WHEN YOU CAN’T ASK YOUR BOSS FOR A LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION
We've covered what the Ideal Letter Of Recommendation Scenario looks like as well as Why You Should Never Write Your Own LOR. But what happens if your current workplace does not support you going off to business school? If your current boss is unwilling to write you a letter of recommendation? Or you just can't ask them because it might jeopardize your current work situation? Well, according to Paul Lanzillotti, Admissions Expert and Founder of Amerasia Consulting, this actually happens a lot. Luckily, Paul offers five reasons and some resolutions for this:
1. It affects your bonus
"My banking clients run into this situation constantly — it affects their bonus. They don’t want to let the cat out of the bag too early, because otherwise they don’t get their bonus at the end of the year. Why would a company give you $100,000 if you’re not going to be around next year? Even if you earned to get that $100,000, these folks on wall street don’t think like (apparently).
2. You are new to the company
Another reason could be that you just joined the company. You started this new job and you didn’t tell them you were thinking about going off to business school at your job interview. Maybe you weren’t thinking about it when you did the interview. Now all of a sudden, you have to tell your boss you are thinking about leaving.
Not telling your new boss is a legitimate concern and you have many reasons to feel that way (I sincerely believe that). You fear being neutralized or put in a cloak closet or getting sat at the little kids table, or basically, not given a legitimate responsibility. Your boss may be vexed because you did just join the company after all. The solution for this is to go to your old employer for a letter of recommendation. This is always why you leave prior places of work on good terms. Don’t burn bridges! Leave on good terms, so you can go back and ask them for a letter of recommendation.
3. You left your old employer on bad terms
Now maybe, you did leave on bad terms. Surely, if you are a competent decent person, there must be an old boss of yours at an old place of work, even if they’re not at the company anymore, that can vogue for you? Maybe it’s a client, or a customer account, or a partner? Look for these kinds of leads if you (kind of) burnt the house down whilst leaving your old employer.
4. You're taking a new job in the coming months
For those of you who may take up a new job in the coming months and don’t want to disclose that you’re thinking of applying to business school, then don’t. But just know that when you do and you leave, you’re going to run the risk of burning that bridge. If you’re planning to go back to whatever country you were in before, it can be a very small world. Just don’t create unnecessary liabilities if you don’t have to.
5. You just can't tell your boss
Let’s say you’ve been working at a company for a year or two, you should really get a recommender from that place of work, but you just can’t tell your boss. This is where it gets tricky and difficult and scary. Try to find another business unit manager, or lead that really loves you and maybe you can take them into confidence, and spill the beans that you’re leaving. But chances are, that it’s going to get out if you do.
So, what I recommend doing is, try to find a senior level boss (your boss’s title or above) that has left the company and has gone to do something different. Ask that person if you really can’t tell anyone at work. Hopefully that person will say yes, and hopefully they will like you enough that they can say, “You know I worked with little Johnny for however many months, he or she was the greatest thing since sliced bread…, etc., etc.” This is where you really want to provide them with bullet points about what you worked on because they will not remember."
Nowadays, you really only need two recommenders, some schools are just one (MIT).
However, start this process early on (you know your recommender and your workplace better), but broach the conversation now so there aren’t any surprises later on in the year.
Ask them if they’re supportive and tell them you’re going to be doing a lot of legwork and ground work for them. They can't be left wandering. Then give them what you promised to give them at least eight weeks before the deadline. This would be the date of the earliest MBA application deadline from your target school.
Don’t piecemeal this because your recommender will rip your head off eventually. Give your recommender all of this information at once, and keep reminding them every week. “Hey man do you need my help with that? Is there anything else I can do? Do you need to meet or sit down? And, I know you have a lot on your plate boss, is there anything I can take off your plate boss to help you out?”
The next step? Keep your eyes out for the next blog post on resumes!
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