Question about Recommendations

[hmgp22]

Do recommendation letters have to come from my current colleagues or supervisors? Can I ask prior colleagues and managers...etc from 2 years ago? I feel that they would do a better job at writing the rec.

[brianlange77]

Do recommendation letters have to come from my current colleagues or supervisors? Can I ask prior colleagues and managers...etc from 2 years ago? I feel that they would do a better job at writing the rec.

I think that everyone will give you a different answer here -- the primary goal of getting people to complete your letters of recommendation is to get AMAZING letters of reco. That said, it's always nice to get letters from your current employer. I don't think it's a show-stopper, but is certainly preferred.

Again, that's just my $0.02 based on experience. Encourage you to find forums to get that feedback from some of the schools you are interested in applying to.

Hope that helps.

-Brian

[classic5]

You should follow the school's instructions - some schools specifically ask you to provide a recommendation from your current supervisor, or to explain if you can't.

[AppExperts]

Hi... if you feel that previous supervisor can do better justice in bringing out your qualities, then in my opinion he/she should be writing your reco... the main purpose of recommendation is to verify your contribution at your workplace. Best recos are those where the person giving the recommendation has directly worked with you and his/her work performance was in some capacity linked to your performance.. however as correctly answered above, recency of relationship is definitely advantageous but not a mandatory issue with the recommendation. Content of the reco matters more. I hope it helps.