A Recommendation on Recommendations
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You know, in my job, I get a lot of resumes. Some are quite good. Others are not so good.
Many take the liberty of including letters of recommendation. Not once have I ever read a lousy letter of recommendation. Which makes me wonder about the value of letters of recommendation. I now recommend: no recommendations.
Here's why: They don't mean squat.
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I mean, are you going to risk having someone write you a "lousy" recommendation? They might, under separate cover. But it's weird.
And right up there with me hating recommendations is me hating candidates who get recommendations -- usually from other candidates, or former candidates.
They don't move me and apparently, they don't move others either.
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Tell me one person who heard about Al Gore endorsing Howard Dean and said, "Gosh darn it, I'm a Dean man because Al Gore likes him!"
Not likely.
The same with Tom Harkin. He liked Dean too. Whoop-de-do.
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It meant nothing. They meant nothing.
I think if you've got a good resume as a jobseeker and a good platform or compelling case as an office-seeker, you're in good shape.
Recommendations are nice. They might close the deal. But alone, they aren't the deal.
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Don't get me wrong. Some recommendations can and do make a difference. That guy John Kerry saved in Vietnam coming out for him was a big deal. Maybe because he wasn't a big deal.
But for me, it doesn't matter.
If you're such a hot shot, the proof should be in the pudding, the resume, the work experience, the platform, the positions. Not in the guy praising you.
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So my recommendation? Worry more about what "you" have to offer than relying on someone to tell us what you have to offer.
Watch Neil Cavuto's Common Sense weekdays at 4 p.m. ET on Your World with Cavuto.