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References
- Thread starter Bravo14
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I believe I had five LOR. Two employers, one college prof, and two family friends. Some say to obtain LOR from military officials or those in political office and some say to get them from people who know you best and can vouch for your abilities. As you can see, I chose people who know me best. I did not want a letter coming from someone I didn't know (ie state gov). In my opinion, LOR from coaches, teachers, employers, etc will surely give the board a good idea of who you are. Obviously, if you are close to someone in the military or political office, ask for a LOR. For what its worth, I was selected to be a SNA and hope to be reporting to OCS soon. Hope this helps.
personal, professional, and academic. That's what I was told to get. I have 5, one miliary, one from my Col. from high school ROTC, 1 from a college professor that I had, and 2 from college professors that I did research for. I guess the main thing is that you make sure that they are GOOD LOR.
Ben
Ben
I agree with Bart and Neo..
Make sure you don't use immediate family members, and I would only use extended family if they are in a position of authority or have a military background. Previous emoployers are a good source as well as any professional people you know - lawyers, doctors, etc. If you go to church, a reference from your pastor or youth minister would be good.
Obviously if you know people in the military or are retired from the military - those are great sources. But like what Bart said - don't go for big names or ranks unless it is obvious they know you.
I'm only civilian and waiting for the word if I am selected for SNA for the Marines (should find out by Thanksgiving) - but I would assume the board is looking for the reference letters to display you have what it takes to be an officer. That you are mature, professional, reliable, honorable, trustworthy, can handle difficult tasks in an ethical manner, work well under pressure, and are dedicated and committed to your job.
Good luck
Make sure you don't use immediate family members, and I would only use extended family if they are in a position of authority or have a military background. Previous emoployers are a good source as well as any professional people you know - lawyers, doctors, etc. If you go to church, a reference from your pastor or youth minister would be good.
Obviously if you know people in the military or are retired from the military - those are great sources. But like what Bart said - don't go for big names or ranks unless it is obvious they know you.
I'm only civilian and waiting for the word if I am selected for SNA for the Marines (should find out by Thanksgiving) - but I would assume the board is looking for the reference letters to display you have what it takes to be an officer. That you are mature, professional, reliable, honorable, trustworthy, can handle difficult tasks in an ethical manner, work well under pressure, and are dedicated and committed to your job.
Good luck
I have been wondering about this:
"Make sure you don't use immediate family members, and I would only use extended family if they are in a position of authority or have a military background"
Sounds like good advice, but how do you go about recommendations from an extended family member (or others) who aren't close to you. Say you have an Uncle who was a Navy pilot, and you see him at family functions at holidays etc, he is not going to know enough about you to fill out a recommendation, no? Are there recommendation forms where you fill out multiple choice, or is it like freehand essay by the person recommending you. Another example is a priest or minister. They might know your name and that you come to church, and that you're probably an all around good person, but how do you write a recommendation based on that?
"Make sure you don't use immediate family members, and I would only use extended family if they are in a position of authority or have a military background"
Sounds like good advice, but how do you go about recommendations from an extended family member (or others) who aren't close to you. Say you have an Uncle who was a Navy pilot, and you see him at family functions at holidays etc, he is not going to know enough about you to fill out a recommendation, no? Are there recommendation forms where you fill out multiple choice, or is it like freehand essay by the person recommending you. Another example is a priest or minister. They might know your name and that you come to church, and that you're probably an all around good person, but how do you write a recommendation based on that?
vegita1220
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well if you participate a lot at your church they can say you're an active member, showing strong leadership skills by organizaing numerous activities, and a person with lots of dedication to something they believe in.
From family, they can mention how as you've been growing up they've noticed that you've become a much tougher person overall, mentioning things like how you went from being a wimp in grade school to a wannabe naval aviator.
From jobs, they can say you've shown incredible initiative and that you've made a tremendous impact on the workplace by stepping up from your position to influence things on a greater scale by changing the way things were done.
From family, they can mention how as you've been growing up they've noticed that you've become a much tougher person overall, mentioning things like how you went from being a wimp in grade school to a wannabe naval aviator.
From jobs, they can say you've shown incredible initiative and that you've made a tremendous impact on the workplace by stepping up from your position to influence things on a greater scale by changing the way things were done.
daedalus,
even the college prof. that gave me great LOR didn't know me that well. I gave everyone that wrote me one my resume that had all of my extra curricular activitives on it. I think that the form has a rating on it, ie do you think this person is good, 1-5 , and also essay type questions on it.
Ben
even the college prof. that gave me great LOR didn't know me that well. I gave everyone that wrote me one my resume that had all of my extra curricular activitives on it. I think that the form has a rating on it, ie do you think this person is good, 1-5 , and also essay type questions on it.
Ben
Daedalus: To answer your question about whether or not there are recommendation forms, free hand essay...
The way I did it to ensure that 1)the letter covered all the things I wanted highlighted from my life, and 2)it was tailored and not some generic piece of work, this is what I did. I decided who I wanted my letters from. Once that was decided, I created a unique outline for each of the people to use. For my professor, I outlined all my educational achievements (high school and college) and all the volunteer work I've done. For my coworkers, I outlined all professional experience, knowlegde/skills, and all the high work ethics I have. For my military LOR from an O5 Marine, I simply let him write at his discretion.
The good thing about outlining your own letters is that it takes a lot of the guess work out of the process for those writing them. More than likely, those you're contacting to get LOR's from are fairly busy and might not give the proper attention to your LOR. Let's face it, these are extremely important to our package, so they need to be as well written as possible. This way you know what is being written to a certain extent, you're providing useful facts about yourself, and you're highlighting what you want put foward. Those writing have the needed information at their finger tips and can really tailor your letter how they see fit.
My letters were pretty good...but we'll see if they're good enough!!! Keep your fingers crossed, and GOOD LUCK TO YOU AND EVERYONE ELSE!
The way I did it to ensure that 1)the letter covered all the things I wanted highlighted from my life, and 2)it was tailored and not some generic piece of work, this is what I did. I decided who I wanted my letters from. Once that was decided, I created a unique outline for each of the people to use. For my professor, I outlined all my educational achievements (high school and college) and all the volunteer work I've done. For my coworkers, I outlined all professional experience, knowlegde/skills, and all the high work ethics I have. For my military LOR from an O5 Marine, I simply let him write at his discretion.
The good thing about outlining your own letters is that it takes a lot of the guess work out of the process for those writing them. More than likely, those you're contacting to get LOR's from are fairly busy and might not give the proper attention to your LOR. Let's face it, these are extremely important to our package, so they need to be as well written as possible. This way you know what is being written to a certain extent, you're providing useful facts about yourself, and you're highlighting what you want put foward. Those writing have the needed information at their finger tips and can really tailor your letter how they see fit.
My letters were pretty good...but we'll see if they're good enough!!! Keep your fingers crossed, and GOOD LUCK TO YOU AND EVERYONE ELSE!
Ben (NeoCortex),
Seriously!?!? I've never been informed that there was a standard form for LOR's. My first recruiter sucked, so I'm not surprised he didn't say anything about it; the recruiter I have now seems to be really on top of things and he didn't tell me about it either. I did bring the same letters from my first package over to my second, but at no point did anyone say that I could send out a standard form. Hmmmm...I'm not sure what to make of this. Do you think I'm behind the curve b/c of this? Then again, LOR's generally follow the same form, so how much different could they get? Famous last words, huh?
Seriously!?!? I've never been informed that there was a standard form for LOR's. My first recruiter sucked, so I'm not surprised he didn't say anything about it; the recruiter I have now seems to be really on top of things and he didn't tell me about it either. I did bring the same letters from my first package over to my second, but at no point did anyone say that I could send out a standard form. Hmmmm...I'm not sure what to make of this. Do you think I'm behind the curve b/c of this? Then again, LOR's generally follow the same form, so how much different could they get? Famous last words, huh?
These are great ideas. Putting together some info to help the writer out is definitely a plus. The number one thing I've learned from my original commissioning and my redes. package is to make sure there is substance to the letter. They don't want to read about how nice Timmy is. They want to know what specific things Timmy has done. If someone does want to mention qualitative things, make sure they put it into context. How has that personal characteristic allowed you to succeed? This seems very difficult when you are fresh out of school, but there will be things to point to. What makes you different/better than the rest of the pack? These are some of the reasons why they talk about a "well rounded" individual. Just about anyone can have a good GPA, but what are you DOING with your abilities. IMHO, you can sacrifice a few tenths of a point on GPA if you can show contributions in another area such as volunteering, undergrad research, clubs, etc. Good luck, all.
LTJG G.
LTJG G.
About the form LOR - I don't know about the Navy, but I know with the Marines they have a standard front and back side form. The front side has a letter of introduction and purpose signed by the OSO and you. The back side has a Matrix to check off - i.e. Above average, average, below average on several "qualities" - leadership, etc. Below that is a General Comments section. In addition, the people you give this form to have the option of writing a separate letter to go along with the form. The letter is not required, though.
Brooke - that outline is a great idea. When I did mine, I included my resume and a one page summary of why I want to join the Corps.
Brooke - that outline is a great idea. When I did mine, I included my resume and a one page summary of why I want to join the Corps.
They wouldn't even give me the form. I gave them the contact info for my LOR and they went out the form to the people, and then the people sent them back, so I had nothing to do with it really. I"m not sure Brooke, call your recruiter and ask, thats my advice at least.
Ben
Ben
Are we talking about Letters of Recommendations or Letters of Reference? I ask b/c the Lett. of References (i.e jobs and contacts I put down on the application and ESPQ) had been sent via fax and they were a form. My recruiter started sending those out a couple of days after I turned in my ESPQ and I had nothing to do with them. On the other hand, my Recommendation letters were something I put together myself. Come to think of it, it sounds like everyone is talking about references in here...so I must have been confused. Come on Brooke, get with the program!!! 
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