Mission Admission: I Have No Supervisor!
August 10th, 2008 | Posted in Mission Admission, Blogroll
“I am self-employed.” “I am a Vice-President in a family business.” “I am a freelancer.” “I am a contract consultant.” If you can make a statement like this about your own professional position, you may follow it with an exasperated, “I have no supervisor. So, where am I going to get my recommendations?!”
Before we even discuss the problem at hand, remember, MBA admissions committees have indeed seen it all. It is highly unlikely that your situation is unlike anyone else’s. So, you need not fret about your circumstances. Let’s consider the fictitious case of the VP above and add a detail – that the family business is in manufacturing. This hypothetical MBA candidate may contact a longstanding client or a supplier, both of whom may be able to write about the candidate’s integrity, growth, sense of humor, determination and more, all in relation to other comparable individuals. If these two constituents were not able to offer adequate feedback, the MBA candidate might ask the head of a trade association or possibly even a respected competitor to write on his behalf. If the candidate really had to get creative, he might consider a service provider of his own; for example, getting a letter of reference from an architectural firm that collaborated with the candidate to build a new manufacturing facility could be an interesting solution.
In short, most MBA candidates have more opportunities for recommenders than they realize. There is someone out there who knows you well and can write objectively.
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