<p>I'm a uni student going into my 2nd year now, and I'm hoping to find a job for three reasons. One, apparently everyone expects a graduated uni student to have some type of job experience, two, some job experience will probably be good for me, and three, my family and I could use the money. Currently I have absolutely no job experience, and I also have questions on applying for jobs. There is a particular job that they're offering at my uni that I'm very interested in, but I'm hopefully going to be looking for others as well once I'm back at college.</p>
<p>1) If I'm sending a referral/recommendation letter with my application, how much notice do I need to give to the one who is writing my recommendation? How early should I ask them? How should I go about asking them? If I will not see them in person in time, is it okay to email?</p>
<p>2) Should I leave out any mention of things I did in HS? I've only completed one year of college so far, so I'm not sure if I'm expected to limit myself to that in my application.</p>
<p>More questions will probably crop up as I get more into the process. This is completely new territory for me.</p>
<p>1- At least a few weeks, especially at the beginning of the year. You should ask them in person if possible, if not a nicely worded email will do. </p>
<p>2- Not necessarily. Since you’re a sophomore, you could definitely include upper-level high school activities. </p>
<p>I’ve hired many an undergrad. What’s really important to me (I can’t speak for all those who are looking to hire) is that the person has looked into our job/company/project and that they seem like they really want to be a part of it for concrete reasons. </p>
<p>I’m a bit worried about asking for recommendations for the particular job being offered at my college. They only sent out an email about it on Wednesday, but the application deadline is at the end of the month. Hopefully it won’t reflect badly on me if I ask for recommendations. I was thinking of apologizing for asking so close to the deadline and mentioning that the email was only sent out recently, but I don’t want to make my email sound like I expect them to write a recommendation for me. I only want them to write one if they feel that they know me well enough to write a good rec.</p>
<p>Should I send a resume or anything else when I email to ask for a recommendation? </p>
<p>Also, as I’m planning to apply to multiple jobs, should I let my potential recommenders know this ahead of time rather then emailing them each time I’m applying?</p>
<p>This is probably a dumb question, but the recommenders send the referrals to me (which I then attach to my application), or do they send it directly to the employer so I don’t read it?</p>
<p>For the particular job at uni, the application form states: “Please provide the names and addresses of two referees (one of whom should normally be your academic supervisor).”</p>
<p>Ok. They don’t want a letter of rec. That’s a huge difference. </p>
<p>Just send a short, polite email that asks if you can use them as a reference. Honestly, if you’re a lower level undergrad, if people use your references it will likely just to make sure you’re not a total flake. They’re not looking for anything in-depth. </p>
<p>Don’t send additional materials unless they request them. They know what they need to evaluate a candidate and will ask for it specifically. For example, we ask first for resumes and cover letters. The next round, we ask for schedules. Finally, we might ask for a writing sample or something depending on the particular job. </p>
<p>In fact, for me personally, if someone sends me something I didn’t ask for, it’s a huge turn-off. It shows that they’re not paying attention to what I asked for and that isn’t a desirable characteristic. If you really want to submit additional documents, you should email the contact person and ask whether that would be acceptable. Overwhelmingly, they’re going to tell you no. </p>
<p>In that case, you’re not submitting a letter of recommendation. Ask whoever if they would be willing to be your reference on a job application and if it’s okay for you to put their contact info. They will probably contact your references themselves if they want a reference for the job.</p>
Thanks.</p>