Follow up & Summary: What Letters of Recommendation Really Say

[Deborah Ray <debray -at- RAYCOMM -dot- COM>]

Hi, all,

About a month ago I posed a few questions about letters
of recommendation after reviewing a couple letters that
a potential employee submitted to us. I thought I'd share
some of the highlights from emails you folks sent to me,
and give you an update on what we decided to and how
it's worked out. (My original post follows this message
if you want to review it.)

You might recall that I (we, actually) was concerned
about an applicant's potential attendance, given statements
that showed up in her letters of recommendation:

FROM LETTER #1:
Jane has been to work at her scheduled times unless she has
prearranged for time off.

FROM LETTER #2:
Jane was at work on time and on the days that she couldn't
make it, she called and made sure we knew that she was unavailable.

I figured that if a particular (negative) work habit were
enough to mention in a letter of recommendation, then perhaps
the habit was in fact disruptive to the work environment. Here's
some highlights from responses I received:

---------------------
"I would
interpret the lukewarm letters to mean that if you need a body to show
up more or less regularly and lick envelopes, this is the perfect
candidate; but if you need someone who is going to contribute
energetically and creatively to your organization, you might want to
keep looking."

"The letters you quoted are unusual in that they both make reference to time
taken off by the applicant. I have written and received such letters, and
they never mention time off. Also, neither of them are raving reviews."

"Looking at the similarities of structure and style, I'd say that Jane Doe
wrote both those letters for her employers signature.Looking at the
similarities of structure and style, I'd say that Jane Doe wrote both those
letters for her employers signature."

<and similarly:>

"I cannot be satisfied the applicant did not create them...."

"Absenteeism may be prevalent in your Jane's
employer's type of business. Jane may stand out because she is responsible
enough to pre-arrange time off instead of lying about why she can't make it
or just not showing up. It sounds like her endorsers are using relative
terms and using a different standard than you or I may."

<and similarly:>

"Consider the
perspective of the letter's *author*.  I take it that they are in some
sort of classroom situation where an unscheduled absence, even for a
legitimate reason, causes serious problems.  While the claim that she
"never takes time off" is probably not credible, (and raises questions
of its own) stating that she "...has been to work at her scheduled times
unless she has prearranged for time off." could easily be intended as a
believable statement of reliability."

"Regarding the content of the letter, maybe both
places of business have problems with employee attendance, which would
justify why the applicant's impressive attendance was mentioned in the
letters."

"...follow up with a telephone call, if possible."
<several people mentioned this>
--------------------

So, what did we do? We followed up with a few phone calls...and
decided to hire this candidate on a temporary basis (temp to perm,
actually, if we liked her and her schedule worked out). Although
she's capable of doing her job and is otherwise pleasant, she has
indeed turned out to have an absenteeism problem. For the past month,
we've scheduled her to work 2.5 days per week (totalling, say, 16 days
during the last month). Of those 16 scheduled days, she called in
sick one day, had to bring her sister with one day (we work at home,
so this wasn't a HUGE crisis), and has just today informed us that
she can't work her next two shifts because she's having car trouble.

Uh-huh. Right.

(BTW, her next two shifts are all that stand between us and our
100% deadline on the current book project...and she's aware of that.)

So, in answer to my question: What do letters of recommendation
really say? In this case, all that we really needed to know....

Thanks to everyone who emailed on and off list. I appreciate your
input and perspectives.

Until the next crisis,
Deborah

-----------------
Original post of 8/5/98:

Hi, all,

We've recently been hiring for a (non-writing) position and came
across something interesting. An applicant who came in for an
interview submitted two letters of recommendation (we didn't
request them, but she gave them to us along with her resume)
at the beginning of the interview. After she left, I was looking
over the two letters, which contained the following (snipped)
text:

---------------

LETTER 1 (names & dates changed; grammar, etc. appears as is):
Jane Doe has been employed with ABC Company since 5-28-97.
We require an inservice training program and Jane was able to
complete the first four tests required in the first month
of employment. She, also, was able to complete the inservice
which consisted of nine more tasks.

Jane has been to work at her scheduled times unless she has
prearranged for time off. Jane has worked well with other
staff. <snip> She is dependable and will to take responsible for
given tasks. She is a hard worker and learns very quickly. I
highly recommend her for any position that you may be considering
her for. <snip>

LETTER 2 (same here):
<snip> Jane did a bit of teaching in my classroom. My classroom
consists of a 8 students with variety of behaviors and abilities.
Most students require one-on-one and small group instruction.
Like most classrooms, mine is quite demanding. Jane handled the
demand of the classrooms in a professional manner.

Jane was at work on time and on the days that she couldn't
make it, she called and made sure we knew that she was unavailable.
Jane was very patient and appropriate with each student. <snip>

------

Granted, these are not letters of recommendation for a tech.
writer seeking a tech. writing job, but it got me thinking about
what hiring managers *really* look at in the letters we do submit.
So, assuming you consider letters of recommendation when hiring
technical writers or related positions (some don't, I realize),
my questions are these:

* What omissions or subtleties do you look for when considering
  a letter of application? For example, although these letters
  basically include positive information, I was more concerned
  about what the letters *didn't* specifically say. The most
  significant thing I gathered is that she probably frequently
  requests time off--not one, but both letters allude to this.
  I figure if a work habit is enough of a problem to even
  mention in a letter of recommendation, then it probably
  occurred fairly frequently.

* What considerations do you give to a letter that's poorly
  written or polished? In this case, we're not hiring for a
  writing position, and the letters were not written by
  professional writers. To me, though, it says a lot that the
  authors did not take the time to edit their work to help the
  applicant make the best impression possible.

  (I realize that most of this list's references would come from
  people who are skilled writers, but a lot of us have worked for
  managers who *aren't*.)

* As a TW hiring manager, if you do receive letters of
  recommendation written by a non-writer, do you consider
  that the positive message intended may not be as strong
  just because the author couldn't express him/herself?
  That is, would you consider that the author really did
  think the person was fabulous in all areas but just couldn't
  express that on paper?

Of course, all of this begs other questions, such as should
we even submit poorly-written letters or should we even ask
a non-writer boss for a letter...but those could be another
thread entirely!

Just some things to ponder...looking forward to your replies!

Deborah


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