In today's mail, you get a letter from Non-Stop Messenger Service, 899 Sparks St., Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0G9, Canada. It concerns a friend of yours who has applied for a job. Here is the letter:
Kathryn Norquist has applied for the position of special courier with our firm, and she has given us your name as a reference. Our special couriers convey materials of considerable value or confidentiality to their recipients. It is not an easy job. Special couriers must sometimes remain alert for periods of up to 20 hours, and they cannot expect to follow the usual "three square meals and a full night's sleep" routine because they often travel long distances on short notice. On occasion, a special courier must react quickly and decisively to threatening situations.
For this type of work, we hire only people of unquestioned integrity, as demonstrated both by their public records and by references from people, like you, who have known them personally or professionally.
We would appreciate a letter from you, supplying detailed answers to the following questions: (1) How long and in what circumstances have you known the applicant? (2) What qualities does she possess that would qualify her for the position of special courier? (3) What qualities might need to be improved before she is put on permanent assignment in this job?
As vice president of human resources at UPS, you know how much weight a strong personal reference can carry, and you don't really mind that Kathryn never contacted you for permission to list your name-that's Kathryn. You met her during your sophomore year at San Diego State University-that would have been
1994-and you two were roommates for several years after. Her undergraduate degree was in journalism, and her investigative reporting was relentless. You have never known anyone who could match Kathryn's stamina when she was on a story. Of course, when she was between stories, she could sleep longer and do less than anyone else you have ever known.
After a few years of reporting, Kathryn went back to school and earned her MBA from the University of San Diego. After that, you lost track of her for a while. Somebody said that she had joined the FBI-or was it the CIA? -you never really knew. You received a couple of postcards from Paris and one from Madrid.
Two years ago, you met Kathryn for dinner. Only in town for the evening, she was on her way to Borneo to "do the text" for a photographer friend of hers who worked for National Geographic. You read the article last year on the shrinking habitat for orangutans. It was powerful.
Although you're in no position to say much about Kathryn's career accomplishments, you can certainly recommend her energy and enthusiasm, her ability to focus on a task or an assignment, her devotion to ethics, and her style. She always seems unshakable-organized, thorough, and honorable-whether digging into political corruption or trudging the jungles of Borneo. You're not sure that her free spirit would flourish in a courier's position, and you wonder if she is a bit overqualified for the job. But knowing Kathryn, you're confident she wouldn't apply for a position unless she truly wanted it.
Your task: Supplying any details you can think of, write as supportive a letter as possible about your friend Kathryn to Roscoe de la Penda, Human Resources Specialist, Non-Stop Messenger.