(I have been busy on program administration and didn’t have time to update this teaching blog. Let me restart this blog with a personal comment.)
Recently, I received a request from a close student who asks me to write a recommendation on LinkedIn. It is a hard declination that I have to make. LinkedIn.com is the leading platform for professional social network, and many newly graduates are working hard to advance in their career. Why do I decline to write a recommendation letter on LinkedIn?
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| In Citi Double Cash Credit Card TV commercials: "if everybody speaks out their mind..." on LinkedIn.com |
LinkedIn.com’s recommendation is open to everybody. Rational references would only give positive words on LinkedIn recommendation because the person who receives the recommendation can see what you write and determines whether to hide to show the recommendations. Similarly, Rational people will only reveal positive recommendations. Thus, who will give a recommendation with negative words on LinkedIn? I bet, no body, except those people who are not afraid to burn the bridges.
However, nobody is perfect. Using taking medicine as an analogy, viewing recommendations with only positive comments is like choosing the medicine only by see their ‘positive effects.’ I may recommend a very good student of mine within a heart beat in most cases; but if that person is not good in quantitative analysis, and the lookers are looking for a in-depth analyst, how can my ‘only nice comments’ recommendation really help the looker? As the reference, I have no idea who will be looking for the person I recommend on LinkedIn. I do not mean that for all people who ask for a recommendation letter from me, I will always “have some reservations.” However, giving LinkedIn.com recommendation is like writing a blank check and don’t care who will cash it.
If you just receive a rejection from someone you hope their recommendations can help you, please don’t be disappointed. In my perspective, LinkedIn’s recommendation is not an ‘industry standard’ that every recruiter will check. Over the last ten years, I only received two other requests and I declined to both of them. If it has become popular, then definitely the professors will sense the change of tide. You can see an article on FastCompany.com on "How To (Politely) Decline Requests For LinkedIn Recommendations?"
You can think from the recommender’s perspective. Do you want your ‘only nice comments’ recommendation stay online for a very long time? When will you think those words may not apply anymore? from someone who never contact you again after your recommendation letter? If that is the case, then how would you ‘withdraw’ your recommendation on LinkedIn? How will you explain about the withdrawal?
We all know grade inflation is prevailing in education and the value of GPA is decreasing. It is a global phenomenon and nobody can escape from it. I reflected on this dilemma years ago. From my training background, I know I probably inflate the grades by 2 grade levels. Should I stick with the ‘traditional academic standards’ and grade accordingly? If I do so, then the students who took my class will be in disadvantage when they graduate (especially for those who take many classes from me). WHY? Because other students who don’t do well in other professors’ classes can still receive A or A- grade, but those good students in my class can only get a B+ or B. Is it fair to them? I don’t think so.
Grade inflation is a new version of “Gresham's Law” (that bad money drives out good money). So let’s don’t make our personal recommendation become a game of award stickers on NCAA football player’s helmet.
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| The first time I noticed those stickers on the helmet, I wonder "what is that? why do they ruin their helmet with check stickers?" |
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