The Power of Recommendations

I learned in my public relations class that a third-party endorsement can be much more powerful than a company bragging on itself. My professor explained that advertising is a company saying, "Look how great I am." Publicity, however, is someone else saying how great you are, lending the message more credibility. I think a good recommendation works in the same way and can sometimes be more powerful than a good resume.

Like any other job candidate, I am biased about my own skills, education, experience, and potential contribution to an employer. Many times, job candidates have similar education or work experience. Resumes can also be "tweaked" so that candidates look better on paper than they do in person. Unknown discrepancies between "person" and "paper" are why third-party endorsements in the form of objective recommendations are so necessary and powerful.

I once thought that recommendations were only for supervisors. I have since learned that recommendations can come from many different sources. I now have recommendations from professors based on my academic work and from fellow classmates based on our work together on group projects. I especially think that peer recommendations can be enlightening for potential employers, especially if the job requires teamwork or leadership. There's no better proof of how well a job candidate works on or leads a team than a recommendation from someone that has been on a team with the candidate.

Online resources make it easier to ask for and receive recommendations. I use two online resources - Linkedin and this blog. On Linkedin, you can request recommendations for any job or educational experience from any of your professional connections. Traditional recommendation letters sometimes require a long turn-around time because the recommender normally writes a full page or two (which can be hard to fit into a busy schedule). Linkedin recommendations however are usually shorter (a paragraph or two) than a traditional letter. This means you're more likely to get the recommendation in a timely manner (like before that important interview).

For my professional associates that aren't on Linkedin, I have a blog post called "All-Call for Commendations," where they can leave recommendations as comments on the blog. When requesting a recommendation, I'll look for an associate on Linkedin first, but will then email a link to the "commendations" blog post if that person doesn't have a Linkedin profile.

For work supervisors and some special situations, I still prefer the traditional recommendation letter. It's what employers are familiar with, and professional letterhead still has an impact. Plus, it's nice to have a traditional letter to give a potential employer in person. I always make sure to have PDF copies of these letters as well to post on my website HireThatRedhead.com.

I currently have five traditional recommendation letters, three peer recommendations on my blog post, and two Linkedin recommendations (with hopefully more to come). I've synthesized all of my various recommendation sources into one place on the Recommendations page of my website to make it more employer-friendly. Hopefully, with so many other people speaking so highly of me (in addition to my own self-promotion), some lucky employer out there will be convinced to "Hire That Redhead."

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Gainful Employment

Since I had Veterans Day off from classes, I had time to think about the sacrifices of the men and women who have fought and died to protect our rights and freedoms in America. The Declaration of Independence states that human beings are endowed with unalienable rights, and among these rights are "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

For many, happiness is largely tied into employment. We are happier when we are working and able to provide for our needs and the needs of our families. Also, we invest so much time and energy into work that much of our personal satisfaction comes from our jobs. If we have a bad day at work, it can affect us so much emotionally that we take it home with us, which then can affect our loved ones. If we do well at work, we feel better emotionally.

So since happiness is tied so intimately to our work, I thank our veterans that they have served to protect our right to the "pursuit of gainful employment." In America, we have the opportunity to strive for the "American Dream." I see the "American Dream" as everyone having the opportunity to set a personal goal (perhaps a dream job) and live in an environment that encourages personal drive and innovation towards that goal.

I am thankful to live in a country that fosters opportunity and rewards vision, creativity, and personal drive. I am thankful to all the veterans (especially the commissioned young men and women who I graduated with from the Virginia Military Institute) that have served or are serving to protect our freedom to pursue our hopes and dreams, including our dream jobs.