hand or should I just verbally ask the recommender? ie. "In case I don't find a job and I might be considering applying to schools in the coming months (5-6 months from now), would you be able to write the recommendation letter for me?"

Once I get verbal confirmation- then it is safe to say that the manager will write it? And when I am ready to apply, I will just have the manager actually write the letter.

In summary:
1) Verbal confirmation from manager
2) Ask few months down the line when ready to apply.

Thank you!
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Jessica Shklar
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PostWed Oct 28, 2009 6:13 am
Hi and thank you for your inquiry. I'm sorry to hear you were laid off.

For business school recommendations, a generic letter won't be sufficient. While there are some commonalities, the schools do ask different questions and have different requirements (e.g. length, individual questions vs. a letter, etc.)

For that reason, I think it makes the most sense simply to ask if your manager will write a letter for you in the future, and when you decide to apply, email him or her again first confirming that they'll do this for you and then perhaps supplying some suggested bullet points to remind your manager of some details of your strengths.


Good luck!
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