你會(huì)寫推薦信嗎
每年，有多少青年才俊想出國(guó)，因?yàn)闆](méi)有好的推薦信而拿不到好大學(xué)的offer?每年，又有多少留學(xué)生畢業(yè)出去找工作，因?yàn)闆](méi)有好的推薦信而臨門一腳射空了?哪樣的推薦信寫得好，哪樣的推薦信沒(méi)有寫好，諸位寫推薦信的學(xué)生和老師都知道嗎?以前曾經(jīng)也有些不認(rèn)識(shí)的學(xué)生冒失地往我信箱里發(fā)來(lái)推薦信和自我陳述，拜托我看看。我看了以后發(fā)現(xiàn)大多數(shù)沒(méi)有寫好。我讀了一些關(guān)于寫推薦信的資料，總結(jié)出一些東西和體會(huì)。
學(xué)生請(qǐng)老師寫推薦信，首先要試探老師愿意不愿意寫，通過(guò)老師的態(tài)度來(lái)判斷他能不能寫好推薦信。比如有的老師非常熱情地答應(yīng)，非常愿意幫忙;而有的老師態(tài)度冷淡，話中帶有保留，那么學(xué)生應(yīng)該不必勉強(qiáng)這種帶有保留的老師。但是有一點(diǎn)必須強(qiáng)調(diào)的是：自己的直接導(dǎo)師必須出示推薦信，否則在用人單位眼里看來(lái)就是"red flag"，看到這種情況(沒(méi)有導(dǎo)師推薦信)就槍斃。
老師只要答應(yīng)了請(qǐng)求，一般不會(huì)寫壞話。在Kathy Baker的At the Helm: A Laboratory Navigator一書里，作者從用人者的角度介紹到："You will seldom receive an overtly bad recommendation. Candidates will usually request recommendations only from people who think they will give a good report. In addition, most people who would write a bad recommendation will inform the candidate."但是不寫壞話就夠了嗎?Kathy Baker說(shuō)："A P.I. may write a less-than-honest recommendation to make sure that the candidate finds a job, i.e., to be sure that the candidate leave the P.I.'s lab...But usually, even the most desperate person will not be totally dishonest and will couch their problems in telltale phrases hidden among the compliments."也就是說(shuō)，有的導(dǎo)師雖然看似在說(shuō)好話，但其實(shí)錦里藏針，把一些話潛伏在句子里面!也就是說(shuō)，話中有話!讓我們閱讀書上舉出的例子：
Reading Comprehension: Success in 20 Minutes a Day里面舉出一個(gè)例子："Nocole Bryan usually completes her work on time and checks it carefully. She is a competent lab technician and is familar with several ways to evaluate test results. She has some knowledge of the latest medical research, which has been helpful".這個(gè)雖然沒(méi)有說(shuō)一句壞話，但是絕對(duì)不是好的推薦信!用人單位看到這樣的推薦信保證當(dāng)場(chǎng)槍斃了。
那么，哪樣寫才是好的推薦信呢?Reading Comprehension: Success in 20 Minutes a Day里面舉出另外一個(gè)例子："Nicole Bryan always submits her work promptly and checks it judiciously. She is an excellent lab technician and has mastered several ways to evaluate test results. She has an extensive knowledge of the latest medical research, which has been invaluable."
兩段話的字面意思幾乎一樣，但是為什么差別這么明顯?讀者們，你們體會(huì)到了嗎?
再比如At the Helm: A Laboratory Navigator一書里，作者舉例："I am writing in support of XX for his application to graduate school. XX was in my lab for 3 years and was a conscientious worker, always doing what was suggested. Although his work resulted in only one senior author paper, he is an author on two other papers in the lab and was always willing to help the more junior lab members."這看上去是一封好的推薦信，也許很多想出國(guó)的學(xué)生得到的推薦信也是這樣的`，但是事實(shí)是這恰恰是一封壞的推薦信!
好的推薦信除了沒(méi)有“話中有話”以外，還表現(xiàn)在“吹捧”的程度上，網(wǎng)上資料How to Write a Good Recommendation (The Chronicle of Higher Education, Januray 31, 2008)說(shuō)："As one associate professor of English noted, 'The level of praise is so high that any assessment short of 'brilliant' can look tepid. That means that any consideration of a candidate's weakness is probably a kiss of death."也就是說(shuō)，美國(guó)人就是喜歡“吹”的，推薦信里面不寫高度贊揚(yáng)的話，被推薦人就很難得到職位。中國(guó)人喜歡用"good"來(lái)形容一個(gè)人，但是在美國(guó)看推薦信的人那里，good就是一般，outstanding, excellent, brilliant, extraordinary, superb才是好!
推薦人寫信的語(yǔ)氣語(yǔ)調(diào)(tone)也非常重要。壞的推薦信采用一種不瘟不火、有氣無(wú)力、帶有保留、有種不大認(rèn)識(shí)被推薦人的感覺(jué)的語(yǔ)調(diào)，這種語(yǔ)調(diào)叫做cool, lukewarm, tepid。有這種語(yǔ)調(diào)，保證被推薦人會(huì)吃大虧。而寫得好的推薦信正面、富有激情(passion)，如燃燒的火焰。這正如收到推薦信后，用人單位打電話給你老板。雖然你的老板沒(méi)有說(shuō)你壞話，但是有氣無(wú)力，沒(méi)有富有激情地力薦你說(shuō)你是百年不遇的千里馬缺你不行，你就是拿不到工作。
寫推薦信要注意：不要只是吹捧而忘了舉出實(shí)例、給出細(xì)節(jié)!比如說(shuō)，推薦人說(shuō)該生科研能力強(qiáng)，那么請(qǐng)給出個(gè)例子并舉出具體的數(shù)字!網(wǎng)上資料How to Write a Good Recommendation (The Chronicle of Higher Education, Januray 31, 2008)說(shuō)："The dean of academic affairs we talked with said that details help tp give 'a rationale for the superlatives--not just that 'Dr. Smith is the greatest academic of her generation' but why she is special."該資料還說(shuō)："Details can help those reading the letters get and idea of the quality of the relationship, and how the referee regards the applicant beyond the effusive praise that is often standard."知道這個(gè)道理后，需要寫推薦信的人可以主動(dòng)給推薦人提供自己最新的背景材料，如簡(jiǎn)歷、情況總結(jié)、發(fā)表文章等，并和推薦人多溝通，商量你要強(qiáng)調(diào)自己什么。
最后，看推薦信的人不但看推薦人寫了什么，而且看推薦人沒(méi)有寫什么!在Kathy Baker的At the Helm: A Laboratory Navigator一書里，作者從用人者的角度介紹到："Look for things not said. Look for the qualities you do require."比如，很多準(zhǔn)備出國(guó)的人在自己起草的推薦信里面都漏掉“積極參加系里的學(xué)術(shù)報(bào)告和國(guó)內(nèi)學(xué)術(shù)會(huì)議”這一句話，還有的人缺乏對(duì)于人相處、合作的描述。再比如，出國(guó)讀研究生主要需要科研能力，但是如果推薦信上寫該生花了大量時(shí)間在下象棋上或者唱卡拉OK上，或者助人為樂(lè)上，卻只字不提該生的科研能力、科研成果和成果的意義，這有用嗎?
寫推薦信的學(xué)問(wèn)很多，好的推薦信和壞的推薦信，一看就能看出來(lái)。這篇博文是寫給學(xué)生和老師看的。如果學(xué)生讀者發(fā)現(xiàn)自己老師沒(méi)有寫好推薦信，歡迎把本文推薦給老師。如果覺(jué)得有啟發(fā)，歡迎學(xué)習(xí)并推薦給同學(xué)。
除了找誰(shuí)寫推薦信之外，還要注意要多加強(qiáng)溝通、談心。也就是說(shuō)現(xiàn)在找工作有很多廣告，找工業(yè)界工作的寫法和找學(xué)術(shù)界的寫法不一樣，就算是找學(xué)術(shù)界的工作，你是報(bào)物理化學(xué)專業(yè)還是報(bào)納米材料專業(yè)，強(qiáng)調(diào)的側(cè)重點(diǎn)都不應(yīng)該一樣，也就是說(shuō)從道理上講，不能用一封同樣的推薦信敲開截然不同的大門，這里面，負(fù)責(zé)人的推薦人(導(dǎo)師)應(yīng)該有針對(duì)性地寫，根據(jù)不同的職位要求和范圍來(lái)為被推薦人度身定做推薦信。于是這就要被推薦人與推薦人多溝通：自己需要申請(qǐng)什么樣的工作，對(duì)方強(qiáng)調(diào)什么，并且準(zhǔn)備好材料(如文章列表、簡(jiǎn)歷等)給推薦人看。
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