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Career Services Credentials System  <Credentials
Introduction You often need letters of recommendation when you apply for graduate and professional schools, internships, fellowships, or jobs. You may establish a file of letters of recommendation which will be permanently stored by Career Services. For a small fee, you may have these mailed whenever you need to provide letters of recommendation. Your letters will always be available on short notice and you will not have to ask the same person to write letters for you again and again. You may have letters from anyone whom you would like to recommend you, whether or not they are associated with the University of Pennsylvania. [Top]Establishing a File You must establish a file before you ask anyone to send letters of recommendation to Career Services. Obtain a Registration Record Folder at the Career Services reception desk, or download it here. After you fill it out, return it to the receptionist, fax it to 215-898-2687, or mail it to Career Services, Suite 20 McNeil, 3718 Locust Walk, Philadelphia, PA 19118. You now have a permanent file in which letters will be kept even after you graduate. You do not need to establish a file more than once. [Top]Recommendation Forms All letters of recommendation must be on or accompanied by a Career Services Recommendation Form. Forms can be obtained at the reception desk. Letters may be written on the author's letterhead if they are accompanied by a Career Services form which you have signed and on which you have indicated whether or not you wish the recommendation to be confidential. [Top] Confidential and Non-Confidential Recommendations Each time you ask someone to write a letter for you, you indicate on the Career Services form whether you want the recommendation to be "confidential" or "non-confidential." You cannot read a confidential recommendation, and Career Services staff may not tell you what is in it, nor recommend whether or not you should use it. You may review a non-confidential recommendation with a Career Services counselor in our office. Confidential recommendations usually are far more credible to schools and employers. Credentials Officer Occasionally you may want to hand-deliver a recommendation. All hand-delivered recommendations must be in a sealed envelope with the author's signature across the seal of the envelope. [Top] Verifying That Your Recommendations Are on File Most recommendations received by Career Services in 1997 or later have been scanned: click here to see what letters are on file for you. If you do not find the letters you expect to see, call (215) 898-4382 or email letters@pobox.upenn.edu. [Top] Changing Your File You may add letters to your file at any time, even after you graduate. If you decide you no longer wish to use a recommendation, you may ask that it be destroyed. You must make this request in writing. It must include your full name, signature and the last 4 digits of your Social Security Number. A recommendation may also be removed from the file at the request of the author. This happens very rarely, and when it does, we notify the student involved. [Top] Requesting That Your File Be Mailed We send out recommendations only at your written request. We cannot send out your recommendations at an employer's or school's direct request to us. You may ask to have either your entire file of recommendations, or only specified letters, mailed out. Placing Requests While Abroad If you will need to request that your letters be mailed out while you are abroad you may "deputize" someone to place requests on your behalf while you are gone. Whoever is "deputized" must make requests in writing and include proper payment, just as you would need to do if you were in the country. To do this, write a letter to Career Services stating that you authorize a specific person (please give his or her complete name) to place requests on your behalf for a stated time period. Because of the time required for international mail and problems you may have paying in U.S. currency, Career Services urges you to use this deputy system. [Top]"Official Envelope" Requests If the organizations to which you are applying furnishes envelopes and recommendation forms to be included in your application, please attach them to the request, properly filled out with name and address. We will enclose your recommendations, seal and sign the envelope with an official stamp and return it to you. If you wish to pick it up at our office, please mark request "To be picked up." If you have any questions, please call our office at (215) 898-7531. [Top] When Your Request Will Be Filled Credentials requests are filled within 3 working days during most of the year. Between November 1 and January 31, we receive a tremendous volume of requests, and our guaranteed turn-around time lengthens to 5 working days. Since the University closes between Christmas Eve and New Year's Day, no requests are filled during that time. To avoid disappointment and additional expense, plan ahead, and submit your requests well in advance of deadlines! Requests are filled in the order in which they are received, to ensure fairness to all. [Top]Transcripts We do not have the authority to duplicate official transcripts. If your counselor requests that you give Career Services a transcript, it is placed in your file for the counselor's information only. Students in the Graduate School of Education, School of Social Work, and Graduate School of Fine Arts may obtain transcripts from their schools. Other students may order a transcript at the Registrar's Office in the Franklin Building, or from the registrar's web site at http://www.upenn.edu/registrar/transcripts/transcripts.html. [Top] Fees All requests must be accompanied by the appropriate fee. Cost per set of recommendations mailed: Placing a Request
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© Career Services, University of Pennsylvania. Not to be copied or distributed without permission.
Career Services • University of Pennsylvania
Suite 20, McNeil Building • 3718 Locust Walk
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6209