Comments on: Recommendation Letters as Introduction Letters

By: Roz

Roz — Thu, 07 May 2009 11:24:56 +0000

I just wanted to say, well done guys! Lovely!.
I am from Great and learning to write in English, please tell me right I wrote the following sentence: “Offering budget trips with online schedules, rates and reservation of flights, ferry, hotels and tours.”

THX 8), Roz.

By: eyeingtenure

eyeingtenure — Mon, 12 May 2008 21:45:59 +0000

Great: I’ll keep it in mind.

By: Joel

Joel — Mon, 12 May 2008 21:15:32 +0000

I’ve screened hundreds of application packages and lead many interview team processes in hiring teachers and other school positions. Letters of recommendation are important as is the letter of application. I’d agree with the comments above about the letter of application speaking specifically to the job posting and desired qualifications. These letters — at least when I’ve run the process — are key steps in getting an interview. Although I read the letters from supervising teachers, and scanned those from university professors, I paid the most attention to those from building and district administrators. I’d look for positive staff members, who would be a good match for the position.

The interview, and most importantly the phone reference calls, were the keys to making a hiring decision. Although the process often didn’t support a lengthy review of portfolios, those left behind that had been clearly linked to specific answers during the interview received careful review — and in a case or two were deciding factors.

By: eyeingtenure

eyeingtenure — Fri, 09 May 2008 18:00:27 +0000

- Bullet points.
- Be concise.
- Include intangibles, details.

Got it.

By: crescentaluna

crescentaluna — Fri, 09 May 2008 17:27:57 +0000

I teach at a community college and write letters of rec. regularly (four in the last week). I also mentor both grad. students and fellow part-time teachers, advising on how to get that elusive full-time position, and have served on hiring committees (and will again). When I write a rec., I tend to the second type. It’s not that you’ll “forget” to say such things in an interview, but:

1) you may not really have the chance: who knows the direction an interview may take?
2) more (maybe many more) can read the letter than will speak to you
3) your performance in the classroom – actually TEACHING – probably matters less than you think to an employer. Outstanding student teachers don’t always become outstanding teachers, and anyway, competent teaching is taken for granted – you made it through a grad program, right? Now what the employer wants is a sense of who you are, what intangibles and potentials you will bring to a department, what lasting impressions of you someone who’s worked with you has.

As for the cover letter: Zero in on the qualifications and preferences in the job posting and address each one as precisely as possible. Bullet points are not a bad thing here. Don’t be shy about repeating, in abbreviated form, what’s stated on your CV. And *be concise*. Wordiness can be the kiss of death in a cover letter.

Seemingly contradictory advice- sorry! – but doable, pretty much.

By: eyeingtenure

eyeingtenure — Tue, 06 May 2008 23:56:15 +0000

Cool. I just added the button to my sidebar.

By: EDin08

EDin08 — Tue, 06 May 2008 22:52:05 +0000

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By: eyeingtenure

eyeingtenure — Tue, 06 May 2008 21:39:48 +0000

Mr. Bogush: Between all three letters — I had a previous employer chime in, too — I think I have that full picture.

Ms. Jae: It isn’t that I’m not pleased with the letters. I just don’t know what to expect, or whether the usual stuff is exactly what employers are looking for.

Do employers even read these letters, though?

Mr. Dyer: I’m glad I don’t have to worry about a portfolio. I threw in a few extra pieces for flavor, and because nobody else did, it made me stand out. I think, at least.

By: Jason Dyer

Jason Dyer — Tue, 06 May 2008 18:51:53 +0000

Keep in mind interview formats vary wildly, so it is quite possible that you won’t have an opportunity to run down your biography. I’ve done group interviews where every teacher in the department asked questions, I’ve done informal one-and-one interviews, and I’ve done rigid answer-these-specific-questions interviews. All of these were within the same district.

Curiously enough, the only commonality is that none of them cared the slightest about my portfolio which my certification program took great pains to have everyone create.

By: everydayjae

everydayjae — Tue, 06 May 2008 17:12:52 +0000

In a cover letter, perhaps something about WHY you want the job in the first place. Why are you teaching? Why should they hire YOU? Training can only take you so far. Are you going to play nice with the other kids? Have new ideas?

It comes across like you aren’t pleased with either of the letters of recommendation. What were you looking for in them?