Job Application Tips: What To Do If You Don’t Have a Recommendation Letter

Job Application Tips: What To Do If You Don’t Have a Recommendation Letter

By Jane Okoth

Letters of recommendation especially from previous employers are crucial because they add weight to your application.

A recommendation letter gives potential employers more information about your character and helps them to gain insights into your background and capabilities.

How important is it when applying for a job?

Speaking to Annette Kimitei, the Director of Human Resource at Seneca, she outlines why it is so important to have a recommendation letter from your previous employer.

“It is important because it is the only confirmation from your previous employer that you actually worked for that company. It also shows that you were there, they knew you and your work performance as well as your character was good.”

“Some of the recommendation letters go as far as explaining which areas you were good in specific positions which you were serving, she says.

Ms Kimitei also adds that a recommendation letter accounts to up to 30% of your application so not having it may cost you the job.

“Also when checking through your application, the letter will make my work easier because I will not have to start calling people to ask them about you, she says.

What if your boss or former employer is reluctant to recommend you?

“You cannot force a letter out of your previous employer if they don’t want to write for you,” she says.

She further advises that “one who does not have a recommendation letter can present his or her certificate of service.”

What exactly is a certificate of service?

“A certificate of service is a letter given to you by your employer after 2 or 3 months of working according to the law” she says.

“Though one cannot equate it to a recommendation letter from the employer, it can cover most of the needed information,” she says.

She stresses that “Most people don’t have the knowledge to get the certificate of service because of ignorance but it important to ask for it because it is your right.”

Can you be recommended by someone else apart from your employer?

“There are many people who can recommend you but their references cannot be of importance as your employer”

“Worse still is if you will be recommended by a relative or a friend because we will not consider that based on bias.

As a human resource practitioner, I need objectivity from somebody who can stand on mutual ground,” she asserts.

Ms Kimitei says that “As a job seeker, at least 3 recommendations from your previous employers is a must and will be needed if you have been in employment for more than 5 years”

And what is her final advice to job seekers out there?

“A recommendation letter is important because if an attaché who has worked in a company for 2 months is entitled to one, what of an employed worker?” she asks.

She concludes by saying “Always encourage your employers to give you a recommendation letter. Don’t force it out of anyone but champion for one.”

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