Letter of Rec from waitressing job? Forum

[lnicole13]

So I've been debating whether or not a letter of rec from my employer at my job would be beneficial to my application or not. Thought I'd ask for your input!

Con:
It's a waitressing job. Not that I'm embarrassed, it's how I've been making money to live, but it's nothing like a job at a law firm or anything. It also obviously says nothing about me academically.

Pro:
I've been working there for about 3 years and my employers have become like family. I know they would write me a glowing rec (I've also had some leadership experience in the restaurant as a manager) not just about my work ethic, but about me as a person, my character, etc. If it makes a difference, I just graduated so this was where I spent the majority of my free time outside of school.

I already have 2 LORs from professors, but I thought this might complement them nicely? Or maybe they might disregard it completely since it's not a "professional" job. Any thoughts or experience with this? Much appreciated.

[ArtistOfManliness]

No.

[heythatslife]

No.

+1

[bp shinners]

This won't add much to your application, unfortunately. I'd skip it and find another academic LoR if you want to have a third in your pocket.

[Nova]

Its not going to hurt your app so you may as well throw it in.

[jk148706]

Its not going to hurt your app so you may as well throw it in.

My thinking as well

[malleus discentium]

Its not going to hurt your app so you may as well throw it in.

Asha disagrees (ctrl+f "meh"). Whether her advice is generalizable outside Y—a fair caveat—it's worth weighing. Cf. also this comment on work LORs in general at Y.

[yot11]

Unless you have high hopes for Yale, I would say that it doesn't hurt. I feel like this statement is usually appended with a silent "and it might even help!", but in this case, I mean it quite literally. It doesn't hurt, but it doesn't help either.

[ajr]

It will probably hurt at any top school. It indicates that there are not two good academic references you can manage to get. A very prosaic academic reference qualifies more as "doesn't help or hurt."

[bp shinners]

Unless you have high hopes for Yale, I would say that it doesn't hurt. I feel like this statement is usually appended with a silent "and it might even help!", but in this case, I mean it quite literally. It doesn't hurt, but it doesn't help either.

For law school applications, including something that doesn't help will, in my opinion, hurt. You're making the person sift through more material and diluting the good stuff. If something doesn't actively add to your application in a tangible way, cut it.

This is how you get your PS down to 2 pages; your resume down to one; no worthless supplemental essays; and 2 strong letters of rec.

[AAJD2B]

Unless you have high hopes for Yale, I would say that it doesn't hurt. I feel like this statement is usually appended with a silent "and it might even help!", but in this case, I mean it quite literally. It doesn't hurt, but it doesn't help either.

For law school applications, including something that doesn't help will, in my opinion, hurt. You're making the person sift through more material and diluting the good stuff. If something doesn't actively add to your application in a tangible way, cut it.

This is how you get your PS down to 2 pages; your resume down to one; no worthless supplemental essays; and 2 strong letters of rec.

I don't consider diversity statements worthless and some of us several years removed from undergraduate think it reasonable to have a 2 pp resume.

[bp shinners]

Unless you have high hopes for Yale, I would say that it doesn't hurt. I feel like this statement is usually appended with a silent "and it might even help!", but in this case, I mean it quite literally. It doesn't hurt, but it doesn't help either.

For law school applications, including something that doesn't help will, in my opinion, hurt. You're making the person sift through more material and diluting the good stuff. If something doesn't actively add to your application in a tangible way, cut it.

This is how you get your PS down to 2 pages; your resume down to one; no worthless supplemental essays; and 2 strong letters of rec.

I don't consider diversity statements worthless and some of us several years removed from undergraduate think it reasonable to have a 2 pp resume.

I didn't say all supplemental essays are worthless; I said that you should cut ones that are.

And "several" isn't enough - I'd want ~10 before you go to a second page.

[AAJD2B]

Unless you have high hopes for Yale, I would say that it doesn't hurt. I feel like this statement is usually appended with a silent "and it might even help!", but in this case, I mean it quite literally. It doesn't hurt, but it doesn't help either.

For law school applications, including something that doesn't help will, in my opinion, hurt. You're making the person sift through more material and diluting the good stuff. If something doesn't actively add to your application in a tangible way, cut it.

This is how you get your PS down to 2 pages; your resume down to one; no worthless supplemental essays; and 2 strong letters of rec.

I don't consider diversity statements worthless and some of us several years removed from undergraduate think it reasonable to have a 2 pp resume.

I didn't say all supplemental essays are worthless; I said that you should cut ones that are.

And "several" isn't enough - I'd want ~10 before you go to a second page.

And remind us once again which admissions committee you're on??

I thought so. Anyway....

[052220151]

For law school applications, including something that doesn't help will, in my opinion, hurt. You're making the person sift through more material and diluting the good stuff. If something doesn't actively add to your application in a tangible way, cut it.

This is how you get your PS down to 2 pages; your resume down to one; no worthless supplemental essays; and 2 strong letters of rec.

I don't consider diversity statements worthless and some of us several years removed from undergraduate think it reasonable to have a 2 pp resume.

I didn't say all supplemental essays are worthless; I said that you should cut ones that are.

And "several" isn't enough - I'd want ~10 before you go to a second page.

And remind us once again which admissions committee you're on??

I thought so. Anyway....

BP is right though dude. If you include unnecessary or overlength essays you're going to piss off the adcomms. Your resume should be one page too. There is no way you e done enough things to warrant it being two. And if you have gone through that many jobs that you need a second page, that will look bad.

[AAJD2B]

The point at issue wasn't the length of essays but a resume. Most apps I have seen are imposing limits on essays. Seldom, if ever, have I seen them do this for a resume.

And the resume for law school not only requests a list of employment but also ECs, academic honors, education, etc.. As Jessica Soban herself stated, she turns to the resume to see a snap picture of the applicant.

At the end of the day, no one is in a position to state what is/is not warrant-worthy for an applicant they've never met or know. I have a 2 pp resume not because I have jumped from one place to another, but because I have had extensive responsibilities in the positions I have held/hold and am quite active in my community, amongst other things.

Interestingly enough, HLS's website posts a sample resume that's two pages. Go figure.

[Total Litigator]

Iam neutral on this, but whatever you do , if you are going to use it, use it as a supplemental LOR, not as one of your required LOR's

[Young Marino]

I included a letter of rec from my local mayor. Don't think it would hurt.

[TheMostDangerousLG]

I included a letter of rec from my local mayor.

Why?

[Young Marino]

I included a letter of rec from my local mayor.

Why?

Why not?

It was in addition to the required academic LORs

[bp shinners]

I didn't say all supplemental essays are worthless; I said that you should cut ones that are.

And "several" isn't enough - I'd want ~10 before you go to a second page.

And remind us once again which admissions committee you're on??

I thought so. Anyway....[/quote]

I'm not on one, but I've gone through the application process with well over a hundred students, and these are my impressions based on those experiences. I've also talked with a large number of admissions officers and asked them questions such as the ideal length for a resume. So you can feel free to dismiss my advice, but it's not something random I came up with.