Advice about recommendation letters/怎麼辦？老師要我自己寫推薦信！

Emperor, a photo by Jurij Skoblenko on Flickr.

“在協助客戶編修留學申請文件的過程中，我們發現到許多人遭遇到類似的問題：或許因為沒有空或是推薦人(教授或老闆)認為自己的英文不夠好，推薦人要申請人自己擬推薦信。一封推薦函本應是學校或系所通過推薦人的評價去了解申請人的一種途徑，當最後變成申請人自己寫推薦信的時候，其實是喪失它的本意的。然而，為了完成必要申請程序，對很多台灣的學生來說，這似乎變成了一個必要之惡。我們強烈建議申請人盡可能找到願意替自己寫推薦函的人選，假如說沒有其他辦法、必須自己草擬推薦信，那麼以下我們有幾個建議以及應避免的錯誤，希望能夠幫助這些需要自己寫推薦信的同學，並提醒自己在「毛遂自薦」的過程中也別忘了顧及文件的真實感和寫作方向。

此外，如果推薦人對自己的英文書信沒有信心，請他們以中文書寫、再妥善翻譯成英文也是方法之一。

如果您的推薦人願意以英文書寫，但不太確定英文推薦信應該怎麼下筆，在這篇文章中，我們提供了一些建議，注意幾個小地方，就能讓推薦信發揮最大的效用！ **英文推薦信寫作注意事項**

As far as our service is concerned here is the protocol that you must follow, as many of you will recognize from our consultations:

First, if at all possible get an actual, authentic letter of recommendation. It would be terrible if your profs ended up like the now disgraced former minister of education in Taiwan. Remind them that they might be contacted later by the school and if they proved unclear in anyway about the document it would be at the least embarrassing.

If they refuse on the basis of not being able to write fluently in English then tell them to write it in Chinese and that you will have it professionally translated. We can assist you with that happily and at a discount on our regular translation rate.

Second, if they still refuse it means that you are stuck doing evil. In that case, at least do your best to offer a concise and realistic assessment of yourself from your recommender’s perspective. Letters of recommendation are usually merely a means of confirming that you are indeed capable of successfully completing the program for which you are applying. If your prof were really thrilled with your brilliance they could trouble themselves to write three paragraph of subtle praise that would make a real impression. Stuck as you are without genuine support, I DO NOT recommend that you try anything beyond a perfunctory letter.

Here is something to think about as well. Someone quick of mind and who has an honest opinion of you can write a brilliant letter to recommend you in only two or three minutes. It really is not a great chore. So the risks and lack of value rendered by these self-styled recommendations are really to be avoided.

Third, your prof may need some cues for composing an effective Western style letter as well.

Therefore, here is my advice in regard to composition of recommendation letters.

The tone should be level and matter of fact. All statements within it should be observable facts – not some emotional drivel. It is ok to say something like X obviously has great enthusiasm and commitment to his/her studies / field / or profession. Statements like “I like him” and “she is popular among her peers” and “all the teammates get along with them very well,” are all utter rubbish, subjective nonsense that could only make a bad impression.

First, in the opening paragraph the recommender needs to clearly identify themselves, how they know the “recommendee,” and for how long and in what capacity have they known him. If you actually have a friendly social relationship with this person this should be mentioned in passing. In the case of the recommender being a boss or colleague at work it would absolutely expected to be of a somewhat warmer and more personal quality. “We have enjoyed working together for some years, X is A, B, and C, and will be sorely missed when he/she leaves us to begin studies.” Such a statement is still quite alright.

In the one or two or maybe three internal paragraphs – remember except in the case of a recommendation letter by your master’s thesis adviser or your research team leader there is probably not a lot of factual contexts in which to state the merits of the person being recommended – the content should be based on actual achievements or observations that that person witnessed first-hand. No hearsay like "I heard that he went abroad and performed very well" is acceptable. Simple and solid is fine. “X took a number of my classes during which time he/she took great interest in the subject, was actively engaged in discussion and scored well on exams etc.” Some mention of a particular research paper or project that showed promise is good to discuss as well. In no case will a prof be privy to your GPA and other vital statistics and your extracurricular activities unless you want folk to think you are in bed with them! Okay? Avoid anything too personal that it creepy weird! 

Likewise beyond the next goal (grad school) your life’s purpose they would likely not know. A prof who is very impressed with you might speculate and say "I think he is capable of doing such and such research, making a great contribution to X, or managing Y enterprise in his promising future," would be the absolute limit of content beyond, “from my observations of A’s abilities I feel very confident that they would / make a ….. contribution / be a successful candidate for / be found to be a great asset to your institution.”

Through precise and concise wording an exemplary statement of recommendation can be made in only a few paragraphs and a score of sentences. You don’t need more, unless as I mentioned you need to convey specific research abilities special to one’s field.

The conclusion should be short and sweet. “In conclusion, I reiterate that….”; “I give my full recommendation to A for” studies or any future ventures. Maybe a final statement would be good like “I am sure that…” And then truly conclude by stating that “please feel free to contact me in any regard to A’s application.”

And that is it. But it also brings us to the other problematic aspect. If the prof does not really support you it is a big risk that they will indeed be contacted in some way, shape or form, and if they don’t eagerly respond to that inquiry, your application is ruined. In addition, for very competitive programs they may require additional secure feedback.

To close this post I really want to urge all of you to go about acquiring these letters as you should per Western standards. If you are in the preparation stage it would be worth it to volunteer or take some class that is very key to the purpose of your future just to get a real recommendation. And you should make that clear from the start that that is what you need. At the very least discuss every single line of the letter together and get a real commitment from whoever is meant to be recommending you. If the person you hope for is lukewarm / lacks interest find someone else rather than poison the purely positive nature of your application with something hollow, dead or mediocre which translates as a negative.