Hello!
I will use DocuSign to sign the recommendation letters, as Technation requires a log file to be attached.
Who initiated the signing of the letter in your case?
I appreciate your help 
It is best if the recommender themselves (and not us) were to upload their letter on Docusign + sign it + send it to you.
3 Likes
Thank you for the feedback!
I uploaded the docs to my docusign account and sent it to them to sign since I didn’t want to ask each of them to open an account. This was accepted.
Make sure to include the docusign log page showing the difference in IP addresses.
2 Likes
That it was accepted does not make it right. Maybe an assessor overlooked it. When the letter originates from the applicant, it could be implied that you wrote the letter and sent it to the recommended for signing @OceanicT the letter should originate from the recommender
4 Likes
I fully agree that it’s better that the recommender do that on their own, but it’s sometimes not feasible to ask CxOs to open a signing account just for this purpose.
The guide also seems to support this (bold mine)
Letters of recommendation can be created using a digital signature service (such as DocuSign or similar service), enabling the inclusion of the document log file that clearly indicates the letter’s author and signature originated from a different IP address to the applicant.
As I read this, different IP addresses in the same log can only happen if the applicant sent the document to the recommender to sign.
3 Likes
Hello hsafra,
Thanks for the explanation. You’re referring to the exact part of the guidance I was trying to clarify. How can we have different logs at the end if the author initiates the signing process.
@OceanicT when the recommender signs the document, the log shows a different ip signed it, with their email. You can try to test it by sending it to your own different email and sign it.
1 Like
Hey Oceanic,
If you check the posts on this forum historically, you’ll discover that while in the earlier years it was totally fine for the candidate to send the letter to the recommender… yet the guidelines have as of late become more stringent
For e.g. in this case (Appeal for Templating Recommendation Letter), the letter originated from the candidate + became a reason for disqualification (even tho there might be other issues with their application, yet this gives more reason to the assessor to disqualify us)
Hence, the safest would be to really request the recommender to upload it + send it themselves. Additonally, yes, CXOs generally have a paucity of time but they also have already existing Dropbox sign / Docusign accounts handy coz they sign docs/agreements all the time… so it’s a high chance that they will agree to do this (even if it may take a few additional days for them to sign it)
1 Like
Thanks for sharing the link regarding the disqualification case.
According to Tech Nation guidelines, the document log file should contain different IP addresses (the candidate’s IP and the letter author’s IP).
If the letter’s author initiates the signing process, the document log file will only show the author’s IP address since they were the sole signer of the letter. One of my letters was signed this way.
Hence, the letter doesn’t follow the guidelines. I assume it can cause authentic questions.
If I initiate the signing process and share the letter with the author, they sign it. IP addresses will be different. However, this might raise questions about the document’s initial creation.
I’m still unsure about the clearest way to sign letters.
1 Like
@OceanicT I am also preparing my docs and also facing the same issue. I have initiated 2 LORs and recommender signed them. I was planning to attach screenshots of me receiving the letter from them, and mention that they sent me the letter and then I sent them through docusign. Still not sure if it might raise any concerns on the TN’s end.
Another concern i have is that I sent the TN guidelines regarding LORs, due to which, all of my LORs show a kind of template, i.e how they know me, my work, benefits to/from UK etc. Now I am worried about the LORs as well.
They dont recommend templates, but gave a template to follow!
All of this is very confusing and there are no clear guidelines regarding these issues.
1 Like
In Docusign there’s an option called “History” which shows the 2-way history of the doc (timestamps, IP etc. of both parties), so you could attach that (link: Docusign Support Center)
1 Like
By template, they likely mean that there shouldnt be uncanny similarities between the letters (which might happen if using LLMs) or they shouldn’t all be talking about the same projects you worked on. Sometimes all recommenders might use similar GPT-fashioned words like “seamlessly”, “groundbreaking”, “cutting edge” etc., so we should just ensure that the letters talk about distinct aspects of our work + discourage recommenders from using GPT.
2 Likes
Hey @OceanicT -
How did you end up navigating the DocuSign process? My recommenders are about to finish with their letters so any advice would be appreciated 
Hello, @cynamanda
I used Docusign in two ways:
- I send a letter to sign for some recommenders. I didn’t want to force them to create an account just to sign a letter for me. As a result, the logs in the letter were different.
- Some recommenders have signed it themselves (who already have a DocuSign account). The longs in the letter were the same in this case.
Some of my letters were signed with a handwritten signature, which I assume is the best way to sign a letter.
Good luck!
2 Likes
Thank you for the insight!
1 Like