Employer LOR Forum

(Applications Advice, Letters of Recommendation . . . )
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inordertologin

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Employer LOR

Post by inordertologin » Thu Jan 21, 2010 12:41 pm

Know this is a common question but I can't help myself:

So I work for a pretty busy boss, we've been working together for the past year and a half and have developed a good relationship and he knows me very well. I asked him to write an LOR for me and he said I should do it and he would review it. I wrote it showed it to him and he agreed with everything in the letter and agreed to sign. Is this kosher? I've heard horror stories in the past.

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kalvano

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Re: Employer LOR

Post by kalvano » Thu Jan 21, 2010 2:46 pm

No. He needs to write it.

A person has a style of writing, and it's pretty easy to tell if you wrote it or not.

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Aeroplane

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Re: Employer LOR

Post by Aeroplane » Thu Jan 21, 2010 2:56 pm

I've heard of recommenders doing this, including professors. It's also very common for recommenders to ask "what do you want me to say about you/to write about" and then write based on that. Both seem intuitively kosher to me, since the recommender's purpose is to vouch for certain qualities of yours (which they do by reading & signing) and not to produce an authentically individual creative work (like if you had to write a PS or writing sample it wouldn't be cool for someone else to write it). However, if I were in this position, I would check with each school to see if this is something they have an issue with. I am paranoid about things like this and prefer to err on the side of caution. You can call & ask anonymously if you're afraid of making a bad impression by just asking the question.

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teaadntoast

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Re: Employer LOR

Post by teaadntoast » Thu Jan 21, 2010 2:58 pm

In an ideal world he would write it himself. It's worth asking again, or at least expressing your reservations about submitting this letter.

If he won't budge, however, and the letter is an important part of your application, I'd say your best bet is to ask a friend to re-write your draft and present that version for approval and signature.

inordertologin

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Re: Employer LOR

Post by inordertologin » Thu Jan 21, 2010 3:19 pm

I've talked to him again and expressed my concerns so he is going to take another look at it and edit it himself. So I feel a bit better now.

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