Our committee letter packets are due in two weeks and with those I need to have at least two letters of recommendation submitted. I asked my boss from the summer camp I used to work at to write me a letter, focusing mostly on my position of leadership and I'm starting to stress a little bit about it.
I never did the whole "Can you write me a
good letter?" bit, but instead just asked him to write me one. He's a very honest and straightforward guy, so I know that he would've declined to write me one if it wasn't going to be any good, but that doesn't prevent the stress. And this email from him makes me think I made a good decision asking him to write me one:
For now what would be most helpful would be for you to tell me what you would like me to focus on in terms of your tenure. Don't be bashful, lay out your most significant achievements and I'll color in from there.
Now, this is awesome. Well, it would be nice if I didn't have to tell him what I did but it's good to hear that he'll be putting me in the best light possible. But still, I'm stuck.
From the camp perspective, I didn't do anything special that summer. Everything I instituted or applied or taught was part of the job description (they really made use of the "other duties as assigned" clause of our contracts), but if you look at it from an outsider's point of view, I did a lot. It's just weird to tell him normal things are my greatest accomplishments since he used to have my job and knows exactly what the position entails.
So I'm racking my brain trying to make myself sound good leadership-wise, and also thinking of ways to suggest what he should write without expressly stating them. Ay ay ay!
