CEO and Manager at Gavia Strategies
“Please accept this letter as a general reference for Ms. Jennifer Verta. Jennifer worked as an intern for Gavia Strategies, my strategic communication firm, in the summer and fall of 2015. Since that time, Jennifer and I have stayed in touch and I have observed her dedication to her professional and academic careers. As a new college graduate, Jennifer is eager to make a contribution to an organization and I believe she’d make a strong addition to any team.
During our time working together, I found Jennifer reliable and appreciated her ability to tackle a task with little oversight. Our firm consists of a very small team, and Jennifer’s ability to jump in and make progress on a project without constant check-ins from me was a great resource. Shortly after hiring Jennifer, I asked her to go on-site with a client and direct a market research effort. She took this responsibility in stride and had the presence of mind to purchase candy as an extra incentive to get participants to visit our research tent and complete our survey. The abilities Jennifer exhibited that day— interfacing with market groups, representing the client, and catering to details—made her a valuable member of our firm.
I was also impressed with Jennifer’s research and writing skills, two things paramount in any communication or marketing work. Our interns are often tasked with “finding out about ___”—gathering all the information they can track down about an issue, client, market, or industry. Sometimes interns balk at this request and have difficulty knowing where or how to start. Jennifer did two things I found impressive: 1. She tackled any requests to the best of her abilities using the resources at her disposal and 2. When she was stuck, she’d ask pointed questions to help her learn, get unstuck, and tackle the next request. I appreciated her resourcefulness and her willingness to ask questions and learn from the answers.
In my work, as I am sure is the case in yours, too, I have learned not to underestimate the power of competence. Competent people are hard to come by. People who are not only competent, but are hard workers, good at what they do, and eager to do better are even more rare. Jennifer is more than competent: she is talented, smart, and excited to apply herself. She would be an asset to any organization lucky enough to have her, and if I was in the position to add to my team currently, I would be hiring her myself!
Sincerely, Virginia McCarver
Ph.D. Founder and CEO”