When acquiring a letter of recommendation it is most appropriate to ask the qualified person. You don’t want to request a recommendation from someone who knows nothing about a subject. Like the old saying, “if you want to learn to sell gold don’t take advice from a brick-layer”. The actual reason scholarship providers ask you for a letter of recommendation, is to see a written back up supporting your personal qualification (a little like a reference on your CV/Resume or something but more). More like an approval, saying “this fellow is worthy of your scholarship award, you should give him/her a try”. Here are some tips I suggest will be useful when acquiring your scholarship letter of recommendation.
Meet the most appropriate person
You wouldn’t want to ask your parents to recommend your qualification for a scholarship or even a job reference. It’ll rather sound unserious of you. Even more so, would explain that you don’t have someone in the field that can vouch for you. Ask someone in a field relevant to the scholarship criteria or the course of study for which you are applying. For example, if leadership skill and experience is among the scholarship requirement, ask your supervisor from the organization where you have exercised your leadership skills.
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Do the assignment yourself
Compile every possibly required material, and give your recommender enough resources to make the letter writing quick and easy for them to comply. Alternatively, you can do the writing for them and ask them to sign their name to it (subject to their approval). If they are truly qualified, they would likely want to admit and omit some points, to make the letter look more professional. At least, you have helped them with most of the work and they are actually doing you a favor.
A Letterhead will be more appropriate
Providing your letter on a letterhead from the office of your recommender will show a sign of authenticity and the scholarship provider is likely to appreciate it more. If your recommendes doesn’t have one, create one for them (still subject to their approval).
When you are done and ready, thank them for their assistance and get on with other materials.
Have a question on acquiring a letter of recommendation? feel free to ask on comment below. Or if you have some experience to share, we’ll love to hear it.
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