Signature Service Letter of Recommendation for Babysitter Made Easy

Signature service letter of recommendation for babysitter

[MUSIC] What advice do you have for choosing recommenders? >> I don't know if applicants really appreciate how important the letters of reference are. >> Yeah. >> It's really the one opportunity that we get to see you through someone else's eyes objectively. What did you do and how did you do it? So for me, put a lot of emphasis on making the selection, I can give you some tips on how to think about it. At Stanford we request two, in one we ask for a current direct supervisor, or the best alternative, if that is impossible or inappropriate. And for the second recommendation, we also ask for someone who's supervised your work, but it could be from a nonprofit, it could be extracurricular, or from the same organization. And when you think about selecting them what you really, just as I've asked applicants in their essays to tell us about the impact that they've had, because this past behavior will predict future behavior, that's the echo that we want to see in a reference. So find someone who know's what you've done, really been in the trenches and can see your work, and to describe not just what happened but how you did it, and how the way you did it might have been different from others. So that means don't worry about the tittle of a person, don't try to get the highest tittle. Also, I hear a lot of students asking, or applicants asking, should I try to find someone who went to Stanford because that's important? No it's not. It's actually what the recommender can tell us about you that is most important. The second thing is, after them understanding what you've done, is enthusiasm. >> Yeah. >> [LAUGH] This is a hard, for someone who reads lots of thousands of recommendations. >> Right. >> This one's a hard one to wrap your hands around, but I know the best recommendations that I read are written from both a head space and a heart space. >> Right. >> So try to think about who you have established a relationship with. Someone who really, enthusiasm's a great word, but has a connection with you, and will be able to speak to that. And that's how recommendations become most memorable. And then lastly, I think applicants should think about the process. Don't ask for a recommendation in an email. It's going to take this person a significant amount of time. On average, our references are about two pages. I'm guessing people have to spend at least an hour or two to do a good job on them. What is most disappointing to me when I'm really looking to find reasons to admit, is I'll get to the end of an application, I'll be on the second recommendation, and I'll see someone, everything's been so positive and they'll write a positive recommendation, but maybe only two paragraphs. And just say, they're phenomenal, they're the best ever, they've done a great job, but I won't have any of that data to help me make a decision. And it just means that this particular applicant doesn't have as much, I don't know, data, I guess is the best word, but landscape for me to really understand what they've done and how they've done it. So take it seriously, make an appointment, even if it's a 15 minuet chat, but ask the question courageously, and say, will you write it, explain why, where you're going, what schools, but then say, do you have time to invest to do a good job on this? And if someone says they're really busy, that's a good indication that maybe you should go to your second choice. because it can make a difference in the end of how much they're willing to spend time to help you on this process. >> And then for the recommenders, are there any resources for them or how do they know how to write their applicant the best letter they can? >> [LAUGH] That's a great question. We try to give, and many recommenders have written more than one before, but we try to give them clear advice and tips. When they're invited onto our portal on the website, the questions will ask how has this person differentiated himself from others that they've seen doing similar roles, and what have they done and accomplished, so they'll get that. And, I think it comes down to that they're willing to take the time to really support you. There's no magic there, but they do have to make the investment and be close enough to you to be able to write thoughtfully about what you've done.