Your recommender is a senior manager in Pune who has never written one of these, and he has just told you to "send me a draft, I'll tweak it." If that is the conversation you had this week, the honest answer is that the draft is the wrong thing to hand over, and the letter he writes from scratch will almost certainly be better than the one you would write for him. This post shows what a strong ISB recommendation sounds like prompt by prompt, so you can brief a busy person well. For the wider application context, start with our ISB PGP admissions guide.
What the ISB recommendation form actually asks
ISB accepts the GMAC Common Letter of Recommendation, according to Clear Admit's breakdown of the ISB questions. The form has a multiple-choice competency evaluation across 12 competencies, then four narrative questions with a 500-word ceiling each: how the recommender knows you, how you compare with other well-qualified people, the most important constructive feedback they have given you, and anything else the committee should know. A 200-word capstone asks about originality and independent thinking. AdmitStreet puts the full form at roughly 2,300 to 2,800 words if every box is filled.
Confirm the current number of recommenders and the exact form on isb.edu before you brief anyone, because the requirement can differ by programme and cycle. Our earlier posts on how two recommenders should complement each other and choosing the recommender cover that selection decision. This post is about the content.
Question 1: "How do you know the applicant?"
This is the cheapest prompt to get right and the one most letters waste. A weak answer reads: "I have known Rohan for three years and he reports to me." A strong answer gives the adcom a frame for everything that follows: reporting line, duration, team size, and what the recommender observed first-hand.
Example of the register that works: "Rohan reported to me directly from April 2023 to date. I reviewed his monthly pricing models for a 14-person category team and sat in on every quarterly business review he presented to our regional head."
That is two sentences, and it tells the reader which later claims are observed and which are hearsay. Ask your recommender to be exact about dates and scope.
Question 2: "How does the applicant compare with peers?"
This is where superlatives go to die. "Top 1%" with no evidence is read as noise, because every Indian applicant's letter says it. What lands is a comparison anchored to a named group and a named outcome: "Among the eleven analysts I have managed since 2019, Rohan is one of two I would trust to present to the client without review."
A line about a spreadsheet can outscore three lines about leadership because it is checkable. "He rebuilt our reconciliation workbook, cutting month-end close from six days to three" is a fact the adcom can weigh. "Natural leader with great vision" is not. This is our editorial judgement from reading applications, not a published ISB scoring rule, but it matches the general guidance in the AdmitStreet piece to emphasise "specific, measurable examples over generic praise."
Question 3: "What is the most important constructive feedback?"
Indian recommenders panic here, since many feel that naming a weakness will sink the candidate. It does the opposite when handled well. A letter with zero development areas reads as written to order, which damages the credibility of the rest.
A strong answer names a real, bounded gap, shows the applicant acted on it, and gives a result. For example: "Early in 2024 I told Rohan he was dominating team calls and junior analysts were not speaking up. He started circulating questions in advance and rotating who presents. Two of those analysts have since led client calls."
The weak versions are the fake weakness ("works too hard") and the fatal one ("sometimes struggles with ambiguity" with no follow-up). Tell your recommender in advance that this prompt is where trust is earned.
Question 4 and the capstone: originality and independence
The 200-word capstone on originality is short and under-used. It rewards one concrete story where the applicant did something nobody asked them to do. A recommender who writes "he proposed and built the dashboard on his own time, and it is now used by three teams" has answered it completely. Offer the story as a reminder of the project, not as text to paste.
If you are an IT services engineer with a recommender in a client-facing role
Your problem is attribution. Delivery credit tends to flow to the account or the client, so your recommender must separate your contribution from the team's. Ask them to quantify scope: headcount led, modules owned, release cycles, the client's own feedback if it exists. A letter from a client-side manager is worth considering if that person has seen your work directly and agrees to write it in the first person. See our guide for IT services engineers applying to ISB for how this fits the wider profile.
If you are a family business applicant
Your recommender is probably a relative or a long-time associate, and the adcom knows it. The risk is warmth without distance. Prefer an external senior person who has dealt with you commercially, such as a bank relationship manager, a major customer, or an auditor, and ask them to write about decisions you made with money or people at stake. If an internal recommender is unavoidable, they should address the reporting relationship plainly and still include a real development area.
How to brief your recommender without writing the letter for them
Never write the letter yourself; AdmitStreet's advice is blunt on this and we agree. A briefing document of one page is the right size. Include your resume, your three or four target examples with dates, a one-paragraph summary of your career goals, and the themes your essays carry so the letter does not contradict them. Our post on how Indian applicants should approach the ISB essays helps you pick those themes.
Timing matters. AdmitStreet suggests identifying recommenders about three months before the deadline, finalising two months out, and following up one month out. For Indian applicants this also respects appraisal cycles, when managers are least available.
Common questions
Does it matter if my recommender is senior or famous? Depth of interaction beats title. A director who has met you twice will write a thin letter. A team lead who has seen you work daily will write a specific one. Clear Admit notes that ISB gives no extra attention to recommendations written by ISB alumni.
Can I use a professor? Only if the professor can speak to something beyond your transcript. For most working applicants, a current or past supervisor is the stronger choice.
What if my recommender's English is not strong? Clarity beats polish. Short, concrete sentences with real numbers read better than ornate praise. You can offer to proofread for typos only if the recommender asks, but the content and voice must stay theirs.
How long should each answer be? The limit is 500 words per main prompt, and not filling every box is fine. Three tight paragraphs with evidence outperform 500 words of adjectives.
What if I do not get along with my current manager? A past supervisor, a project lead, or a client who has seen your work is acceptable. Choose the person who can write specifics, even if they are not your current boss.
What this means for Indian applicants
The recommendation is the one document you do not control, which is why the briefing is the whole job. Pick someone who has watched you work, give them dated examples, and ask them to be honest about one gap. If you want a second opinion on whether your recommender and your essays tell one consistent story, a profile evaluation is the quickest check, and our MBA and MiM service covers the full application.
Related reading
- ISB PGP admissions guide
- ISB recommendation letters: how two recommenders should complement each other
- ISB MBA application essays 2026 decoded
Sources verified 1 October 2026. Next review: 1 January 2027. Confirm the current recommender count and form on isb.edu before submitting.