When I left my last job, my boss gave me a letter of recommendation, which was very nice of her.
So what do I do with it? Do I include it with my resume when I’m applying for jobs? What?
Thanks.
That’s great! Congrats!
Here’s my WAG:
If you include it with your resume, your prospective employer might suspect it was faked. It is best if your old employer sends it directly to the prospective employer, leaving you out of the chain.
If your old employer is a very organized person, maybe she can hold on to it, and send it whenever you ask her to. But that runs the danger of her losing it. Another idea is for you to hold on to it, and whenever you apply to a new job, you should make a copy, and a cover letter, and an addressed envelope, and send it to the old employer, asking her to mail it to the prospective employer.
I think the rigamarole about having an old boss resend a letter of recommendation is probably going a bit out of the way. Hopefully, the boss’s contact information is part of the letterhead. If not, you should supply it when you give a copy of the letter to a future employer. If the person hiring you is dubious about its authenticity, then can just call the old boss’s number.
I’d suggest withholding recommendations on your initial application and including a note about references being available on request on your resume. No hiring manager wants to be overloaded with excess paperwork when they’re going through an initial pass of applicants, and letters of rec. likely won’t be seriously looked at until after you’ve gotten an interview.
My school has a letter of recommendation service. I have letters of recommendation mailed there (I usually give the writer an addressed, stamped envelope.) When I need it, I go there and fill out a form that says which letters I want sent to which address. They charge $10 per mailing. They also make copies, so I can have them send the same letter to multiple people.
Boozahol Squid, P.I. - ditto to all of that!
Superhal - I think all schools do that. (Colleges and up, at least.) I didn’t mention it because schools are set up for that sort of thing. Such things are among the basic functions of the Registrar’s Office. Not so much for previous bosses.