Erin Albert's Blog

My bro has an easy button by one of those big box office retailers (I’m sure you know which one I’m talking about).  Anyway, when I’m over at his house and see it, I try to hit it.  It cracks me up, and LORD knows that if I could get an easy button for my own life, it would be worn out from me pressing it, or I’d have already bought a carton of the things en masse here at the house.

As I have been drowning in a sea of law school notes this week and last (on my ‘vacation’–and yes, I’m writing this blog on a 5 minute break I’m taking), it appears that some requests for me to help some people out last minute are conveniently coming in when I’m totally swamped.  And hey, I know that we ALL are swamped, but here’s some advice that I think we all might want to consider:

When you are asking others for a favor, go EASY BUTTON on them.  What do I mean?  Make it the absolute easiest you can for them to help you.  Example: I needed to write someone a recommendation letter for a job recently.  Furthermore, they needed it ‘last minute’ – like, in less than 24 hours.  Finally, they gave me nothing to support the letter.  

In case you are wondering, this ain’t easy!

Here’s how the person SHOULD have asked me: 1. they should have given me at least 5 business days before it was needed to request it, 2. they should have given me a DRAFT something.  Rock it out and give me a letter that you would want me to write about you, and I can edit it from there.  If you can’t write about yourself, at least give some bullets or talking points on your accomplishments relative to what you are seeking from your recommenders.  3.  Finally, DO NOT FORGET to thank those who helped you out – ESPECIALLY in a time crunch.  Less than 24 hours to pull off something about another person takes a LOT of time, and your emergency is not necessarily mine.  If someone helped you out in less than 24 hours AND you gave them no draft, you owe the other person BIG TIME…so be sure to watch and restore your social capital with them, and your thanks better be near Porsche level or higher (see my blog below about thank yous if you need assistance here).

In conclusion, I firmly believe we are all one, and it is our job to help each other out.  I’m more than happy to help people out – but seriously, go easy button on the people who are kind enough to help you.

That was easy!