The Application Process

After almost 8 years at my last company, I recently switched roles. Given that switch I have three people who will write me fantastic letters of rec. Trying to think strategically about the best options:

1) Current COO of a publicly traded company - did not go to biz school
2) High level exec of same public company - went to Harvard MBA program
3) High level exec of new company (also public) - masters in engineering

Any thoughts? TIA! First post for me.

How closely have you worked with each? I would say that while title and education of your references are important it's also important that they can comment on you and your work. The more familiar your reference is with you the stronger the reference will be.

Just my two cents. I had to come up with three references for my application and while our CFO was willing to write me a letter I opted for one of the VP's I'd work with more closely (my other two references were my immediate manager and more former manager who is now a coworker). When it came to interview time one of the comments I got from the ad com was how strong my references were and that they appreciated that I had selected people who knew me and my work very well rather than trying to find someone with the highest title.

Of course if all three know you well then that makes selecting someone a bit harder.

Hi mamaof4,

Agree with Knitgeek that what matters is how closely have the recommenders observed your work? Designations don't matter.

Why?

It's because B-schools want recommenders to support their assertions (in recommendations) through real-life experiences where you displayed those qualities. (Mere assertions don't work.) And they won't be in a position to write those details unless they know you (or rather, your work).

I would like to add one more point.

One should ideally choose recommenders who have seen non-overlapping work of yours. Imagine, both of them writing the same examples. And if you can't help it, it's good to have different sets of examples/ experiences from the two recommenders.

A lot of applicants make the mistake of assuming that the title of the recommender makes a huge difference. In extreme cases, maybe it can, but generally it is not what is going to impress any adcom as much as you think as a lot of applicants have recommenders with impressive titles to bring out.

Instead, you need to look for recommenders who 1. Really know you and can prove that by specific examples 2. Are really on your side, as that will show in their recommendation as well. If they are just writing a recommendation as a favor since you asked them it will probably be a less impressive recommendation than one from a person who is actually close to you and knows about your future plans and has maybe done things for you in the past.

So do not focus too much on them and what they have done in their career so far but rather look at who will write the most truthful, factual and example filled recommendation out of these people.

Hope that helps and good luck!