hey everyone, this is going to be a bit of a venting thread. *begin rant* So around a month ago i asked my boss (i'm currently interning) if she could write me a letter of recommendation as i'm applying for my MBA. she smiled said sure and talked about how excited i must be. i told her the due date was June 1st, but i'd much appreciate it if she could get it to me about a week before. she agreed that she'd get it to me a week before (last friday). when i went to ask her if she had done my letter yet she said she had been too busy, but will get it to me the tuesday after memorial day and will overnight the letter to the college. i just smiled and said ok because i can't exactly chew out my boss who is going to be writing my recommendation letter. i figured over the 3 1/2 day weekend we had for memorial day that she'd be able to squeeze in an hour or so to complete my letter. after all, this is about my future and surely she'd take it almost as seriously as me, right? apparently not, she didn't even come into work on tuesday because she took the day off. So, wednesday comes around and she STILL hasn't written it claiming to have been busy all tuesday, but doesn't mention why she didn't do it over the weekend. So, she said she'd do it that night and get it to me by thursday morning. i went into her office this morning and surprisingly she still didn't have it done. she even had the nerve to laugh and say "are you joking" when i asked her for it today. she's saying she'll have it by the end of the day, which she better had because it's due on saturday and i need to mail it off with the rest of my application. *end rant* on a side note, i asked HER boss (who must be way busier than she is, right?) to write me a letter of recommendation too and she got it back to me within a couple of hours.
I wonder what the school said when you told them you might need an extension on one of your recommendation letters; or what every other professor, previous employer or senior colleague said when you asked them to write backup or complementary letters.
What school has a deadline of June 1st? It is very hard to get in the last round unless you are a URM with a great application. I have had same issues before. It took some of my some of my writers forever. I think the best people to ask are people with PHds or other professional degree because they have gone through the same thing and they know the process and deadlines and stuff.
She's clearly asking for a bribe. But since you've got one from her boss, why would you need one from her?
Since your boss told you numerous times she would get it done, and still hasn't, she is in the wrong. That being said, two lessons to take from this: 1. Never tell people the real due date. If your college needs it 06/01, you should have told her the due date was 05/15 (even though you told her you'd like it earlier than 06/01). 2. You said she would take your future "almost as seriously as you". Why would you think this? Do you take her future almost as seriously as she would?
Funny that I am printing out a letter of rec for a student of mine while I am reading this post. She should be more responsible in getting you the letter, plain and simple. As a writer of many of these types of letters, I pretty much have a template and customize it to fit the person. It shouldnt take more that an hour to develop something if you know the person well enough.
i wasn't anticipating her not being able to take an hour out of her time to write something she said she would over a span of a month Texas State's business school. no one i would ask here has a PHd. i'm not currently in school, i graduated last year and took a year to get some work experience i need 2 recommendations.
My old boss took about an hour to write me one and it was full of flattering exaggeration, it was awesome.
Wouldnt that really damage your reputation if that somehow got out? Its harmless but still its deceiving.
yea....... i'm going to go up to a random member of the board i've never worked with or met and ask them for a recommendation letter. they're never in the office besides the occasional board meeting. the highest i could go is the senior VP of administration and that's who i've gotten a letter from already.
You don't take a hint very easily, huh? She obviously doesn't give a **** about you. Even if you got a recommendation from her in the end, I wouldn't expect it to be very impactful. Go get somebody else to write that recommendation asap. It's funny because I had the same thing happen to me -- I asked an old boss to write a recommendation for my application to business school. She said she'd do it by a certain date and didn't do it. But, I was quick to just ask someone else -- a former coworker who had achieved some stature at his new company.
considering her boss is a close family friend of mine, i thought that would be a motivating factor for her to give a **** i'm having my dad use one of his employees/family friends to write me one now, since i worked for my dad's company for a summer years ago.
I can see how you might have thought that, but people don't always act rationally. Today is May 30. You asked a month ago. She hasn't done it. Actions speak louder than words.
I wouldn't think so if you presented it like: "Would you be willing to write a letter of recommendation for me? I need it by 05/15. Thanks"
My point is that you assumed she would take your future almost as seriously as you do. It is glaringly obvious she did not. The lesson to learn from this is never to assume something like that.
