I’m in the process of applying for the UK Global Talent Visa and I would appreciate some clarification regarding the recommendation letters, specifically the requirement that referees must have known my work for at least one year.
I currently have three recommendation letters:
First letter: From the CEO of my current company. We’ve worked together for three years and he knows my work very well.
Second letter: From someone who was my team lead when I interned at a product-led company. I spent six months as an intern and another six months as an Associate Product Manager, making it a total of one year working directly with him. He is now a co-founder/CEO of a different product-led tech company.
Third letter: From the CTO of another product-led company where I worked for six months. However, prior to that, we collaborated on a product-led side project earlier in my career when I was still learning product management and long before my internship. So while we only worked together formally for six months (where i worked as a full time product manager), he has known my work and growth trajectory from much earlier.
My questions are:
Do these three referees meet the “known your work for at least three years” requirement?
Does it matter that I was an intern for part of the time with one of them?
What should I be mindful of to ensure my letters are valid and strong enough?
I would really appreciate your input or experiences around this. Thank you!
Each of the recommenders need to explain how they know you and know your work for at least 1 year in their letters. You seem to think this means you should have worked (in the same organisation) with them for at least 1 year. This is not correct.
In addition to working together, it could have been you both in the same ecosystem, you both joined the same community, or even simply met at an event ( + developed a relationship from there) and many more scenario. The key thing is they need to know you and know your work.
With the above in mind , to answer your questions:
Yes. They seem to be fine as long as they continued a relationship with you after you left the various companies. They seem senior as well.
Not an issue. Internship is fine. They could even have mentored you closely.
The letters have to call out how you have achieved national or international recognition in your niche (not matter how small). They need to be from 4 different perspective (your personal statement being the 4th) and from 4 different tone of voice, etc
I hope this helps ?
As always, this is not immigration nor legal advice. I am just sharing based on my knowledge of the subject.
Your referees work as recommenders for the application. Internships work so don’t worry about that.
Was there a huge gap between the internship and full time and the side project and full work?
Were the internship and side project full-time?
Be mindful of the wording you use so there’s no confusion: strengthen the letter by including the impact even in those associations. And highlight that they know you closely since X years and have worked together across different stints in these years with you.
@pahuja please is it wrong if the recommender states the impact of your work in terms of metrics, e.g. drove operational costs down by xx% and saved time from xxx to xx. Can it be flagged as self-authorship?
Your recommendation letters look solid based on the working relationships you’ve described. The one-year requirement isn’t about continuous employment at the same company - it’s about the referee knowing your work over that period. Your second referee who worked with you through internship plus full-time role totaling one year meets this requirement perfectly. Your third referee’s situation is even stronger since they knew your work through the earlier side project plus the six-month formal role.
The key things to focus on in your letters are making sure each referee explains exactly how they know you and your work timeline. They should clearly state the total duration they’ve observed your contributions, even if it spans different roles or projects.
Don’t worry about the internship aspect - Tech Nation accepts various working arrangements as long as the relationship demonstrates your professional capabilities. Focus on having each letter writer emphasize the innovation behind your contributions and how you could benefit the UK tech ecosystem. These elements matter much more than the specific employment structure during your working relationship.