Choosing A Recommender For Your MBA

If you’re applying for MBA programs, you’ll probably need to consider locking down some recommendation letters.

Becky Raspe, a staff reporter for Cleveland Jewish News, recently spoke to a few experts on what applicants should know about when it comes to choosing an application recommender.

SPEAK TO YOUR QUALITIES

It’s important to choose someone who can write to your personal and professional qualities.

“For an MBA program, it should be a direct and current supervisor or a very recent one,” Bethani Burkhart, director of career and academic development at Hiram College in Hiram, tells Cleveland Jewish News. “If an applicant hasn’t had a full-time job before or doesn’t have a direct supervisor, they can use a supervisor from other aspects of their life. This should be someone who can talk about their work ethic and skills.”

Some schools also have requirements for application recommenders.

“You need to satisfy the school’s stated requirements about who is qualified to write your letters of recommendation,” Tyler Cormney, co-founder of MBA Prep School, writes for Poets&Quants. “If your chosen program requires a letter from your current direct supervisor and you don’t have one in your package, the admissions committee will have some questions. If you cannot ask one of your required recommenders to be a reference, be sure to explain in your “optional information” essay why you made this choice.”

KNOW THE MBA

It can also be helpful to choose someone who knows the value in an MBA.

“References who are familiar with the demands of an MBA program and what admissions committees are looking for will be best suited to express how prepared you are to meet those demands as well as to feature ways you compare favorably to the MBA applicant pool,” Cormney writes.

Additionally, it can help to choose someone who has seen you display skills or traits that an MBA demands—such as critical thinking or taking initiative.

“It’s those individuals who know those skills, all those things you look for,” Deborah Bibb, assistant dean of admissions at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University, tells Cleveland Jewish News. “In my opinion, the companies our students go to work for, they look to us to do that first screening. They need us to better understand candidates and build a class that will be a good professional fit. Recommendation letters help with that.”

FOLLOW UP

After you’ve gone through the recommendation letter process, it’s a good idea to follow up with your recommender and thank them for the time they put in to writing your letter.

“It takes time to write these, so show that appreciation,” Bibb tells Cleveland Jewish News. “And when you’re asking for a recommendation, give them updates on what you’ve been up to and give them more context. Make it as easy as possible for them to be responsive and thank them in the end.”

Sources: Cleveland Jewish News, Poets & Quants