Many student ask me for a letter of recommendation or if I would allow them to list me as a reference on their resume. You should ALWAYS ask BEFORE you use me. I love Jimmy Dolittle’s quote when he was being driven to the White House to receive the Medal of Honor:
“I think there’s something going on that I don’t know about. I’m not a very smart fellow and if it involves me I think somebody had better tell me so they won’t be embarrassed.”
When I receive inquiries about students I ALWAYS ask how they got my name and I will inform the caller/emailer that I did or did NOT grant permission for the use of my information.
When you ask my permission to list me as a reference or you ask me for a letter of recommendation please send me an email that answers the following questions:
- Where did we work together?
- What was the last year we worked together?
- What is the most memorable subject we worked on?
- What is your goal with this recommendation? (e.g. scholarship, job, etc.)
- To whom does this concern? (i.e. name of the recipient for the letter)
- From what status do you expect me to send the letter? (NU professor, VTANG officer, NUARI AVP, random citizen, BGG gold member, etc.)
- How do you want me to focus my letter? What qualities do you think I will expound upon about you? (e.g. attention to detail, hitting deadlines, fabulous personal grooming, deep knowledge of Harry Potter cannon, etc.)
It takes about 14 calendar days for me to write a letter and about 3 calendar days to reply to a “may I list you on my resume” request. Please plan accordingly.
