I am having some trouble trying to select the best person for my 2nd recommendation. I have already obtained a recommendation from my current direct supervisor, but I have a lot of options for my 2nd choice. Everything I've read says that your recommendations should come from people who can attest to your professional skills and have worked with you directly. That being said, I have 3 target options. My first choice would be to select my mentor. While he has no official management experience, he has worked with me almost daily and taught me almost everything I know professionally. My other two options are to seek out a recommendation from my director or my past manager (2nd level supervisors). Both are very aware of my qualifications and would write a great rec. So which rec speaks more loudly to AdComs? The mentor with no management experience or the 2nd level manager/director that is running our organization, but rarely sees my day to day work, just the finished product? Any overall advice or links to articles on choosing recommenders is greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Well, there are a lot of criteria to decide which recommenders would be best. I would say the first two things to look at is: Who knows me best? Who would write me the most excited recommendations? An excited intimate rec from a lower ranked boss is worth 10 times a cold generic rec from a VIP. Of course if you have a big manager who would also write a great rec cause they love you, even if they didn't supervise your work directly, that can also make an awesome recommendation. Other things to take into consideration is: Whether your recommender has an MBA from the school you are applying to. How well the recommender can write about your leadership experience. How many people they have managed in the past.
hope this gets you started!
