Undergraduate Blog / Career Development

I Recommend Myself

So…In the closing days of my internship I asked my boss if he would be willing to write me a recommendation. He said of course, but first I must write my own recommendation of myself for him to see and use as guidance.

Ahh…this has been excruciatingly painful

How good do I say I am, does my boss see me in the same light, do I acknowledge faults, am I droning on…What does an employer want to see.. What do people even say in a recommendation…Are they specific, do they talk about specific events, are they abstract…

I don’t want to come off as arrogant, naïve, foolish, too perfect, phony, etc.

I don’t want to put an employer to sleep, make my former boss think I’m too confident, not modest enough, etc.

All I can say is that I was honest and wrote it how I as an employer would recommend an employee, and as a potential employer, what would be meaningful in a recommendation and what would not put me to sleep, and would keep my attention, stand out.

It has been fun!!