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#Post#: 12445--------------------------------------------------
Gracefully declining to write a letter of recommendation
By: Victoria Date: August 27, 2018, 6:23 pm
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We had a legal intern (Jennifer) in her final semester of school
working at my company in the spring. When my immediate
supervisor became ill and needed surgery, I essentially took
over the intern's supervision and assumed responsibility for
providing feedback and checking Jennifer's work product while my
supervisor had a reduced workload. Jennifer emailed me today and
asked me for a letter of recommendation, but I don't want to
give one to her and put my own professional reputation out
there.
Jennifer was not a quick study. When reading over her work and
making redline edits, I spent a large amount of time fixing
typos and egregious grammatical errors before moving on to her
analysis of the law in question, which was not very good. She
often missed things like updates and amendments to the law and
occasionally pulled the incorrect version of a bill that she was
supposed to analyze. She also didn't pick up on subtle details
(like the fact that it looks sloppy to send out a memo whose
filename is "Document1") and I had to tell her things two or
three times (like the fact that she shouldn't call TPS Reports
just "TPS" when writing about them) before they sunk in, and in
some cases they didn't. I encouraged her to stop by with
questions before she submitted her final products but she rarely
did. She was eager and I saw some improvement, but not enough
for me to want to write a letter.
She received substantive feedback on her work product while she
was with us, and I took the time to walk through my thought
process and how to write in different ways for different
audiences, but she wasn't there to get a "grade" or an overall
"score" that would give one representation of how well she was
doing. I was as blunt as I could be, and said things like "At
this stage you shouldn't be making this many typos in one paper"
and "Act like you're sending these memos to the professor you
want to impress the most" among other feedback. I don't want to
JADE, but as I said above, she wasn't a quick study and doesn't
seem self-aware enough to realize that I can't give her a solid
recommendation. I would appreciate any thoughts on how to
politely decline.
#Post#: 12453--------------------------------------------------
Re: Gracefully declining to write a letter of recommendation
By: Runningstar Date: August 27, 2018, 7:26 pm
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I would go with "Oh - so sorry but it is my policy to not write
letters of recommendation for any interns. Good luck to you and
Thank You for your understanding". So what if she hears of
other letters, this is your policy on this day. You don't
explain that the policy will change at some point.
#Post#: 12456--------------------------------------------------
Re: Gracefully declining to write a letter of recommendation
By: NyaChan Date: August 27, 2018, 8:08 pm
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[quote author=Runningstar link=topic=638.msg12453#msg12453
date=1535415988]
I would go with "Oh - so sorry but it is my policy to not write
letters of recommendation for any interns. Good luck to you and
Thank You for your understanding". So what if she hears of
other letters, this is your policy on this day. You don't
explain that the policy will change at some point.
[/quote]
While you are within your rights do that, it is a shabby way to
handle it in my opinion. I had a teacher once who announced to
the whole class that if they wanted a recommendation to come to
her and she would tell them if it would be in their best
interest not to use her. I thought that was very fair. I would
have a conversation with her and say that over the course of her
internship you saw several areas where improvement would be
needed in her work but did not see enough progress on those
areas to feel comfortable writing a recommendation. If she
seems confused or questions it, you can offer her to give her
feedback but say clearly that your decision is final, though you
wish her the best.
Edit: I don’t like the lie because she is an intern. When
you take on an intern there is an inherent teaching component
and I feel the issue of the recommendation is one of the areas
where teaching is needed.
#Post#: 12462--------------------------------------------------
Re: Gracefully declining to write a letter of recommendation
By: TootsNYC Date: August 27, 2018, 9:06 pm
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I'm with NyaChan. I think you take on a teaching obligation with
an intern.
So I might suggest writing back to say, "I'm sorry that I must
decline; the errors that we discussed often during your time
with us are such that I don't feel I can put my reputation on
the line by recommending you. Best of luck in your search."
#Post#: 12624--------------------------------------------------
Re: Gracefully declining to write a letter of recommendation
By: Runningstar Date: August 29, 2018, 7:07 am
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I love NyaChan's advice - but I wouldn't be comfortable doing it
with this intern at this point. In the end there will be no
letter of recommendation given, and maybe the intern would learn
a good lesson - but this wasn't letter writer's intern to begin
with. Her supervisor was unable to continue with the internship
and so LW took over. At most I'd turn it back over to the
supervisor who accepted this internship in the first place.
Now - going forward with new interns? Exactly what NyaChan
said, it is kind and helpful.
#Post#: 12654--------------------------------------------------
Re: Gracefully declining to write a letter of recommendation
By: guest657 Date: August 29, 2018, 12:46 pm
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But the supervisor can't give a proper recommendation either,
because she wasn't there.
I think NyaChans wording is very good, but if you don't want to
go into much detail, you could simply say, "I'm sorry, I can't
give you a recommendation that would be to your advantage, but
the firm will confirm that you completed the internship, and the
dates."
And if you're open to doing (another) teaching session, you
could offer to discuss any questions she might have. But since
you've already spent a significant amount of time coaching her,
I don't think you're obligated to keep beating your head on that
particular wall.
#Post#: 12657--------------------------------------------------
Re: Gracefully declining to write a letter of recommendation
By: GardenGal Date: August 29, 2018, 2:30 pm
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I like what NyaChan said, too. If you haven't done so already,
this experience could give you a good reason to document any
problems/corrections you have to repeatedly address with an
intern, and to provide a copy of the documentation to the
intern.
#Post#: 12695--------------------------------------------------
Re: Gracefully declining to write a letter of recommendation
By: bopper Date: August 30, 2018, 8:02 am
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Bopper says: "Jennifer, given all the rework we had to do on
your documentation that was beyond the typical intern, I don't
think I could write you a strong recommendation."
Evilbopper says:" Her usefulness to the department is self
evident and she has been responsible for the changes in our work
group dynamics. Jennifer shows potential for unbounded
improvement. Many employees have indicated that they are eager
to comment on her work and she was tasked with many assignments
this year. The quality of her work is well known. A reevaluation
of her salary is long overdue. Such an employee demonstrates the
importance of proper recruiting. She does the kind of work you
don't expect to see today. Not surprisingly, as an employee, she
is a management textbook example and many wonder at the extent
of her knowledge."
#Post#: 12705--------------------------------------------------
Re: Gracefully declining to write a letter of recommendation
By: Victoria Date: August 30, 2018, 9:54 am
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Thank you, everyone. I went with Anon4Now's wording and tacked
on the bit about who to call at the firm for employment
verification. I feel like it's polite but doesn't leave room for
argument.
The next go-around I may bring it up our expectations to the
intern before any work product has been submitted. I think that
we all assumed certain things that didn't turn out to be true.
But I also think it was a good learning experience both for her
and us.
#Post#: 12827--------------------------------------------------
Re: Gracefully declining to write a letter of recommendation
By: TootsNYC Date: September 1, 2018, 11:13 am
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[quote author=Runningstar link=topic=638.msg12624#msg12624
date=1535544424]
I love NyaChan's advice - but I wouldn't be comfortable doing it
with this intern at this point. In the end there will be no
letter of recommendation given, and maybe the intern would learn
a good lesson - but this wasn't letter writer's intern to begin
with. Her supervisor was unable to continue with the internship
and so LW took over. At most I'd turn it back over to the
supervisor who accepted this internship in the first place.
Now - going forward with new interns? Exactly what NyaChan
said, it is kind and helpful.
[/quote]
This intern is now the LW's intern. It doesn't matter that LW
didn't choose the intern; she was assigned the intern by her
company (the intern is the company's intern), and now is LW's
responsibility.
I personally believe that EVERYONE at a company has a joint
responsibility to the interns they hire.
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