How inappropriate is giving a card or small gift to show appreciation for a LoR?

[desklamp]

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...in professional school?

I've heard varying things. A post in pre-pharm seems to point to "it's cool" but a general undergrad thread (with some professors posting) seemed to say it was utterly inappropriate.

Of course this is after they have already written and submitted my letter, although there is a chance I may ask them to submit the same letter again later on (for residencies or other internships).

Obviously it isn't a bribe in the sense that I want to exchange gifts for a good letter though I do want to be on their good side (...who doesn't.) I genuinely appreciate their time but I feel like my thank you email ("i really appreciate your time generic nonsense") is insufficient. 2 of them have also gone above just writing letters and are my research mentors (the other is the Dean...whom I don't know as well as the other 2 but have chatted with a few times).

Opinions? I was thinking like...just a coffee mug with some small candies inside + thank you card since I know they like sweets and...human fuel (caffeine).

Or maybe like a chocolate bar + thank you card...or something totally not weird.

 

[phathead]

I'd just stick to a card. Anything else and it may see like you're "buying" a LoR, although I can't imagine someone would come after you for something like that.

 

[desklamp]

I'd just stick to a card. Anything else and it may see like you're "buying" a LoR, although I can't imagine someone would come after you for something like that.

yeah i was thinking that too.

ps i like your blog

 

[Got Em]

A card or a "small" gift is most likely okay. By "small", I mean something usually less than $20. If you know the professor well, it may even be okay to go a little higher. Professors that would say that these things are inappropriate are probably the ones who never received any gifts in the first place.

 

[Pharmacopia]

Unless their is some written rule against giving gifts to faculty at your previous school, I would give a 10 dollar gift card or something.

Keep in mind, those people who signed your LoR didn't have to, and its nice to show a small token of appreciation. It's not like they asked for compensation or anything. Send a card that expresses your genuine thankfullness and a starbucks card😀.

In my non-academic life:

I send people gift cards as a token of my appreciation all the time. I do it to network and to keep my name relevent to those that can potentially help me in the future.

I send all the people who I use as a reference on my resume or CV a gift card. I need to be able to count on them when perspective employers call. Even though I'm employed now, I still keep in touch with them. You never know when you will need them. Pharmacy is a small world.

As long as its not illegal, or violating your own norms, or society's values, you should do what you think is good for your career/goals, etc. It shouldn't matter what other people "think". There is no rules that says you can't do it. Its part of life.

Everybody gets a 10 dollar starbucks card for christmas. The 20 dollar starbuck gift cards are reserved for those special people on my resume/CV...lol

 

[Hello2011]

Everybody always says (insert your own career) is a small world.

 

[Pharmacopia]

Everybody always says (insert your own career) is a small world.

Pharmacy really is a small world, its almost like a small family. Its the way this profession is set up. Its hard to explain, but its true, and quite scary, lol.

 

[Hello2011]

Pharmacy really is a small world, its almost like a small family. Its the way this profession is set up. Its hard to explain, but its true, and quite scary, lol.

I was told the same thing by dentists, optometrists, firemen, policemen, accountants, even McDonalds workers, etc The whole world is small. I'm sure stay at home moms think the same thing too.

 

[pharaday]

I would just send a card. Sending a gift just doesn't seem appropriate to me.

 

[spacecowgirl]

A card. Anything else would be weird. Except for baked goods, I'm happy to get those 🙂

 

[desklamp]

A card. Anything else would be weird. Except for baked goods, I'm happy to get those 🙂

I got one pharmacist cookies because she said she likes sweets 🙁 and a thank you for being such a great mentor. Hope that wasn't too weird.

 

[owlegrad]

I was told the same thing by dentists, optometrists, firemen, policemen, accountants, even McDonalds workers, etc The whole world is small. I'm sure stay at home moms think the same thing too.

lol. The dental and optometry "world" is even smaller than pharmacy, going straight by the numbers. So it makes sense that they would say that.

To some extend any closed profession is going to be a small world. Networking is important to any career. Are you claiming it's not?

I don't know any world smaller than a stay at home mom's. Knows every member on the PTA, knows everybody's business, etc.

 

[BidingMyTime]

I don't see the problem--especially if its something small like chocolate or homemade cookies/fudge/etc.

Edited to add: I think its a nice gesture on your part, to show your appreciation.

 

[genesis09]

A card is fine. I don't think homemade sweets would be an issue as well.

 

[desklamp]

Thanks much for the input everyone =) I feel (slightly) less awkward about giving thank you cards now.

 

[Rx MPLS]

I've given small, inexpensive potted plants/flowers. People seem to like those too, and they don't feel too awkward to give.

 

[Pharmacopia]

lol. The dental and optometry "world" is even smaller than pharmacy, going straight by the numbers. So it makes sense that they would say that.

To some extend any closed profession is going to be a small world. Networking is important to any career. Are you claiming it's not?

I don't know any world smaller than a stay at home mom's. Knows every member on the PTA, knows everybody's business, etc.

I should clarify, its a small world in the particular city and what type of pharmacy setting, but you are pretty much dead on. We interact with other pharmacists on a daily basis mainly at the work setting, and occassionally outside of work.

To show how important networking can be, I'll use a personal example.

For me my resume and CV is pretty strong already, but my references put it over the competition, which is important right out of school. I wasn't sure at the time if I wanted to do residency, but I also didn't know if I wanted to do retail or clinical when I graduated, so in rotations I picked rotations based on who was leading them and their positions within our profession (whereas most people pick them based on interest and difficulty), because I knew I had to stay competitive in the job market.

I ended up doing 3 retail and 4 institutional based rotations, all of them either put me in touch with a Director of Pharmacy or a District Manager. At all the rotations, I asked for projects that would make me more hireable because I told them I was stressed because of the job market and I really wanted a job. If they couldn't hire me, I wanted them to give me the experience that would get me hired. Boy did they work me to the bone, but my persistance paid off, b/c my CV ended up with real world projects not normally assigned to interns (Hospital projects included: report on how to shrink inventory costs, develop a hospital budget, develop new drug protocols, improve existing drug protocols, and retail included: develop a community marketing plan, how consumer spending changes affect retail pharmacy, manage budget based on hours and script count) in addition to the boring diseased based projects we all had to do. At the end of the rotations, they all told me I could use them as a reference, and to check with them after I was licensed, and they would hire me if a position was available (didn't take them up on that offer, I moved out of state). When I heard that, they all got christmas cards, thank you cards, gift cards, and an occasional email asking how things were.

When I graduated, I decided not to pursue residency, and decided to do retail and maybe try to move into institutional pharmacy in a year or two. While granted, I only got 2 job interviews initially after I graduated, I was offered a job on the spot with both companies. At both interviews, my recruiters were impressed. They asked me who my references were (DM's and DOP's), why were they important (innovators in our field), and how was it related to my projects (real world experience), and how it would benefit them if I were to be hired (bottomline: I will make your company more profitable). After my background check was completed and I had to actually fill out my new hire paperwork, my recruiter told me she called my references, and told me that everything I said in the interview was verified with my references, and I should keep it up if I want to be on the fast track to DM........😱 I responded "I had awesome preceptors."😍 Anyway, I didn't think they actually would verify what I had said in my interview...but man.....those christmas cards paid OFF......

Sorry for the long post....