Georgia Tech MBA Recommendation Questions

The Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business MBA application requires two professional letters of recommendation, but you may submit up to three. At least one must come from your current or former manager. Georgia Tech also accepts the GMAC Common Letter of Reference (LOR).

2024-2025 Georgia Tech MBA Recommendation

Recommenders must indicate the type of recommendation they are submitting:

• Academic
• Professional
• GMAC Common Letter of Reference

The Academic and Professional options then bring up selections regarding acquaintance with the applicant and quality appraisals for:

Knowledge in chosen field
Initiative and perseverance toward goals
Ability to express thoughts in speech and writing

The options for each characteristic/ability include:
Very strong
Strong
Average
Needs improvement
Unable to evaluate

The recommender must then upload their freeform written letter or GMAC Common LOR via the website.

The Georgia Tech MBA recommendation does not include a form, so here is the Common Letter of Recommendation for reference:

Section 1: Recommender Information

Context of Relationship:

• Current employer
• Previous employer
• University / Academic
• Extracurricular / community
• Other

Nature of relationship

• Direct Supervisor
• Other Supervisor
• Advisor / mentor
• Colleague / Peer
• Direct Report
• Indirect report
• Client / Customer
• Business Partner / Investor
• Vendor
• Professor Instructor
• Other

How long have you known the applicant?
During which period of time have you had the most frequent contact with the applicant?

Section 2: Leadership Assessment Grid

In this section, you will find 12 competencies and character traits that contribute to successful leadership. The competencies and character traits are grouped into five categories:

Achievement
Influence
People
Personal Qualities
Cognitive Abilities

For each competency, please select the one button that corresponds to the behavior that you have seen the applicant most consistently exhibit. We acknowledge that all applicants have both areas of strength and areas of development. Your candid and honest appraisal will assist in evaluation of the applicant.  Please assume that each level builds upon behaviors of the previous level.

Achievement:

Initiative
No basis for judgment
Reluctant to take on new tasks; waits to be told what to do; defers to others
Willing to step in and take charge when required to do so
Takes charge spontaneously when problem needs attention
Volunteers for new work challenges; proactively puts in extra effort to accomplish critical or difficult tasks
Proactively seeks high-impact projects; steps up to challenges even when things are not going well

Results Orientation
No basis for judgment
Focuses on fulfilling activities at hand; unsure how work relates to goals
Takes actions to overcome obstacles to achieve goals
Independently acts to exceed goals and plans for contingencies
Documents activities and outcomes to learn from past; introduces incremental improvements to raise the effectiveness of team
Invents new approaches with measurably better results; works to deliver best-in-class performance improvements

Influence:
Communication, Professional Impression, Poise & Presence
No basis for judgment
Struggles to get point across; neglects to understand audience’s input or perspective; lacks confidence and gets flustered under pressure
Works to get point across; acknowledges feedback; reframes statements when necessary to make them clearer; speaks politely; remains composed in known circumstances
Present views clearly and logically structures content for a road audience; listens and responds to feedback; prepares in advance to appear confident; leaves a positive and professional impression; responds confidently in unfamiliar situations
Uses tailored language that appeals to specific groups; restates what others have said to check for understanding; comes across as confident; responds rapidly and strongly to crisis; looked to for advice and guidance
Structures content for senior-level meetings; maintains composure when challenged; solicits opinions and concerns, discusses them openly and adjusts communication; when in strong conflict or crisis, remains cool under pressure; channels strong emotion into positive action

Influence and Collaboration
No basis for judgment
Does not seek input and perspective of others
Accepts input from others and engages them in problem solving
Seeks first to understand perspectives of others; takes actions to gain their support for ideas and initiatives
Uses tailored approaches to connect with others, influence, and achieve results
Uses tailored influence approaches to create and leverage a network of strategically chosen individuals to improve collective outcomes

People:

Respect for Others
No basis for judgment
Unwilling to acknowledge others’ points of view
Open to considering others’ views when confronted or offered
Invites input from others because of expressed respect for them and their views
Praises people publicly for their good actions; ensures that others’ opinions are heard before their own
Uses empathy and personal experience to resolve conflicts and foster mutual respect; reinforces respect with public praise when individuals solicit and use input from others

Team Leadership
No basis for judgment
Struggles to delegate effectively (e.g. micromanages); does not organize activities or provide appropriate information to complete tasks
Assigns tasks and tells people what to do; checks when they are done
Solicits ideas and perspectives from the team; structures activities; holds members accountable
Actively engages the team to develop plans and resolve issues through collaboration; shows the impact of individual/team contributions
Recruits others into duties or roles based on insight into individual abilities; rewards those who exceed expectations; provides strong organizational support

Developing Others
No basis for judgment
Focuses only on one’s own growth; critical of others’ efforts to develop
Encourages people to develop; points out mistakes to help people develop and praises them for improvements
Gives specific positive and negative behavioral feedback to support the development of others
Provides overarching practical guiding principles and recommendations that are applicable in multiple situations to direct or focus efforts on specific areas of development
Identifies potential in others; inspires others to develop by providing feedback, mentoring/coaching, and identifying new growth opportunities as well as supporting their effort to change

Personal Qualities:
Trustworthiness/ Integrity
No basis for judgment
Follows the crowd; takes path of least resistance; gives in under pressure
Acts consistently with stated intentions, values, or beliefs when it is easy to do so
Acts spontaneously and consistently with stated intentions, values, or beliefs despite opposition
Initiates actions based on values or beliefs even though the actions may come with reputational risk; demonstrates the values of the team or organization publicly
Demonstrates high personal integrity even at personal cost; holds people accountable to the team or organizational values

Adaptability/ Resilience
No basis for judgment
Prefers existing ways of doing things; fears failure; becomes anxious under challenging situations
Adapts to new methods and procedures when required to do so; remains calm in unfamiliar situations until confronted with obstacle
Champions adoption of new initiatives and processes; exhibits level-headedness in most environments including challenging ones; persists until obstacle is overcome
Seeks out disruptions as an opportunity for improvement; remains optimistic and forward-looking in difficult situations that may result in failure
Energized by projects with high uncertainty but potential for high reward; seeks to be the first into unknown or unfamiliar situations; welcomes learning opportunities created by failure; learns from mistakes and rebounds quickly from setbacks

Self Awareness
No basis for judgment
Lacks awareness of how he/she is perceived; denies or offers excuses when confronted
Acknowledges fault or performance problem when confronted with concrete example or data
Describes own key strengths and weaknesses accurately; welcomes feedback from others and discusses opportunities to change with select individuals
Actively seeks out feedback to explicitly address desired improvement areas or build on strengths; explores reasons for problems openly, including own faults
Seeks out challenging and potentially risky experiences to improve; identifies and engages with resources—people, processes, or content—to maximize strengths or mitigate weaknesses

Cognitive:

Problem Solving
No basis for judgment
Avoids problems; when faced with problems, sticks to what worked before, or chooses an obvious path
Offers solutions when the risk is low; focuses on immediate, short-term implications instead of the big picture
Looks beyond the obvious; identifies and focuses on the critical information needed to understand a problem, identifies root cause(s), and comes up with reasonable solutions
Gathers and analyzes key information using complex methods or several layers deep; integrates perspectives from a variety of sources to arrive at unexpected but practical and effective solutions
Applies logic to break complex problems down into manageable parts or sub-problems; solves tough and interconnected problems and can explain how the pieces are connected

Strategic Orientation
No basis for judgment
Focuses on completing work without understanding implications
Understands immediate issues or implications of work or analysis
Develops insights or recommendations within area of responsibility that have improved near-term business performance
Develops insights or recommendations within area of responsibility that have shaped team/organization strategy and will have impact on long-term business performance
Develops insights or recommendations beyond area of responsibility with impact on long-term business strategy and performance

(Optional) Is there anything about your competency ratings on which you’d like to comment?

Based on your professional experience, how do you rate this candidate compared to her/his peer group?

• Unable to assess
• Below Average
• Average
• Very Good (well above average)
• Excellent (top 10%)
• Outstanding (top 5%)
• The best encountered in my career

Overall, I…

• Do not recommend this applicant
• Recommend this applicant, with reservations
• Recommend this applicant
• Enthusiastically recommend this applicant

Section 3: Recommender Questions

Please answer the following questions and provide specific examples where possible.

Please provide a brief description of your interaction with the applicant and, if applicable, the applicant’s role in your organization. (recommended 50 words)

How does the performance of the applicant compare to that of other well-qualified individuals in similar roles? (E.g. what are the applicant’s principal strengths?) (recommended 500 words)

Describe the most important piece of constructive feedback you have given the applicant. Please detail the circumstances and the applicant’s response. (recommended 500 words)

Is there anything else we should know? (Optional)