How to Get Great Letters of Recommendation

"I can't begin to tell you how many situations a recommender has derailed an applicant's dreams by procrastinating or doing a shoddy job" points out Chioma Isiadinso author of The Best Business School Admissions Secrets. Clearly after all the hard work that's gone into your application, the last thing you want is to get dinged for a bad letter of recommendation. So what can you do to prevent this from happening?

Choose recommenders that know you well - Ideally your recommenders should be your immediate manager (when possible) or a prior manager that can speak to your leadership skills and progression. Don't choose the CEO or someone else with a fancy title in hopes of impressing the admissions office. This technique will backfire on you. The admissions office wants to read a letter of recommendation from someone that knows you well and has worked closely with you.

*If you choose someone that's written your annual review before, you should have a good idea (based on past reviews) of how they regard you as a leader and what they will be most inclined to write about.

Choose recommenders that will CHAMPION you - As Ms. Isiadinso points out in the above video, you need to think of yourself as a brand and choose a recommender that's willing to be a brand champion for you. Run the other way and find a new recommender if your potential recommender says: he's too busy, doesn't understand why you want to get an MBA or just generally doesn't come across as supportive. This type of person is not going to champion you in your letter of recommendation.

Prime your recommenders with your successes - Not everyone is a natural for writing letters of recommendation. Take the time to set up a meeting with your recommender early on and discuss what you'll be writing about in your application essays and what you think your key successes are as a leader. If it's been a while since you worked with your recommender, this is especially important. Even if you recommender thinks you are a rock star, the precise details of your accomplishments may be a little hazy in his mind and need refreshing. The last thing you want is a vague or generic letter of recommendation that doesn't back up any of the 'key messages' in your essays.

Give your recommenders sufficient time to write your letter of recommendation - Depending on how many schools you're applying to and how busy your recommenders are, you'll want to give them 1-6 months to write the recommendations. It's also helpful to follow up with them as the deadline approaches to make sure everything is submitted on time.