Employer LOR's

[was1984]

Because of my situation, all of my LOR's are from employers and coworkers. Now that I've read these forums I'm very worried about this as a weakness on my application. I did this because I'm a couple of years out of school and I never really took the time to get to know any professors very well in my undergrad, and I usually had huge classes. I figured 3 recommendations from people who know me very well are better than generic recommendations saying this student received an A in my class.

I'm applying to several mid-range 30-70ish M.S. programs in electrical engineering. All of my LOR's are from my current job, which is an electrical engineering job, though not directly related to what I want to study in grad school. All of my LOR's are absolutely stellar, as I picked people who really love my work.

If it matters, these are the credentials of those I had recommendations from:

Fellow (technical equivalent to Director) /Senior Manager of my department

Senior Member of Technical Staff (tech. equiv. to Sr. Mgr.) with a Ph.D. in E.E. from a top 10 US school and some experience as a professor in China.

Member of Technical Staff and Section manager (former direct supervisor) - This guy loves me

Am I screwed here, for M.S. app? Also, do the recommendation forms typically provide space for recommenders to discuss their qualifications? Any insight will be greatly appreciated.

[gadhelyn]

I wouldn't see it as a weakness as long as it's within the same general field (EE professional -- EE academics). I have no LOR from professors who taught any of my classes. Mine are all from fairly well-known researchers in biochemistry relating to endocrinology. They know how well I can handle research, and so I see their letters as a very strong point.

I guess it comes down to whether the employer LORs say things that would be good in a grad school. Saying that you're a good EE employee and that you're good with EE can be two different things.

So, anyway, my point is as long as you have proven to your employer that you are good with EE, and not just a good employee, and they've conveyed this, then I'm sure you have strong LOR.