Letters of Rec to Congressmen

Hi everyone, I have a couple of questions on my letters of recommendation to my congressmen.
First: Should I have to writers address the letters to each congressmen by name? Or should I have it addressed to their service nominations department?
Second: I am entering my junior year of high school and just recently asked one of my managers for a letter of rec. I know its early but she was orginally planning to move out of state for a couple of years. Is it bad form to have a letter way in advance? Or would it be bad to just leave off the date it was written?

Any help is appreciated! Thanks!

First: I hope that you have already checked each MOC web page--they usually have a specific list of what you need to submit and how. Personally, I would address any letters to the MOC--after all that is the person who has the noms to deal out. Many MOC's have a separate address for their SA staff. Some will have you address your letter as Sen. XXX c/o XXX, or Attn: XXX. You can always contact your MOC's office and get the contact information for the SA staff and speak to them--they are usually very helpful.
Second: is your letter a personal rec or academic? Academic should probably come from someone who you are currently a student of. Personal probably should be from someone who has known you for a while so being out of state should not be an issue as they will explain how they know you etc.

adoloris said:

First: I hope that you have already checked each MOC web page--they usually have a specific list of what you need to submit and how. Personally, I would address any letters to the MOC--after all that is the person who has the noms to deal out. Many MOC's have a separate address for their SA staff. Some will have you address your letter as Sen. XXX c/o XXX, or Attn: XXX. You can always contact your MOC's office and get the contact information for the SA staff and speak to them--they are usually very helpful.
Second: is your letter a personal rec or academic? Academic should probably come from someone who you are currently a student of. Personal probably should be from someone who has known you for a while so being out of state should not be an issue as they will explain how they know you etc.

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I have already checked the MOC's webpages and all they say is that they need three/four letters of rec. It doesn't go into specifics so I will try giving them a call. And my manager has worked with me for 2 years now so I was just wondering if it matters if I get the letter way in advance.

When you say manager, manager how? Are you saying your job? If so, I would bet you will prove yourself in the next 13 months to the new manager, and the info will be more current.

Be honest here, if you are doing well in that job, you most likely will get more responsibilities over the next yr, thus, the new manager will have more positive things to write than the old manager; making you more competitive.

If you are saying manager as in sports, the same applies because you are going to have again more experience and more responsibilities.

IMPO you are hurting yourself to have it written now.

Next, just because the MOC this yr requests this, it in no way, shape or form means the same will be true for next yr. You maybe spinning your wheels.

~~~ Look at how many MOC's resigned due to issues this yr... Cong Weiner ring a bell? Cong Wu?

Finally, before you even go down this road, 99% of MOCs will require that you are an applicant for the SA's. Not everyone that fills out a PCQ will be considered an "applicant".

Use this yr. and this time to become a competitive candidate, don't worry about recs 13 -14 months in advance.

Good luck.

Thank you very much for the information! I work at a pool during the summer and my manager there was the one I was talking about. (Live in North Dakota so there isn't a whole lot of pool work in the winter haha)