Students
reluctant to ask for recommendations
By
Samantha Britland
On-line Forty-Niner
Many
people are not comfortable with professional
people that surround them to ask for a recommendation,
while others are social butterflies and
have no problems with it. The majority of
college students have not needed a recommendation
yet, but according to a survey conducted
by Cal State Long Beach Testing and Evaluation
Services most students do not know anyone
to get a recommendation from.
According
to the 2002 Student Satisfaction Survey
conducted by Testing and Evaluation Services
more than 57 percent of students do not
know any professors or just one professor
they feel could ask for a recommendation.
Over 34 percent of surveyed students did
not know anyone they could ask.
"I
always feel like the professors are unapproachable
and it is an inconvenience if you ask for
help," said Kristin McNair, English
major.
McNair
said sh has never needed to ask for a recommendation,
but she also said she feels that she does
not know anyone well enough to ask. She
added that professors have office hours
to help out students, and if students cannot
make those times, they could not help.
"I
have met professors who do not want their
students to ask questions, and seem reluctant
to answer questions," said journalism
major Annica Sundstrom. "I do not feel
comfortable with professors like that, and
I would not ask them for recommendations,
or anything else."
Fifty-eight
percent of students who responded to an
unscientific survey said they felt that
it was not difficult interacting with professors
outside class.
A
few random professors said that they are
often asked for recommendations a couple
times a semester.
Associate
Professor of communicative disorders, O.T.
Kenworthy said, "In the nine years
I have been at CSULB, I have written over
165 recommendations".
Students
are sometimes required to get a recommendation
for school related issues. If a student
is placed on registration hold for not taking
the Writing Proficiency Exam on time they
must get a recommendation from a professor
to release the hold. To get into a graduate
program, a recommendation is often needed,
as is the case for senior, psychology major
Jennifer Morrow. She said that some professors
are unapproachable, or seem too busy. She
says she would not ask those professors
for a recommendation.
"A
letter can be a good starting point,"
Morrow said. " It can be good to have
somebody who knows you so you have background."
In
the job market a recommendation can be the
key. Apple One recruiter Torrey Hecht said
that recommendations are extremely important.
Hecht uses letters of recommendation to
forward to employers to help a person stand
out from the crowd. She looks specifically
for testimonies about a person's character,
attitude, stability and work ethic. Hecht
also likes to find out information about
the person giving the referral to try to
give it validity.
"Word
of mouth advertising, personal testimony
and networking in my opinion are the most
effective and time-efficient ways to market
someone," Hecht said. An applicant's
referral or letter of recommendation will
"help separate them from the masses
and increase the chance that they will get
an interview." At that point, it's
up to them to sell themselves".
A
good referral can give an edge on the competition.
If two equally qualified candidates were
competing for the same job, and one had
previously worked with a current employee
of the company -- who is now referring him,
and the other candidate was an unknown,
the referred candidate would most likely
get the job, said Brenda Reynolds a Toshiba
America Information Systems staffing manager.
If
a person is qualified for a job and there
are not adequate filters, or staffing services
in the company, then a recommendation may
be the only way to get the job, Reynolds
said. It comes down to the internal staffing
resources; if it is strong, then only qualified
candidates will get through the selection
process, she added.
"Employers
want to hire people who can perform the
job and produce good to excellent results,"
Reynolds said. "If someone can validate
the candidates qualifications, then the
company believes a successful match between
the job and the candidate can be more easily
made."
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