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Sample MBA Recommendation Letter - What would you say are the applicant's key weaknesses or areas for improvement?

Sample MBA Recommendation Letter

Weakness in MBA Recommendation Letter 

Weakness in essays and recommendation letter should not be general statements or synthetic weaknesses. 

If applicants cannot accept weaknesses pointed out by supervisors, it is unlikely that they would do so in a classroom environment under the supervision of professors. 

The value of an MBA depends on learning skills and the maturity to recognize skill deficiency. 

Without a history of recognizing weaknesses, and working on it, the pitch in the essays will be meaningless.

The most common strength disguised as weaknesses are hard work and eagerness to learn. 

There are numerous ways to approach it.

One way applicants disguise a strength into weakness is by using a secondary trait.

Example: Impatience (Secondary Trait)

I was the direct supervisor of X from the time he joined <company> in 2012 till 2015. As with any new recruits, X faced a period of dip, learning new skills and worked 12-14 hours a day, while internalizing the vocabulary of the job function as a Technical Associate. Pushing oneself to the point of exhaustion was always a rare experience I had to witness in my team, but X began working on Saturdays and even called our Project Manager on Sundays for the office keys. We were a start-up then with just 30 full-time employees.
 

Founding Consultant - F1GMAT, Author, EditorRecommendation Letter Editing - Consult with Atul Jose (Lead Admissions Consultant, F1GMAT)

The risk of oversharing or under-sharing, or turning recommendation letters into a blog post, is high. 

The balance of professionalism, strategic information sharing, and complementing traits highlighted in your essay requires a keen eye that most editing and AI software can't fathom.


Reach out to me for help with editing your recommendation letters. Email me, Atul Jose, at editor@f1gmat.com

As F1GMAT’s Lead Consultant, I will help you:

1) Communicate with your supervisors
Assistance in Communicating with Supervisors (former and current) - in phrasing the request with the right tone and a plan of action that is timely and less pushy.
 
2) Create a Guideline Document
F1GMAT's Guideline Document is an exhaustive document covering traits, strategies, and tips for the recommendation letter, created for each school you are applying to. The document is ideal for supervisors not keen on taking help from a Consultant.
 
3) Review the Letter
By acting as a consulting editor, I will ensure that your supervisor captures the right stories, traits, and weaknesses that improve your odds of success.

Contact me

I took him aside and shared my concern about work-life balance. Without missing a beat, he revealed how his impatience is pushing him to learn everything that the company has to offer. I reminded him that pacing oneself is as important as the commitment to learning. 
 
Burn Out is the most common reason for career switching in Technology. Initially, he was hesitant to put a brake on his massive appetite for learning, but I revealed a few tweaks on incremental learning that doesn’t require putting in 12-14 hours every day. 
 
Clever repetition of concepts and understanding the fundamentals of how technology and programming language integrate was enough to be in the top 1%.
 
X valued the advice and found a few learning shortcuts of his own, but now his focus is on looking at the bigger picture. He learned to work smart after I guided him during the initial couple of months with the <company>