Re: advice for starting grad school?

[John Ryan <jr -at- SEATTLELAB -dot- COM>]

Is it appropriate to ask my current manager to write a letter of
>     recommendation for me? I work for a consulting company as one of the
>     few tech writers they have. This manager knows my consulting
>     assignments, etc., but has no background in tech writing.

Yep!  In this case, the letter of recommendation would be something the
folks in admission would use to see if supervisors thought you had a good
work/study  ethic...or something like that.  Grad schools have this thing
about you having potential before you walk in the door.  Get the people who
*you* think would convince an admission review board to write letters for
you.

Long story short: When I applied to grad school, I had people of various
educational/occupational backgrounds write letters of recommendation for me
under the guise that if I could impress these people, I was worth my weight
in overpriced textbooks at Grad School U.

One of them even wrote a rec letter in pencil.  And he ended a sentence in a
preposition. The horror.  Lo and behold, I got in, had a blast, and
graduated...although I don't feel smarter.

Having bosses/deans/company presidents draft a letter of recommendation for
you is a good thing, even if the letter writer isn't King of the Mountain in
his or her field.  Any support or fanfare is better than none.

Just make sure they don't use a pencil...or a crayon.

 From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000=