Meaningful Recommendations
When you send a request for a recommendation (for grad school, scholarship, job or etc.) please indicate that you have read this section of my website, those who don't indicate this will be directed to read this and then make the request again.
Repeatedly I have encountered the reality that recommendations from academic sources have no meaning. At a recent conference I heard the president of a company state (in a room full of professors), to the effect, "We don't even look at academic recommendations, anyone can get a recommendation from a professor." If anyone can get a recommendation, and anyone can (why, is a separate discussion), then the recommendation has no value. I've listened to professors in my own department say they have to look for keywords in recommendations to see if there is any worth in them.
I despise being grouped in this crowd. Therefore, I am posting the following standards as requirements for any student who requests a recommendation:
 | You must have received a B+ or better in all classes you have taken from me. It doesn't mean that I think a lower grade is a "bad" grade, it simply means that my standard for a recommendation is B+ or better in all classes. |
| You must have acted professionally in your interactions with me. For example, in email communication, proper use of grammar and respect is attempted. I'm not expecting perfection, I'm expecting effort and improvement over time. |
| If a course involved written reports, the reports were well written, correct spelling, grammar and layout used. For most of you, writing will be the biggest part of your job, you must learn to do it well if you want to be successful. |
| You must not have been a complainer, griping at every turn for every little thing. I have a good memory, I know who the complainers and bad attitudes are, I also remember those who pester me for every little point on an assignment throughout the semester. |
| If you are unsure if I know who you are, don't ask me for a recommendation. If I don't know you, the only thing I can do is to repeat what grade you earned in the courses I taught, hardly the kind of recommendation you are looking for and one I'm unwilling to write. |
| You must be, and I must perceive you to be, self-critical, willing to continually learn and consider new ideas from others without taking it as a personal affront. Similarly, you must also have the ability to offer ideas without being offensive in doing so. What I want in my company is people who can work together and learn from each other, I don't need to hire someone who knows everything and is showing up to tell everyone else how to do it. |
I am sympathetic to the needs, in particular, of businesses finding good employees. The ugly truth is, there are a lot of terrible developers out there (who don't even know it). This last year I received many requests from companies requesting names of students they could hire. I was unable to fulfill suggestions for all of these open opportunities, not because I didn't know of students who needed jobs, instead, I didn't know of enough students I felt comfortable recommending for placement into these companies.
My intention is to provide recommendations only for those who I consider will bring real value to their employer or graduate school. The recommendations I provide reflect on me personally. If I provide a recommendation to those with poor skills, bad attitudes, etc., the value of my words is gone, I'm unwilling to accept this. This means I have to say "no" to some students, I've done this in the past and I don't enjoy it, however, I accept it as matter of course given my position.
When I write a recommendation, I will make a reference to this page in the letter, in something of an attempt to explain my standards for writing a recommendation.