How to get a good university tutor reference???

[Twentyplenty]

Hello all,

Very random question but for a new job I will require a university reference from my personal academic tutor.

What is the best way to get a really good personal reference? High attendance, high grades and a good personal relationship with the academic tutor?

Covid had impacted this hugely as we tend to just email and never meet in person.

Any tips and advice?

It might mean the different of a job offer or not!

I'm confused.
If you are applying for a job, then presumably you have either finished your degree or are in your final year. In which case any reference will be given on what you have already done so it seems strange to be asking "what is the best way to get a good reference?" like it is something you can influence in the next month or two ?

Is there any particular reason it needs to be your PAT who provides the reference? And has he/she actually taught you or marked any of your work? If not, my advice would be to approach a lecturer you have had classes with (online or off) and from whom you have had good marks and feedback on written work. As an academic it’s much easier to write references for students whose work you know as you can then be quite specific about their strengths. If your PAT has neither taught you not marked your work all he or she can really say is that you’re on course to graduate with a II.1/First and that your attendance has been good, and that’s not, in itself, all that persuasive. Don’t feel self conscious about asking — we’re very used to it and almost always keen to help as much as we can — but do make sure you give plenty of notice and are clear about deadlines in your email. It’s frustrating to be asked to write a reference with only 48 hours’ notice!

I write lots of UG references and I think your question is very sensible.

My advice it to make the process as easy as possible for your tutor. Send them your cv, your uptodate transcript (or list of module marks) and some basic info about the position you are applying for, ideally with a link. Be clear what aspects of your uni record are most relevant and emphasise what aspects of your track record you'd like them to highlight or comment on.
And put the deadline at a the top of the email. Ideally in the subject line. Feel free to chase a day or two before the deadline.
You can't change your academic record at this stage but you can make it as easy as possible for them to make the reference tailored to you rather than using a dull generic recap of marks.
And maybe remind them of any particular contributions you made during class to help them have a clear picture of you in mind. I confess that with online teaching I do struggle to keep track of students as well as I should.
And it's fine to emphasise that this is your dream job and that you're aware that they take note of references. Many times references are a useless tick box exercise so it's good to know when they really really matter to a student.

What is the best way to get a really good personal reference? High attendance, high grades and a good personal relationship with the academic tutor?

Probably a mix of those things - but the main thing would be being genuine in your commitment to your real learning , not just doing what you have to to get the good grades (this is put the cart before the horse).

And some basic manners:

• ask your tutor if it's OK to list them as a referee before you list them, and WITH PLENTY OF NOTICE
• send them information about jobs/courses you're applying for with the likely dates of when a reference will be needed
• send them a draft copy of your application & CV
• DO NOT write in a panic on New Year's Eve requiring (ie not asking) a reference for the next working day.

As you might see, I have experienced all of these lapses in basic manners - consideration for my time & expertise. I either ignore the "urgent" request, or do it when it suits me.

If a student takes the whole thing seriously, contacts me as soon as they realise they'll need to list referees, and gives me all the information I'll need to write a personalised informed reference, then I will do that to the best of my ability to assist my students.

But I don't respond well to bad manners.

All of the advice above is excellent. I would add that including a copy of your transcript with the material suggested by @LaChanticleer may be helpful, probably more in some fields than others.

One other thing I’d add is that it’s good to be aware of what a reference actually is. I’ve had a lot of students emailing me over the last couple of years expecting me to provide, directly to them, a generalised reference to hand on to any prospective employer/recruiter. This just isn’t how it works. All references that are worth their salt should be confidential and supplied directly to the requesting party. And to be effective references really need to be tailored to the role in question, so if you’re applying to multiple roles do be aware that this is a commensurate multiplication of labour for your tutor. We can’t just copy and paste! (Or at least we shouldn’t.)