There is no doubt that a well-articulated MBA recommendation letter can move the odds of getting MBA admission in your favor. As most institutes need two or more LORs from their candidates, crafting Perfect MBA Recommendation Letter must be a priority for everyone dreaming of securing admission to an MBA program.
As most candidates have no experience creating recommendation letters, it becomes a challenging prospect for everyone.
If you are an MBA aspirant facing this challenge, let us help you learn how to write an MBA recommendation letter to impress the admission committee.
The blog will help you understand:
How to write an MBA recommendation letter
The tips for MBA letter of recommendation
The best practices to create the best MBA LOR
Importance of MBA LOR
Before writing a recommendation letter for your MBA application, you must understand how it helps your application and the admission committee.
Here are three major ways in which LOR can help you:
Describes your experience and performance.
Most documents you submit with your application aren’t descriptive. They are either mark sheets, certificates, or experience letters. The LOR is the only document that describes you as a person and what makes you an ideal candidate for the program.
It also helps the admission committee understand how your experiences have helped you grow, the skills you possess, and how you have used them in the past.
These real-life experiences help the admission committee make the right choice.
Shows your candidature from the recommender’s perspective.
No other document you submit with your application shows a third person’s perspective on your candidature. A recommendation letter is written by a person who has known you for a while and knows how suitable you are for the MBA program.
They would usually talk about the skills you possess and the instances where you have displayed these skills.
This helps the admission committee understand whether you have what it takes to successfully pursue the course.
Displays your skills and capabilities as identified by a third person.
Your skills and capabilities are a set of factors that determine your admission. And you would talk about these skills in length in your SOP and CV. However, a person of authority recognizing these skills and talking about them is important for the admission committee.
This makes their job easier and ensures that they are selecting the right candidate for the MBA program with an aptitude to learn business, management, and leadership concepts.
Guidelines for Crafting Perfect MBA Recommendation Letter
Writing an MBA recommendation letter is more complex than it looks. However, it is never impossible. Here are a few tips for MBA recommendation letter you can follow in coming up with an impressive and insightful LOR.
Understand the LOR guidelines.
Before you start working on the LOR, go through the guidelines a few times and understand the requirements well. Failing to adhere to the guidelines is a top red flag, which may cause your application to be rejected.
Gather information and prioritize.
Although you may be familiar with your professional and academic journey, it is vital to list everything you want to include in the LOR. Then prioritize the factors based on their relevance and importance to the MBA. This makes your LOR more focused and streamlined.
Choose a recommender early.
Choosing the right recommender is a challenge you need to address as quickly as you get the application requirements. Choose recommenders more than required and ensure they are willing to help you with the LOR.
Write multiple drafts and make it better.
Many candidates make the mistake of just writing one or two drafts before making it final. However, you need to write the LOR as many times as needed to make it perfect. Evaluate each part and idea and only stop when you are fully satisfied.
Always remember to proofread your LOR for crafting Perfect MBA Recommendation Letter.
Failing to proofread and edit your LOR is a big no-no. More than the errors per se, your attitude and callousness will be assessed by the admission committee. As you are an MBA candidate, being thorough and paying attention to details are two qualities you must possess. Since spelling mistakes and errors are avoidable, it shows you aren’t “management material”.
Have someone else assess the letter.
After writing the LOR, give it to someone else before final editing. They will have a new perspective on your letter and can give you constructive criticisms or insightful suggestions. However, ensure you give it to someone who can help you with the recommendation letter.
Examples for Crafting Perfect MBA Recommendation Letter
Here are the best practices you must follow when writing a recommendation letter for MBA.
Get the introduction right.
The first thing the admission committee is going to read is the introduction, so it is essential to set the tone right from the beginning. The ideal way to start an LOR is to introduce the person writing the letter, how long they have known you, etc. Here is MBA recommendation letter examples.
This immediately makes what follows more authentic.
Here is an example:
“It gives me immense pleasure to draft this letter of recommendation for Ms. Sania Kulkarni for her MBA admission. My name is Jane Smith, and I was Ms. Kulkarni’s supervisor at ABC Softcom Ltd., where she worked under me for well over four years collaborating on a range of global and domestic projects.”
Talk about program-specific skills.
For MBA, universities are looking for candidates having leadership, people management, and decision-making skills. Hence, you need to integrate experiences that show these skills into your MBA LOR.
Here is an example:
“During her tenure as a supervisor, she was responsible for leading a team of 6. After her promotion as the supervisor, she has helped her team excel in most KPIs, such as Sales, AHT, Customer Satisfaction, etc. I have seen her proactively helping her team sort out project challenges and coordinate the efforts of her entire team on many occasions, which underlined her leadership and people management skills.”
Include the candidate’s personality traits.
Another best practice you can follow when writing your LOR for MBA admission is to include a few personality traits of the candidate. It makes the recommendation letter even more personalized and candidate-centric.
Here is an example:
“Mr. Gupta has always been an extremely hard-working person and has always looked to learn in his job. I have often seen him learning from his senior and supervisors even after his shift has ended. This constant desire to learn has helped him upskill himself and gain promotions rather quickly than his peers.”
Include real-life experiences.
Most LORs make the mistake of not relying on experiences to assert that the candidate has got the right skills, experience, and expertise. When you base your skill sets and how you have used them in real life, it can surely impress the admission committee.
Here is an example:
“As her Project Manager, I have been able to understand how meticulous Ms. Prabhu is. At the beginning of one of our projects, she approached me with a plan for her project, which laid out how she was going to complete the project. Her plans addressed everything and set aside time for contingencies. This also helped her complete her project way before the deadline and receive appreciation from the client.”
Be open to communication.
Another critical practice to follow is to be open to further communication from the university you are applying for admission. While most universities do not reach out to recommenders, leaving the communication details on the LOR and being open to questions is more authentic.
Here is an example:
“As such, I recommend Ms. Reddy to your venerated institute for the MBA course. With her hard-working nature and profound desire to learn, she will surely be an adept addition to your academic roster, I am positive. I wish her all success. Please reach out to me for any further clarifications on my contact details presented below.”
Conclusion
An insightful and well-drafted recommendation letter can help you improve your chances of MBA admission at your preferred university anywhere in the world. However, you need to put in adequate effort to ensure that the MBA LOR you created is perfect for you.
If you find it hard to create an impressive MBA LOR or think your candidature is not positively presented in the letter, you can always work with expert professionals to get it right.
However, choose experienced LOR professionals with a proven track record for a successful MBA application.
