Requesting overseas reference letter?

[Bonnie H.]

Hello everyone. I'm new to the forms. I'm in college in the U.S. now but I hope to some time get to travel and experience the world. I got some overseas experience this past summer and here's my question about it:

I did a volunteer conservation program in New Zealand this past summer. I'm from the U.S. It ended in June. I'm a recreation and tourism major so this was a great thing for my resume, plus I had a blast! I met with my advisor the other day and we were talking about the New Zealand trip. She asked me if I got a reference letter. I had not.

It should have been obvious, but I didn't think of it. I plan on asking my employer and some of my professors and track coach for a letter at the end of either employment and college so I know I have awhile yet to ask for them.

Even though this happened in June, can I still ask for a reference letter? I got along well with my group letter in New Zealand. Some of the people were starting to defy her authority and give her a difficult time, but I wasn't one of them. I talked with her quite a bit too since she was interested in the U.S. and I of course interested in New Zealand. Alot of the other people there were from either New Zealand or Australia so she didn't learn much culturally from them. Plus I'm sure she remembers me. I'm a midwestern girl so I know how to swing an axe. I went to NZ in their winter season so we had to chop wood to heat the house. If it wasn't for me they'd of been awfully cold!

How do I go about doing this? Do I send a fax to the office organizer (I know her too) and ask her to forward the message to the group leader? I don't have the individual email of my group leader. I'm also not sure of her phone number either. We stayed in remote areas without phones and I really don't want to ring her cell phone from the U.S. and she's not really in the office much because she's out with the groups. What do I say after that? I've never asked anyone for a reference letter before. I basically want her to say something of the lines that I'm a good and capable worker, easy to get along with, and does what I'm asked to do while being respectful (probably most import in her case since have the group turned on her, yikes).I really could use this reference from another country's park program since I myself work for the National Park Service and would like to continue working for them after college.

Thanks for your help!

[Bevdeforges]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

In my experience, the way you do reference letters varies by country. In the US, you normally ask a teacher or former boss (or co-worker sometimes) if you can use their name as a reference. Then, when you apply for a job and they ask for references, you give that person's name and contact information (address, phone number, e-mail) so that the potential employer can contact them to ask about you.

In Germany, you get a letter from your boss or teacher that you take with you to interviews. It's done as a "to whom it may concern" letter - but the disadvantage is that because the person gives the letter to you, they generally can't be real open about both your strengths and weaknesses.

As someone doing the hiring, I never liked getting those "to whom it may concern" letters because generally the person wrote the letter themselves and just asked the person giving the reference to sign it. It tends to mean much more if a job candidate can give you a contact number for their reference so you can call and discuss the candidate.

Just as an aside, when job hunting in the US, I always notified my references when I had given out their name and gave them some information about the job I was up for. A good reference can tailor what they say when contacted to the job you're being considered for.
Cheers,
Bev

[Bonnie H.]

Originally Posted by Bevdeforges

Hi and welcome to the forum.

In my experience, the way you do reference letters varies by country. In the US, you normally ask a teacher or former boss (or co-worker sometimes) if you can use their name as a reference. Then, when you apply for a job and they ask for references, you give that person's name and contact information (address, phone number, e-mail) so that the potential employer can contact them to ask about you.

In Germany, you get a letter from your boss or teacher that you take with you to interviews. It's done as a "to whom it may concern" letter - but the disadvantage is that because the person gives the letter to you, they generally can't be real open about both your strengths and weaknesses.

As someone doing the hiring, I never liked getting those "to whom it may concern" letters because generally the person wrote the letter themselves and just asked the person giving the reference to sign it. It tends to mean much more if a job candidate can give you a contact number for their reference so you can call and discuss the candidate.

Just as an aside, when job hunting in the US, I always notified my references when I had given out their name and gave them some information about the job I was up for. A good reference can tailor what they say when contacted to the job you're being considered for.
Cheers,
Bev

Thank you for your welcome and reply to my post. I probably should have called this letter a "letter of recommendation" instead. I'm in college and will have to do an internship in order to graduate. The internships that I have been looking for have asked for three letters of recommendation from professors, past employers, clients, ect. They are to be submitted with the application for the internship. It does sound like they want one of those "to whom it may concern" letters because they want to read about our experiences and whether or not we were professional and satisfactory in our job. I'd like to expand my experience globally to my future employer and hopefully get the New Zealand group letter to write one for me.

And I also liked your advice about notifying my references that I listed them so they wouldn't be suprised when they got a phone call/email!

[Bevdeforges]

For the type of reference letters you mention, I think they normally want the letter submitted directly to the program (or employer) for the internship.

Without knowing the specifics of the program in NZ, it sounds like perhaps you should fax the office organizer and ask her to forward the message for you. Be sure to explain to the group leader the type of program you are applying for and why you would like to do it (what you think it will do for you, how you are particularly suited for their needs, and how it relates to what you did in NZ). That gives her a little bit to work with when writing the recommendation for you. Don't tell her what to say, but do make clear why you are interested in the position.

You may want to give her an "out" - just in case she is too busy or can't write a reference for you for any reason (some people just hate writing these things). That gives you the chance to find someone else (like maybe the office organizer).
Cheers,
Bev

[Bonnie H.]

Originally Posted by Bevdeforges

For the type of reference letters you mention, I think they normally want the letter submitted directly to the program (or employer) for the internship.

Without knowing the specifics of the program in NZ, it sounds like perhaps you should fax the office organizer and ask her to forward the message for you. Be sure to explain to the group leader the type of program you are applying for and why you would like to do it (what you think it will do for you, how you are particularly suited for their needs, and how it relates to what you did in NZ). That gives her a little bit to work with when writing the recommendation for you. Don't tell her what to say, but do make clear why you are interested in the position.

You may want to give her an "out" - just in case she is too busy or can't write a reference for you for any reason (some people just hate writing these things). That gives you the chance to find someone else (like maybe the office organizer).
Cheers,
Bev

Sounds great, thank for the advice!

[synthia]

Maybe it would be a good idea to fax a letter requesting a recommendation and adding something of a 'remember me, I worked on A and did B and provided support for C'. Write it so that whoever is going to write the letter can lift parts of it for use in the recommendation. The less work for them, the better.