This episode details:

• The most important recommender criteria
• What you should do if you can't ask your direct manager for a letter
• What you should do if you don't want anyone at your company to know of your MBA plans
• If it's OK to use college professors or extracurricular contacts as recommenders
• Whether seniority or alumni status matters
• Whether "side letters" are effective
• What you should do if you've worked for more than one company since college
• What you should do if you haven't worked with one of your recommenders for some time, and finally
• What you should do if you work for a family-owned business