Writing a LOR for Someone You Don't Want To

[SkiPharmer]

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I have a tech who started about 4 months ago and we hired her because she had a class with one of the other techs and they said she was nice but that is all they knew of her. Also, she had some experience volunteering in an outpatient setting. I am not the manager so I dont do any of the hiring/firing. After a month of working with her she was super nice and seemed to be catching on quickly. She asked me then to write her a LOR for pharmacy school as she is applying for next Fall, I said sure. Well, now I wish I would not have said that. She makes mistakes that shows she is not paying attention. She has put the label UPSIDE down 3 times on the bottle, miscounted a oxycodone Rx and is extremely slow at the out window and is awful at in window. I have no idea what I am gonna say in this LOR? I thought about telling her I'm too busy now but I dont know. She is VERY nice and easy to get along with but these mistakes and her lack of speed and accuracy are killing me. The thing is she doesn't need the money of a RPh either, she is almost 40, she lives in a house twice as big as mine and rolls in a Land Cruiser......what would you do??

 

[amox]

Be honest, say what your feeling.

At the job, explain that she is a nice, wonderful person. However her work performance is poor. Let her know that if she's not going to do the job correctly, she shouldn't do it at all. It only creates more work.

Explain that she needs to show improvement and near perfection before you write the letter. If she doesn't improve, don't write it. Explain that your agreement to write the LOR was based on her initial performance.

If she gets angry, well your at work! Your not there to make friends, your there to get a job done. It's only one person you know, not a big deal.

Good luck, don't feel bad.

 

[297point1]

In PharmCAS, LORs come in four flavors:
- Highly recommend
- Recommend
- Recommend with reservation
- Do not recommend

Be fair to the applicant- if you can't (at worst) write a letter with the 'recommend' designation, don't write one- it is poison for her admissions chances. Ninety nine out of 100 applicant LORs always make the applicant seem like the greatest thing since sliced bread; the less than stellar ones stand out, and not in a good way.

Suggest to her that she would be better served finding another individual who can write a letter documenting her strengths. She'll be disappointed, and might get angry, and she might never realize you did it for her own good. It beats writing a letter you don't believe.

 

[gotdrugs]

In PharmCAS, LORs come in four flavors:
- Highly recommend
- Recommend
- Recommend with reservation
- Do not recommend

Be fair to the applicant- if you can't (at worst) write a letter with the 'recommend' designation, don't write one- it is poison for her admissions chances. Ninety nine out of 100 applicant LORs always make the applicant seem like the greatest thing since sliced bread; the less than stellar ones stand out, and not in a good way.

Suggest to her that she would be better served finding another individual who can write a letter documenting her strengths. She'll be disappointed, and might get angry, and she might never realize you did it for her own good. It beats writing a letter you don't believe.

👍

 

[smercer]

In PharmCAS, LORs come in four flavors:
- Highly recommend
- Recommend
- Recommend with reservation
- Do not recommend

Be fair to the applicant- if you can't (at worst) write a letter with the 'recommend' designation, don't write one- it is poison for her admissions chances. Ninety nine out of 100 applicant LORs always make the applicant seem like the greatest thing since sliced bread; the less than stellar ones stand out, and not in a good way.

Suggest to her that she would be better served finding another individual who can write a letter documenting her strengths. She'll be disappointed, and might get angry, and she might never realize you did it for her own good. It beats writing a letter you don't believe.

This is pretty much what one of my professors told us at a pre-pharm meeting. She said if a student asks for one and she does not believe she can write a good one for them, then she will politely tell them there may be better professors to get one from. If they cannot get one from anyone else, then she will write it, but she does try to let them know it will not be as good as they want it to be.

Also, they can choose to view the LoR in PharmCas. Thus if you write a crap one for them and they chose that option, then they will know anyways. This will create more drama than just saying no would imo.

 

[Fade to Black]

It's more difficult now since you already agreed initially, but say you don't feel comfortable writing one because you haven't known her for a long time. Alternatively, ask her to write her own LOR and give it to you to edit/add/remove content.

 

[ld9]

I have a tech who started about 4 months ago and we hired her because she had a class with one of the other techs and they said she was nice but that is all they knew of her. Also, she had some experience volunteering in an outpatient setting. I am not the manager so I dont do any of the hiring/firing. After a month of working with her she was super nice and seemed to be catching on quickly. She asked me then to write her a LOR for pharmacy school as she is applying for next Fall, I said sure. Well, now I wish I would not have said that. She makes mistakes that shows she is not paying attention. She has put the label UPSIDE down 3 times on the bottle, miscounted a oxycodone Rx and is extremely slow at the out window and is awful at in window. I have no idea what I am gonna say in this LOR? I thought about telling her I'm too busy now but I dont know. She is VERY nice and easy to get along with but these mistakes and her lack of speed and accuracy are killing me. The thing is she doesn't need the money of a RPh either, she is almost 40, she lives in a house twice as big as mine and rolls in a Land Cruiser......what would you do??

You let a tech count oxycodone? Is that even legal?

 

[Socrates25]

Sounds to me like she shouldnt be a pharmacist.

If she shouldnt be a pharmacist, then you have a duty to write a bad letter to make sure that she doesnt get accepted. Just make sure she waives her right to see it.

Less screwballs would get thru the barriers to entry if the practitioners of our craft (pharmacy, medicine) would take a more active role. The admission committees cant screen people out based on a paltry 30 minute interview which anyone can easily fake. You have worked with this person for months. YOU should be screening her out and you can do that effectively without her ever knowing about it. You will be doing the world a favor.

Besides, if you write a bad letter and she doesnt get accepted, that will only force her to do another cycle and try harder the next time. This is better for everyone involved instead of just passing people thru the system. You arent dooming her forever.

 

[Socrates25]

Also, they can choose to view the LoR in PharmCas.

WTF? Are you kidding me? Any LOR without a waiver attached to it is worthless. I cant believe your system does this.

 

[crazybob]

Have you tried talking to the tech about this?

 

[peppy]

In this case, I think the best way to handle it would be to say "I have some concerns about your performance and I'm not comfortable writing a letter for you unless I can see that you're working on these issues". If you really don't think you can say that, then I do think that saying you're too busy and that it would be best to have someone else write it would be kinder than secretly writing a bad letter.

Personally, I don't think it's fair to write a bad letter for someone who is expecting a good letter (if you tell someone upfront that you can't write them a strong letter and they still insist on it, well, at least you warned them). Applying to any professional school is expensive and time consuming. It's not very kind to let someone waste their time when you know you're ruining their chances.

 

[cycloketocaine]

You let a tech count oxycodone? Is that even legal?

Lol the ignorance in this post is overwhelming.

 

[rxlea]

WTF? Are you kidding me? Any LOR without a waiver attached to it is worthless. I cant believe your system does this.

They have to waive it to see it. So the school will know they saw it. I'm not sure if it makes it completelyworthless or not.

 

[ld9]

Lol the ignorance in this post is overwhelming.

I don't know where you are at but pharmacy techs can't count C-2's where I'm from.

 

[Sparda29]

Personally, if I thought the person was really good, then I'd write them a real LOR. If not, just some standard bs cookie-cutter LOR from the internet.

 

[SkiPharmer]

Thanks for your replies.....I guess I am just gonna see how she does, I think I scared the chit out of her when I stressed over and over that she must pay attention to detail. How will I know if she can see the letter? I learned my lesson on this the hard way.....hope everyone learns something! Thanks.....

 

[taken2]

I have a tech who started about 4 months ago and we hired her because she had a class with one of the other techs and they said she was nice but that is all they knew of her. Also, she had some experience volunteering in an outpatient setting. I am not the manager so I dont do any of the hiring/firing. After a month of working with her she was super nice and seemed to be catching on quickly. She asked me then to write her a LOR for pharmacy school as she is applying for next Fall, I said sure. Well, now I wish I would not have said that. She makes mistakes that shows she is not paying attention. She has put the label UPSIDE down 3 times on the bottle, miscounted a oxycodone Rx and is extremely slow at the out window and is awful at in window. I have no idea what I am gonna say in this LOR? I thought about telling her I'm too busy now but I dont know. She is VERY nice and easy to get along with but these mistakes and her lack of speed and accuracy are killing me. The thing is she doesn't need the money of a RPh either, she is almost 40, she lives in a house twice as big as mine and rolls in a Land Cruiser......what would you do??

How did you know that she doesn't need the money? Living in a big house and rolling in a Land Cruiser doesn't mean that everything is going well for her. She might be in an abusive relationship and trying to get something going for herself and get out. She is a new tech, she will pick up speed with time. she is also older. you don't expect her to learn as fast as most kid fresh out of high school. Most older people are not very good with computer so cut her some slack. Talk to her about improving her accuracy.

 

[pharm4312]

I have a tech who started about 4 months ago and we hired her because she had a class with one of the other techs and they said she was nice but that is all they knew of her. Also, she had some experience volunteering in an outpatient setting. I am not the manager so I dont do any of the hiring/firing. After a month of working with her she was super nice and seemed to be catching on quickly. She asked me then to write her a LOR for pharmacy school as she is applying for next Fall, I said sure. Well, now I wish I would not have said that. She makes mistakes that shows she is not paying attention. She has put the label UPSIDE down 3 times on the bottle, miscounted a oxycodone Rx and is extremely slow at the out window and is awful at in window. I have no idea what I am gonna say in this LOR? I thought about telling her I'm too busy now but I dont know. She is VERY nice and easy to get along with but these mistakes and her lack of speed and accuracy are killing me. The thing is she doesn't need the money of a RPh either, she is almost 40, she lives in a house twice as big as mine and rolls in a Land Cruiser......what would you do??

If you are not going to write somebody a top notch recommendation then it is a disservice both personally and professionally not to notify the person of this. How would you feel if somebody you asked to provide a reference ends up hurting you? Plus, these seem like minor errors in the scheme of what pharmacy schools are looking for in character. It is obviously her personality you are vouching for, nobody expects a good work reference from only four months of employment. You're going to have to tell her the truth and apologize for wasting her time.

 

[Pharmpills]

I don't know where you are at but pharmacy techs can't count C-2's where I'm from.

That's right it takes a PharmD with a minimum of 6 years education and no one else to count those pills. Life and death we are dealing with 👍

 

[21PharmD]

I have a tech who started about 4 months ago and we hired her because she had a class with one of the other techs and they said she was nice but that is all they knew of her. Also, she had some experience volunteering in an outpatient setting. I am not the manager so I dont do any of the hiring/firing. After a month of working with her she was super nice and seemed to be catching on quickly. She asked me then to write her a LOR for pharmacy school as she is applying for next Fall, I said sure. Well, now I wish I would not have said that. She makes mistakes that shows she is not paying attention. She has put the label UPSIDE down 3 times on the bottle, miscounted a oxycodone Rx and is extremely slow at the out window and is awful at in window. I have no idea what I am gonna say in this LOR? I thought about telling her I'm too busy now but I dont know. She is VERY nice and easy to get along with but these mistakes and her lack of speed and accuracy are killing me. The thing is she doesn't need the money of a RPh either, she is almost 40, she lives in a house twice as big as mine and rolls in a Land Cruiser......what would you do??

Am I the only one here that thinks you should step off your pedestal and write the LOR. I mean I personally dont think it is your duty to determine whether or not she is capable of becoming a pharmacist. Leave this to the judgement of the admissions committee and rigors of pharmacy school. I personally think you should feel flattered that she thought highly enough of you to ask for a LOR. For me, and i can only speculate about everyone else, it would be such a privilege to have someone think highly enough of me to trust me enough to write them a LOR so that they can move forward with their goals. I wish you would also take a moment to consider the vulnerability of her position of having to depend on someone else in order to move forward with her goals. It takes great courage to ask someone else for help, I mean we all strive to be the master of our own destinies, and with the requirement LORs we lose some of that control. You are now in a position to serve either as a facilitator in helping build her up to be successful in her career and beyond or you can serve as a barrier by tearing her down(not writing the LOR). I personally think you should go ahead and write the LOR, giving her the OPPORTUNITY to be successful instead of serving as a barrier destroying said opportunity. I can personally recall the anxiety I went through trying to muster up the courage to ask some of my superiors for LORs (Professors and preceptors). When I think back at all those who went out of their way to help me I have so much respect for them. Those who denied me a LOR, and thus the OPPORTUNITY to be successful, I dont have the time of day for. Just my 2 cents!

 

[All4MyDaughter]

I don't know where you are at but pharmacy techs can't count C-2's where I'm from.

I think what's she's alluding to is your ignorance in assuming that the law isn't different in different places. Assuming the conditions you work under generalize to all work environments, etc.

 

[SHC1984]

That's right it takes a PharmD with a minimum of 6 years education and no one else to count those pills. Life and death we are dealing with 👍

Walmart won't allow anyone but the pharmacist to count the CII. I am an intern and they won't let me count it either. 🙄

Good less work for me. LOL

 

[SHC1984]

I agree with everyone that you either 1) write a GREAT LOR or 2) Tell them no

No one should ever write a bad LOR for anyone else.

With that said....I think it is wrong to judge someone's intelligence base SOLELY on how "good" they are as a pharmacy tech.

When I first started at Walgreens I was a terrible tech. I didn't have any experience at all so of course I didn't know how to fix insurance problems etc. How should I know? I never done it. I never been inside a pharmacy my entire life.

I hope the pharmacist didn't think I was stupid just b/c I couldn't fix insurance problems. 🙄