It’s the season for students to request letters of recommendation from professors and employers! If you ask generically for a letter, you will get a generic letter. Follow the guidelines below to get the best letters from your busy recommenders:
Email your request for a letter- it is best not to ask this favor during hallway chit chat- it will likely be forgotten or worse, be perceived as unimportant to you. Ask for letters a month or so in advance of the deadline. Writing reference letters is a part of every professor/supervisor’s job, so they are accustomed to getting requests. In your email, remind your recommender of his/her relationship to you; describe what value you think you have brought to his/her as an employee, student or volunteer; list any experience you have had with the recommender that might be relevant to the position to which you are applying; offer a specific reminder of your history together- something that is of importance to you…something you hope will be detailed in the letter being sent.
Recommenders write numerous letters every year. You want them to have an easy time remembering all of your best qualities. This is not the time to be shy or humble about your quality interactions with your professors and supervisors. If you have a difficult time with the guidelines above for a certain recommender, maybe he/she is not the best person to ask. You want your letters to be from people who really know your work, or at least some aspect of your work.
Finally, remind your recommenders to use university or company letterhead, including contact information. Give them a DEADLINE that is a week or so before the due date. If the application is not in an online format, make the extra effort to offer addressed & stamped envelopes to your recommenders. It is perfectly fine to email a reminder a week or so before you the letter should be sent.