A troublesome letter of recommendation.

I have never been in the position where I have been asked to provide a letter of recommendation for a former employee, or anyone for that matter. So for this blog assignment I will have to reference my book.

Basically I’m supposed to write as though I’ve been asked to provide a letter of recommendation for an employee for years ago, I know that they did a great job, but no specific information is readily remembered. What would I do?

In my textbook, Business Communication Essentials: A Skills-Based Approach, by John Thill and Courtland Bovee, they touch on the subject in chapter 7.

One important pointer they have for writing recommendation letters is to “consider collaborating with the former employee so that the contents of the letter meet both of your needs.” The only problem with this is that you want to give a fair and honest recommendation and if you aren’t sure on some of the specifics you may not be able to do that, which they also caution could end with you or your company being sued.

Probably the best case scenario, if you are not able to find the specific information that you feel comfortable putting in a recommendation letter, but you do know that they were a wonderful employee and would be an asset to another company, would be to offer to instead be a personal reference for the employee.

While this may not be exactly what the former employee was hoping for, it beats them ending up with nothing, and you ending up on the receiving end of a lawsuit. 

Casual not Sloppy

This isn’t my first go at a blog, this is however my first required (for a grade) blog. I find the experience to be fun and relaxing, easier going than the typical mode of communication for a class. As this is a more professional attempt at a blog I can see how the topic of grammar, spelling and mechanics of writing come up.

While blogging has a much more personal and casual style of writing associated with it, that’s no reason to completely throw out everything we’ve learned in Language Arts classes up to this point. If I were to go to a company’s blog and the writer put something along the lines of, “Wut dew u thinnnk uv R nuw lyne?” I would immediately leave the site and question the intelligence of the writer and the standards of the company. I’m pretty sure my spell check and my brain were short circuiting when I was writing that.

At the same time, I do think it is okay to “lighten up” a little bit on the rigid standards. Proofreading is still an important tool, but no need for a panic attack if you read back through a previous post and find a missed comma, an ellipses, or something along those lines. I am far from a perfect writer, but I do try to read through things before posting (or sending depending on the form of media), spell check is my best friend.

I would say the rule of thumb is: Whatever you post is a representation of not only yourself, but also the company you work for, and that responsibility is on you, the writer.

Social Media and Future Employers

We've all heard about prospective employers looking into applicants' social media sites as a determining factor. Many see this as an invasion of privacy, but I do see it as an asset for those hiring to get an idea of who a person is in a casual setting. Would they be a good match in a team setting? Could there be a security risk? etc.

I would be lying if I said I didn't use social media as a way to vet who is in my children's lives. Some may say this is creepy, but with all of the horrible things you hear on the news, it's better to be safe and slightly creepy than sorry. Every year I search Facebook for each of my boys' teachers and other people they encounter at school. Prior to sleep-overs and play-dates I'll look up their friends' parents. I've never found anything, but it doesn't hurt to be cautious.

I mainly use social media to keep up with family, friends, and former classmates from high school. I've never been the "party girl" so I've never really had to worry about photos of me being inappropriate showing up. Still, I thought I'd take a look and see just what would be seen on mine, does anything be improved and if any of it would throw up a red flag during a job search.

Since I do share a lot of photos and stories about my children, most of my Facebook profile is private, but even if it weren't, I seem rather boring. If you looked at it right now, you would see that my youngest's friends came over and played Friday night, or that we celebrated my Husband's Grandmother's 99th birthday last weekend.

As far as anything embarrassing, my friend posted a photo of us from the state fair that is over 10 years old.

Not exactly scandalous.

I really don't see anything that is cause for major changes or red flags on my personal Facebook page. However, after looking at all aspects, I will probably go through and lose a few people off of my friends list. At roughly 300 friends, it's obvious I can't be close with all of them, and many who I only know from high school can probably go.

I haven't spoken to several of these "friends" in at least 6 years and I really have no need to have their profile pictures of boozing and drug usage popping up on my page as a friend which a possible employer could easily see and possibly judge me unfavorably.