should you have a bunch of people send the hiring manager unsolicited letters of praise for you?

A reader writes:

I just saw the below post on LinkedIn, and I thought I’d send it along and get your thoughts on this strategy. After years of reading your blog, it makes me cringe so much. (Why would you write someone a reference if you weren’t their manager? Why would you pester every person at every interview stage with this letter? What if it’s not helpful information for them? Etc.) But everyone in the comments was praising this, saying how it’s so actionable and helpful and “gold,” which I found perplexing. Curious to hear your take on these kinds of strategies, especially as these sort of “advice posts” become more common.

This is the post:

Just went through a RIF but weren’t impacted?

Are you saying, “let me know what I can do” to the people impacted?

Stop.

Here’s your play — the Reference in Advance play — or RIA, as the kids call it:

1. Write an email reference template for the person — helps if you were the direct manager or person that hired them — but doesn’t have to be.
2. Tell the person to send you the email addresses of the people of every interview they have.
3. Ask the person when the interview is and when they need it sent.
4. Then copy and paste your letter and send it to those people IN ADVANCE of the interview (makes people stand out immediately, nobody really does this before an interview).
5. You can send it more than once to a specific company as they move through the process by forwarding it to the new people, referencing that you sent it to the previous and wanted to share with them as well.

The results can be pretty astounding. And in total, it should take 15 minutes to write the letter and 30 seconds for each send.

Put your action where your (maybe empty but maybe you really mean it but don’t know what to do) words are.

And we were just saying that there are fewer gimmicks these days!

This is indeed a bad idea.

First, written references aren’t a thing in most fields (although there are some exceptions, like teaching and some parts of law). When most hiring managers are ready to talk to references, they want to ask about the things that matter most to them, and most will want to talk — so we can hear tone and hesitations and ask follow-up questions. Plus, no one puts critical info in reference letters, so they’re not terribly useful. (I also don’t see anything in this advice about making sure the letters are nuanced or speak to what the job the person is applying for requires, so they really won’t carry any weight.)

Second and more importantly, this behavior is way too salesy and annoying. It’s going to look like the candidate is the one organizing it, and it’s going to make them look pushy and out of touch with how hiring works. It will not make them stand out — or at least, it won’t make them stand out in a good way; it is likely to make them stand out in an annoying way. And then sending the letter over and over as the process moves on? It’ll just keep annoying people, and at some point when they realize they’re all getting the same letter, it’s going to feel really spammy.

Third, the hiring manager won’t know anything about who these letters are coming from. Are they all your friends? Family members? Is the candidate herself emailing the letters from a bunch of fake email accounts?

Someone actually did this to me years ago and it was concerning, not impressive.

To be clear, it’s different if the person contacting your interviewer knows them personally. If you hear that I’m interviewing Valentina Warbleworth who used to work for you and you email me to rave about how great she is, that’s something that will carry weight — because I know you, I know your judgment, and it’ll be clear that it was our existing relationship that moved you to do me the favor of giving me intel on a candidate. None of that is in effect with a bunch of unsolicited letters from strangers that will appear to be coordinated by the candidate herself.

{ 113 comments… read them below or add one }

  1. Amber Rose*

    Liz Ryan, you’re back!

    Gosh, LinkedIn sure is a landmine of awful, unbelievable and/or unintentionally hilarious advice. I use it for keeping up with a couple organizations I’m part of, but it’s just the worst every time I log in.

    Reply
      1. Ella Minnow Pea*

        LinkedIn McNuggets = GOLD. I’m stealing that.

        I’ve noticed a huge uptick in these bossy, preachy, finger-waggy posts (with or without the awful advice) and I’m so over it.

        Reply
        1. Chauncy Gardener*

          Came here to say this x10000000.
          UGH! Please stop doing all this stuff. I’m so sick of the holier than thou posts and all these totally cringe ideas with zero merit.

          Reply
    1. Hey, I'm Wohrking Heah!*

      Right? I’m about to shut mine down. As to the post that the LW sent in all I can say is: here we are being told AI is smarter than us.

      Reply
      1. Hey, I'm Wohrking Heah!*

        Party foul one-upping my own cleverness but it just hit me. If humans write these McNuggets, they are the same people who wrote all the top 5 lists and “how to make sure he’s obsessed with you” drivel for the now defunct women’s magazines.

        Reply
      2. RC*

        I’m like 83% sure that most of those nonsense Linkedin articles are written by AI anyway… :x or maybe that’s just my hope since I hope humans aren’t that terrible (lol)

        Reply
    2. Rotating Username*

      It’s so bad on so many levels. I hibernated my account after learning of the new default privacy violations/invasions right here at AAM. But the content already made me hate 99.9% of it before that.

      Now I just read r/LinkedInLunatics and shake my head.

      Reply
  2. Kes*

    If you really want to have references in advance, just get your references to give you a linkedin recommendation. At least that way anyone looking at your linkedin profile can see it, without the aspect of spamming the poor people involved in the hiring process. People may or may not pay attention to it since they probably want to be able to ask questions of a reference, but it would still be better than this, which as Alison says will make you stand out but not in a good way

    Reply
    1. nnn*

      That’s what I was thinking – it’s ironic that LW read this on LinkedIn because LinkedIn already has a mechanism for giving people recommendations that will show up to anyone who happens to look at their LinkedIn profile!

      That way, you aren’t interrupting anyone or straying from norms, but still proactively vouching for them

      Reply
  3. Nonsense pt2*

    Wow. Been a while since I’ve read something so full of cringe I physically recoiled. That’s impressively terrible advice.

    Reply
    1. Hlao-roo*

      My “favorite” part was this:

      it should take 15 minutes to write the letter

      Barring a few exceptional writers, I can’t imagine the letters are going to be any better than the ones in the linked “bombarding an employer with unsolicited recommendations can backfire” post:

      None of [the emails] talked about how they knew her or what made her great. Instead, they were short, vague, and simply assured me that I “couldn’t go wrong” with hiring her.

      Reply
      1. MK*

        That part (about the minimal effort required for the reference) stood out to me as completely unrealistic.It would take a lot longer than 15 minutes to write a good reference letter. And then you are signing up to be on the receiving end of constant reminders when the candidate applies, and then when the interview is about to happen, and to do this again if they progress to the next stage. And to repeat this as many times as they get an interview!

        Reply
        1. ThatGirl*

          I mean, I could write a good reference letter in 15 minutes or so. But that doesn’t make any of this a good idea.

          Reply
    2. A Significant Tree*

      My first thought was “this is SO DUMB” but then I think that a lot when I see this flavor of LinkedIn post.

      It wouldn’t be nearly as objectionable if it had been, say, “write to the candidate directly and tell them what you liked about their work or working with them” as a way to bolster confidence or reassurance or whatever. But cold-emailing a hiring manager with unsolicited (and likely generic) praise is just… so dumb.

      Reply
  4. Successful Birthday Rememberer*

    Plus there’s the self-righteous and judgy tone of the post, because if someone reached out and simply offers their support, they are obviously being insincere. I tend to scroll past that kind of stuff.

    Reply
    1. I'm great at doing stuff*

      Agreed. And if you dare to give any constructive criticism on LinkedIn itself, you will be flogged.

      Reply
    2. MsM*

      Yeah, the whole ploy has big “Mom and Dad jumping in to interact with employers on their kid’s behalf, whether the kid wants it or not” energy.

      Reply
      1. Radioactive Cyborg Llama*

        oh this does sound like something my father in law would recommend. He told our adult kid that he just HAD to put his picture on his resume.

        Reply
  5. Inigo Montoya*

    One other way it is SOMETIMES OK is if the person sending the reference works for the target company, even if they don’t know the hiring manager. It is a little bit more of a grey area and will depend on their level of seniority, time at the company etc.

    Reply
    1. MK*

      But that’s more of a referral than anything. I can see it working in a small-medium company, because, while the hiring manager may not know the reference personally, they might have heard of them or can ask.

      Reply
  6. fine-tipped pen aficionado*

    This isn’t the same but a job application I reviewed last week had 4 random letters of reference attached to it. They were generic praise about the candidate’s work ethic and attitude and from the most random assortment of people (allegedly).

    I understand there are industries where written references are normal, but mine isn’t one of them and I’d think even in those industries the company actually asks for those letters. Also, you’d probably want them to be somewhat relevant and from someone other than a person you volunteered with once, a member of your church, and a professor you had several years ago.

    I generally try not to penalize people for bad resumes/cover letters/applications at junior levels because there’s so much astonishingly bad advice out there, but that one for sure left me baffled.

    Reply
    1. mango chiffon*

      I’m an a senior level administrative type role and we were hiring for a new entry-level of the same role, so I had a chance to interview the candidates. One candidate did the same thing and provided a couple of random reference letters as part of his cover letter. Someone definitely gave him some bad advice, and the interview itself didn’t end up very good either since it seemed more like the candidate just wanted to get a foot in the door to our org, and didn’t really understand the role we were hiring for

      Reply
    2. Gathering Moss*

      I once had someone apply for a position I was hiring for with a glowing recommendation from a previous manager…. who happened to now be working for me, and was outraged, as the applicant apparently wasn’t a great employee and had never asked her for a rec.

      The bit that got me was that at the time, my entire team was on the company website, so the applicant hadn’t even bothered checking before sending in her application.

      Reply
  7. Apex Mountain*

    When the traditional methods of job searching seem to be fruitless, it’s not surprising that people would think of outside the box ideas. Desperation can do that

    Reply
    1. I should really pick a name*

      I’m not totally convinced that the person who posted the article uses the “tip” that they’re pushing.

      My guess is they just want people to engage with their content.

      Reply
      1. Apex Mountain*

        100% – I looked it up, he’s a CEO of a startup that helps workplaces support employees during bereavement and grief, so i’m assuming he’s got some emotional intelligence

        Reply
        1. Analystical Tree Hugger*

          Interesting, that makes me think the opposite.

          In my experience, people who talk about how emotionally intelligent they are or create companies to do work that requires high emotional intelligence (exception are *some* therapists) have lower than average self-awareness and emotional intelligence.

          People with high emotional intelligence (again, just my experience) are aware of how much they don’t know and have to learn, so see themselves as less competent than average.

          Reply
        2. fhqwhgads*

          That makes me think he’s overly invested in his idea of a kind gesture being kind, without any idea of whether it is, in fact, effective.
          Like I bet this dude hugs people who don’t want hugs because he has decided it is A One True Kindness.

          Reply
      2. Wendy Darling*

        I think in the past we had people trying all kinds of weird stuff that worked for their cousin’s best friend because hiring is a bit of a black box to the candidate and people are desperate to find SOME way to make it “easier”. But now that everyone’s being encouraged to hustle on social media as well, there’s this additional layer of people just posting BS because they want the engagement to promote their “personal brand”, because THAT’S how they think you get a job.

        Gumption-ception.

        Reply
        1. Apex Mountain*

          If I had been applying to hundreds of jobs over months and months with little to no replies, ghosting, etc as we see here all the time, I would probably want to try something a little different myself. I don’t blame anyone for trying to break through the black box of hiring.

          Reply
          1. General von Klinkerhoffen*

            It isn’t advice for the jobseeker, though. It’s advice for managers whose reports have been laid off.

            There’s a kernel of useful information there (prepare detailed and appropriately supportive reference letters for people who will need them, so you can send them at the drop of a hat and make their job hunting easier) but it’s draped in this nonsense hustle culture gumption nagging rubbish.

            Reply
    2. MassMatt*

      This. Desperate people will resort to these gimmicks, also the hiring process is not transparent, so people will fill in the unknowns with all sorts of nonsense.

      It’s the same with quack cures for illnesses and conditions that are expensive and/or hard to treat, such as back pain, cancers, etc. The internet can give so much information SO quickly–but so much of it is crap.

      Whenever I see these gimmick job search tips I would like to see who they actually worked for–or better yet, a hiring manager who says “I hired the person who went me a cake with their resume in frosting! I chose them because they showed gumption!”

      Reply
    3. Antilles*

      Desperation yes, but also confirmation-bias.
      Did you send in an application with the gimmick, then get an interview? Even if the reality is that they would have given you that interview anyways, you’re going to credit the gimmick.
      Meanwhile, the dozen other hiring managers who respond with “this gimmick makes me question your professionalism” and throw your resume right in the trash happens behind the scenes, so you don’t realize the times where your gimmick actually hurt you.

      Reply
  8. Anon-E-Mouse*

    I’m not sure if anyone who plays an important role in hiring (eg headhunters, hiring managers etc actually reads anyone’s Linkedin profile anymore, but in the past, I know it was useful to have a handful of short endorsements from people you worked with (supervisors, people you supervised, peers, even clients). I offered to do this for people who had been let go and some people did this for me. (I asked people what I should comment on that would be most helpful to them and offered some key points I wanted my endorsers to speak to).

    I know that this helped some of the people I wrote endorsements for and I know that some of the people I interviewed with in my job search commented positively on the endorsements.

    To be clear, I never had more than about five on my profile and each one addressed a different strength or skill.

    Reply
    1. MassMatt*

      LinkedIn is definitely a resource in my field, though it is getting less useful as it starts to resemble sites like Facebook more and more.

      The “endorsements” feature is not useful however, except as a way to gain traction and interaction within your network (which was probably the reason why LI rolled it out). They are specifically prohibited in my industry, but even in other fields generic endorsements from random people about generic topics should really not sway anyone.

      Reply
  9. Rex Libris*

    This strategy, as presented would make the applicant stand out to me. As “that person I got all the annoying spam emails about.” Probably not the effect they’re going for.

    Reply
    1. Inkognyto*

      Seeing that would make the whole thing probably end in the circular filing bin aka ‘nope” pile before reading any further.

      Reply
  10. Goldenrod*

    One time when I was applying for jobs and was worried about my manager supporting me, I emailed all the faculty I worked with and asked them to reply to me with a paragraph or two about why they liked my work (if they did)…I got a ton of positive responses, and I compiled it into a few pages of praise, listing all their names.

    The hiring manager loved it…but this was over 10 years ago! It may seem old-fashioned nowadays and not have the same effect…

    Reply
    1. badger*

      you know what, though, I could see that being useful in a different way – like if I’m struggling to write a cover letter or figure out what to put in my resume or how to present myself at an interview, maybe getting that kind of feedback would help me figure out exactly what to highlight. So less to send on to future employers and more for me to use as my own personal reference tool, because other people might see things I don’t in my work, or give more weight to something I didn’t think was important in my work.

      Have to be in the right kind of environment to be able to ask for it, though.

      Reply
      1. Basketcase*

        That was where my thought process went too. I am terrible for selling myself / defining what I really achieved in roles, so this sort of feedback would be immensely useful for my CV writing process.

        Reply
  11. FricketyFrack*

    Unless someone’s application was otherwise outstanding, this would be more likely to get them put in the “no” pile. Discretion is extremely important in my office and someone demonstrating from the jump that they don’t have a good sense of boundaries is likely not going to be a good candidate. Eesh.

    Reply
    1. Khatul Madame*

      Yes – bad judgment and disrespect for the hiring manager’s time would disqualify a candidate for many jobs.

      Reply
  12. Sharks are Cool*

    This is so validating–I recently fired a therapist for a variety of reasons, but one of her bad takes involved letters of recommendation. I dread, DREAD asking for references, so I shared with her my plan to ask two safe current coworkers to be references before I even start applying. Instead of in any way validating what was kind of a big step for me, she told me I should ask for letters of recommendation instead. I was like, “Great you just turned something that is scary but do-able into an IMPOSSIBLE task, thanks so much.” And as I suspected, it wasn’t even good career advice!!!!! (She did say it had worked for her so maybe it’s better advice in a therapy/social work field?)

    Reply
    1. FricketyFrack*

      A letter of recommendation isn’t inherently a bad thing, but plenty of places call references, so I don’t know how useful it is to have people preemptively writing them. I guess it depends on your industry and what you’re seeing on applications, but I strongly suspect you’re fine to stick to your original plan.

      Reply
    2. Goldenrod*

      She was wrong, no one really wants letters anymore. It probably worked for her a long time ago.

      BTW I am jealous of your commenter name + sharks ARE cool!!!!!!!!

      Reply
    3. PlainJane*

      Oh, random thank you. I thought I was the only one who gets incredibly stressed about asking for references. Heck, when I bought a car–and had a pre-approved loan–the dealership randomly asked me for three non-related references out of the blue while I was sitting there with my loan approval from the bank. I managed one of my high school friends and my manager at work… only because I was able to reach them to ask. And then I started panicking. I’m totally socially isolated, tbh. I have no idea how people are able to come up with three people ready to financially vouch for them–and aren’t in their family–on the spot. I was just about crying when the dealership manager came out and said, “She doesn’t need to do that.” And finding references when I’m applying for jobs and notifying them that they might get contacted… it’s the absolute most stressful part of the process. None of them would report anything bad, but I always feel like I’m imposing and…

      I guess that’s off-topic. I sometimes really resent the social anxiety that all of it causes. As to the advice, that sounds like the usual anxiety exacerbated exponentially, so… not fun.

      Reply
      1. L*

        While I am fine with work references, I can relate to this! I’ve been asked for references for volunteer work, or to adopt a dog, all kinds of stuff, where they specifically ask for non-family. My social life is a little lacking right now so while I have lots of casual acquaintances, no one is really a “super close friend.” And for some reason I always imagine if I ask an acquaintance to fill out this sort of thing for something in my personal life, they’ll be thinking, why me? You don’t have a better friend you could ask? LOL so silly but I so overthink it. I actually avoided getting a dog for a while because of this and eventually got one at the SPCA where they didn’t ask.

        Reply
        1. PlainJane*

          I can understand it to some extent for animals, because they want to make sure you’re not going to be dogfighting or something. But still. Family should be fine for that. And if I were applying for a car loan, I’d have understood that… which is why I brought my references with me when I went to the bank to get a car loan. (Although, honestly, the bank has my credit score; I can see it every time I log in. Why do they care what my best friend from second grade has to say?)

          I don’t even *get* the idea of having so many handy social connections that I could just pull them out of the air.

          Reply
    4. Sloanicota*

      I always feel bad for counselors because I feel like they don’t really understand white collar office norms very well?? They probably never have to experience the life. That must be quite confusing. I’m sure they give good advice on other topics, but like my mom, they are *frequently* off-base with work advice.

      Reply
    5. Rainy*

      There are fields where letters of recommendation are still the norm, but mental health counseling is not one of them, except for (some types of) practicum placements during the counseling master’s.

      I wonder if she got a return offer from her practicum or something and has never applied for anything since.

      Reply
    1. I'm great at doing stuff*

      More than you would think. I just had a former coworker ask me for a letter of rec. I said workplaces almost never ask for those anymore, but I would be happy to be a reference for her (and I was; she was a great coworker). Then she got rather snippy with me when I wouldn’t write one! I did end up writing one for grad school which is a thing, but she really didn’t believe me that it’s not appropriate for work these days.

      Reply
  13. Caramel & Cheddar*

    I started reading this thinking it was going to go on a completely opposite direction and man did it go off the rails.

    What I was hoping it was going to say was to advise managers to write out references before they’re needed, not for something like this, but just so you don’t forget details about that employee. That is, as part of your off-boarding for an employee who is leaving, make some notes of the kind you might offer when giving them a reference in the future, and then file that somewhere so that later on you’re not scrambling to answer questions about someone who hasn’t worked for you for a few years. I used to manage a revolving door of seasonal staff and in retrospect this would have been a great way to help me keep track of them long term.

    Reply
    1. iglwif*

      Now THAT is a good idea. I used to manage entry-level staff and interns, and some were really memorable (for either good or bad reasons) but a lot were like … perfectly fine, not outstandingly good or bad, definitely deserve a nice reference but I don’t remember enough to be as specific as I, were I checking references, would like a former manager to be. Doing this would have helped a lot!

      Reply
  14. Jackie*

    I just hired for two open roles and had a candidate did something similar; had multiple people across the organization I didn’t know and don’t work with reach out on their behalf. He even had one follow up after not hearing from the recruiter as quickly as expected. This was extremely off putting. I’m happy to have a referral, especially if the person referring understands the role, but multiple people reaching out, multiple times came on too strong.

    Reply
  15. VoPo*

    Person that does a lot of hiring here. DO NOT do this! I would be so annoyed and really question the candidate’s judgment. When I’m evaluating a candidate, I have specific things I need get information about or a sense on. A form reference is not going to give me that, so it’s just a waste of time for me to look at anyway.

    Reply
    1. learnedthehardway*

      Recruiter here – totally agree. It will come across as harassing the hiring manager, who will then question the candidate’s discretion and decision-making/judgment.

      Reply
    2. Pretty as a Princess*

      Oh my goodness yes – I’d probably round file the resume for the poor judgment. Inability to communicate clearly and appropriately with stakeholders.

      Reply
  16. Orange Cat Energy*

    That LinkedIn advice reminds me of advice when I was in software engineering bootcamp. The school arranged a mock behavioral interview with a volunteer from the industry and told all the students that we should reach out to our mock interviewer on LI ahead of the interview. It felt a bit creepy, but I rationalized that this was a mock interview and not a real interview. So I did what the school told me to do…and then on the day of the interview, I was told that my volunteer dropped out and I would be assigned a new one. The volunteer was actually assigned to several students, so don’t take this as my actions causing the volunteer to withdraw. The volunteer didn’t even respond to my LI message…maybe they just didn’t check their LinkedIn. Even though this was a mock interview, we were supposed to be learning professionalism/be professionals and it was really gross that my school would put me in an awkward position like this.

    Reply
  17. Lily Rowan*

    My favorite part of this whole fiasco is that it shows how there is no new bad advice under the sun — it happened TO ALISON 14 years ago!

    Reply
  18. Magdalena*

    To quote some of the genius advice:

    “… makes people stand out immediately, NOBODY REALLY DOES THIS BEFORE AN INTERVIEW…”

    Gee, wonder why…

    Reply
    1. Elenna*

      Nobody poops in the interviewer’s potted plants, either, that doesn’t mean it was a good move for the guy that did it!

      Reply
  19. Pam Adams*

    I just received an email recommendation from someone I used to work with- about an interviewee whose boss she is. To me, thats a valuable recommendation.

    Reply
    1. Khatul Madame*

      Yes, because it came from a person you know professionally. Would it be as valuable if you didn’t know the recommender?

      Reply
  20. Mark This Confidential And Leave It Laying Around*

    I recently cooked a recipe I found online and quickly realized it had to be untested. This has that same “add 3-4 cups of breadcrumbs “ feel. Like…no. That’s not how this works.

    Reply
  21. Acallidryas*

    Ah, that’s why this just happened to me! Or something like it.

    I’m hiring for a position and one candidate, instead of attaching a cover letter, attached reference letters. The letters didn’t speak directly to the job needs, or answer the questions I would have as a hiring manager. it wasn’t helpful at all, and if I’d had a bunch of generic reference letters emailed it would have been annoying. This is indeed bad advice!

    Reply
  22. Phony Genius*

    The results can be pretty astounding.

    This is the most truthful part of the post. But not in the way the poster thinks.

    Reply
  23. chocolate lover*

    I’m not a hiring manager but I am often on search committees (higher ed) and I would be so annoyed if I were suddenly deluged with emails from people I didn’t know or trust, raving about a candidate. I’m not going to read that or take it seriously, I don’t have the time to worry about anyone but the finalists we are seriously considering.

    Reply
  24. Sloanicota*

    I saw a version of this work well for someone we hired, but it … wasn’t this. The candidate was *already a finalist* for a job we had and several people in the community (but not personal contacts of the hiring manager, that I recall) emailed the hiring manager unsolicited saying X person was great and would be a great hire. I would guess calling it an “RIA” would be appropriate. It did impress the hiring manager – she mentioned it to me. Two things in favor a) the job would involve a good amount of coordinating in the professional community and b) I assume my boss at least kind of knew *of* these people, they weren’t total randos.

    Reply
    1. Sloanicota*

      It did seem obvious to me at the time that the candidate must have orchestrated it – how else did so many people know they were a finalist for a position with us, it’s not like that’s public – but apparently it came across as authentic to the hiring manager nonetheless.

      Reply
      1. Rainy*

        Did this hiring manager usually make good decisions, or did they frequently make hiring decisions based on something other than an ability to do the job?

        Reply
        1. Mark This Confidential And Leave It Laying Around*

          If professional contacts are part of the job, and at my company we definitely hire human Rolodexes, than this matters.

          Reply
          1. Rainy*

            I think that’s a little different than a hiring manager who’s apparently bowled over by an astroturfing campaign.

            Reply
  25. Rachel*

    I like recommendation letters in applications for internships. I hire 100-120 interns every summer and the recommendation letters are useful in sorting through the 3000 applicants I get.

    Reply
  26. Elenna*

    “The results can be pretty astounding”
    Yes, indeed. The hiring manager will be astounded by how annoying and out of touch this is, and the person who thinks this is a good idea will be astounded by how quickly the job-searcher gets rejected.

    Reply
  27. Rainy*

    “Nobody does this”…well, no. Because it’s an awful idea. I also don’t cut my hair at home with a lawnmower, or use a woodchipper to give myself a pedicure, or touch my kitten’s belly when it’s clearly not belly-touching time.

    Reply
    1. el l*

      Seinfeld got it right: “The road less taken is usually less taken for a reason.”

      In this case, because it doesn’t work.

      Reply
  28. Goldenrod*

    “I actually avoided getting a dog for a while because of this and eventually got one at the SPCA where they didn’t ask.”

    Awww, that makes me sad! It’s like – yeah, I’m working on GETTING my best friend – this dog!!

    That’s what’s so great about dogs – they love us instantly, no references required!

    Reply
  29. Pyanfar*

    I’m in the US and used to do a *lot* of hiring and interviewing. I tended to see formal reference letters from previous employers and professional references attached with applications from people originally not from the US (based on colleges/universities and/or previous job locations). I just assumed that was expected in other places and gave them no specific weight, good or bad. So my question to the non-US contingent: Do you do this in your country?

    Reply
    1. Pigeon*

      I lived and worked in Namibia and South Africa for a number of years (I am a U.S. American), and this was and remains (according to friends and family there) quite common, although there is some variability. Fields that are more technical or credential-oriented seem to be trending away from reference letters, but they remain quite common in education and for “pink collar” jobs that don’t necessarily carry specific education or experience requirements (or are very light on those requirements).

      Reply
  30. Alex*

    Was this advice written by the person who invented spam? Because we all know how much everyone loves spam.

    (in the email sense, not the meat product sense.)

    Reply
  31. the hulk's PTSD*

    There aren’t fewer gimmicks these days. It’s that said gimmick-providers have moved to LinkedIn and are peddling crap like this. Or are on TikTok and Instagram, peddling crap like this and other word-salad nonsense. You haven’t done hiring in a while so it’s understandable that you wouldn’t necessarily know the trash fire that’s out there now.

    Reply
  32. I'm just here for the cats!!*

    Besides everything Alison said, this also sems to be a major waist of time. You’re supposed to have a template for the person, yet you are supposed to add reference that you already sent it to other people in the company? How is this supposed to be better than just being a reference and taking a 10 minute phone call.

    Reply
  33. Jon*

    This is reminding me of an episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show, “Three Letters from One Wife”.
    Rob has talked his boss into appearing on an intellectual show rather than comedy as he normally does, and is worried about how it will go over. The neighbor takes it upon herself to write 14 letters praising the program and Rob himself, to his boss.
    The time for the show comes, and it isn’t shown due to a flood in the subway being covered. But her letters are already sent.
    I could see this leading to such a situation where you give them the time and email and can’t get in touch to tell them the interview was postponed by a week lol.

    Reply
  34. English Rose*

    Crazy idea! But just to pick up one point from the answer, around “written references aren’t really a thing”. Not so here in the UK. At my company and in most others I’ve worked for – across a wide range of sectors – written references are mandatory. And in reverse, most places I’ve worked have policies of only providing written references – actually speaking to someone to give a reference would get you in serious trouble. (When I say written of course I mean email mostly although some still arrive on actual paper.)

    Reply
  35. Pigeon*

    I’m hopeful that the teacher shortages we see in many parts of the U.S. will make LORs-in-advance a thing of the past in this field, because it’s genuinely ridiculous. I’ve been at my current school for 5 years, and hope to stay at least two more – and if I start a search at that point, it’ll most likely be without telling my current leadership in advance. That would mean asking my last principal, whose terrible leadership led me to resign my last job, for a letter of recommendation nearly a decade later?!? Absolutely not. Or my previous principal, for whom I worked one year as a first year teacher, fifteen years ago? What would she even say?

    Reply
  36. Can’t think of anything clever*

    Granted I did my turn as hiring manager in 2006-2009 but NO don’t do it! Anything gimmicky or formulaic just doesn’t work or if it does I wonder why? Gives me the “one big happy family” vibe.

    Reply
  37. Artemesia*

    If you are in academia or certain other professions a contact from one key person — a major professor with prestige for example — can be critical in advancing your application and even more so if they know the hiring manager i.e. are part of their network. but unless the person sending an unsolicited recommendation or making a call is part of that person’s network or well known to her? yuch. And if you get a bunch of these it comes across as a gimmick and likely to be orchestrated by the candidate.

    Reply
  38. The Gollux, Not a Mere Device*

    Another problem with this. If the advantage of this idea is that “nobody really does this before an interview,” well, now that it’s been recommended on LinkedIn, it’s not going to look original or stand out for that reason.

    Reply
  39. Analyst*

    As a hiring manager, I am doing my best to maintain equity, so I won’t read these at all. Doing this will however make a very bad impression and I would have serious reservations about hiring a person who did this- trying to get around our hiring process isn’t a good thing.

    Reply
  40. Annony*

    The only way it could possibly be helpful to have your reference reach out to the interviewer in advance is if they have a connection already which would make it less weird and also carry some weight. But even then it is a one time thing, not emailing every interviewer.

    Reply
  41. Rusty*

    one year during performance reviews instead of the requested 2 360 feedback references from colleagues one of the staff (whose work was under the microscope) attached 13. They were of dubious quality and we wondered why she didn’t ask the guy in the coffees shop in the lobby to write something too, so bizarre and scattershot was the selection. This technique reminds me of that, being spammed by utterly irrelevant testimonials.

    Reply

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