<p>Just remembered, I wrote a recommendation letter for a family friend some years ago who was applying to the college of Industrial & Labor Reations. She in fact had worked for a labor union, at some time in some capacity that I don’t recall. Presumably she got a rec letter from someone there, who spoke to her connection with the field; and capabilities if she had demonstrated any. Unfortunately in that case these letters were insufficient to overcome her mediocre academic qualifications, and she was waitlisted into oblivion.</p>
<p>When I got there as a suburban kid, I didn’t realize that this 4H club thing really existed, and was a big deal in some more rural areas. But I learned that it does, and it is.</p>