Quote:
Originally Posted by Army Wife'79
I think you had a good analogy however, let's take it a step further. On your resume under "references" do you put people you have known for a nanosecond, or people who only read your resume? Of course not. You put people who know you well, know your skill sets and can vouch for your character.
That is why when my D went thru a SEC rush, she only had 3 recs. People who knew her well: an aunt, a boss (a veterinarian) and a neighbor who she knew for 3 years and did petsitting for. When a friends Mom found out she didn't have recs for all groups, she offered to secure them and WE TURNED HER DOWN. (you can clean the coffee off your monitor now). Frankly, not being "greek wise" we felt it unethical for total strangers to recommend my D when they didn't know if she was a psychopath or serial killer or whatever. I honestly thought the 4.45 gpa and resume would make her stand out because the websites talked about scholastics etc.
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While I respect this as well as Zillini's decision to never rec anybody she doesn't know personally, the fact is that
I don't know everybody in my city. And even among the 20 or so fellow sisters living here, we don't know everybody. That's why our alumnae panhellenic was formed in 1964. We host a spring tea, give our PNMs as much honest info as possible, and collect information forms from them.
Now, just because I have a resume doesn't mean I accept it without question. I take the resume and find somebody that you and I have in common. It may be a teacher I know at your school, or somebody in your church, or a neighbor, or a co-worker. I don't know everybody, but I do know enough people in town that I can find
somebody we have in common who DOES know you. And if they think highly of you, and your activities and grades check out, then I will heartily recommend you. And I think that this recommendation will hold up just as well as one from someone who does know you personally. Of course, we would rather have those kinds of recommendations on everybody, but it's just not possible.
Going through with NO or FEW recommendations? Well, it's like this. When we have an opening at our shop, my husband does not place an ad in the newspaper or at monster.com. The first thing he does is ask our employees if they know somebody who needs a job. He interviews that person and then decides whether or not to hire him or her. But it was a recommendation from an employee that led to the next step.