As an administrator you may find yourself receiving emails from Recommenders (or applicants) with questions in regards to the recommendation process. This article will walk through the most common issues that recommenders can run into when completing the recommendation. You can also refer to our Recommender FAQ article that can be shared with your recommenders to help them resolve commonly reported issues on their own.
- "I see a 'no pending recommendations' message"
- "I am having trouble attaching my recommendation"
- "I cannot edit the recommendation task"
- "How do I know my recommendation was submitted correctly?"
- "Can the applicant see my completed recommendation?"
If a recommender contacts you because they have recently received a recommendation request, but are unable to see the recommendations within their panel, refer to the few potential reasons below.
Potential Reasons:
- The application has been moved to the next stage of the application process
- The applicant has rescinded their request for a recommendation within the site
The application has been moved to the next stage of the application process
In order for the recommender to be able to complete the recommendation task, the application will need to be within the stage that the recommender task exists.
- Go to your Workflow
- Locate the recommendation task within the workflow and make note of the name of the stage.
- Now go to Manage Applications
- Search for the application that requested a recommendation from this recommender
- Confirm that the Application is in the same stage as the recommender task.
The applicant has rescinded their request for a recommendation within the site
Confirm that the recommender contacting you has a current invite to recommend the application.
- Assume the role of the Applicant
- Click to access the application
- Click on the recommendation request to view the information of the recommender
- Confirm that the email address of the recommender contacting you matches the email that is displayed within the recommendation request.
Potential Reasons:
- The recommendation task is a form and not an attachment
- The file is not in an available format
- They are attaching more files than allowed
- The file is encrypted
- The file is corrupted
- A task related issue
The recommendation task is a form and not an attachment
If the recommender experiences difficulty attaching a recommendation letter:
- Confirm within the site that the recommendation task is, in fact, an attach a file task.
- Otherwise, if the task is an internal form, inform them that they will have to fill out the form and will not be able to attach a file
The file is not in an available format
- Ask the recommender to send you their file(s) if they didn't do so already.
- Compare the format of the file with the accepted formats on the file.
They are attempting to attach more than one file
- Ask the recommender to send you their file(s) if they didn't do so already.
- Confirm that they aren't trying to attach more files than the task allows them to.
SurveyMonkey Apply will not accept encrypted files. You will need to instruct them that in order to attach their file the encryption must be removed.
- Have them re-save the file on their computer on a different location on their drive.
- Then advise them to attach the new version of the file to resolve the issue.
If none of the above are applicable you can also refer to "I cannot edit the recommendation task."
Potential Reasons:
- The deadline has passed for the stage/task
- The open date has not yet occurred on the stage/task
- The recommender has already completed the task and you have enabled "Prevent Editing"
The deadline has passed for the stage/task
If the recommender has reached out to you that they can't edit a task, first check to see if the deadline has passed for the task/ stage the application is in.
- Go to your Workflow
- Enter the Stage Configurations where the recommendation task exists
- Check the Stage deadline to confirm what the current date is and if it's correct.
- If there is no deadline on the stage, go to the Tasks tab
- Check the Task deadline to confirm what the current date is and if it's correct.
- If everything has been setup correctly, inform the recommender of the deadline.
The open date has not yet occurred on the stage/task
If the recommender has reached out to you that they can't edit a task, you can also check to ensure that if there are any Open dates on the stage/tasks, that it has already passed.
- Go to your Workflow
- Enter the Stage Configurations where the recommendation task exists
- Check the Stage open date to confirm what the current date is and if it's correct.
- If there is no open date on the stage, go to the Tasks tab
- Check the Task open date to confirm what the current date is and if it's correct.
- If everything has been setup correctly, inform the recommender of the open date and when they will be able to apply.
The recommender has already completed the task and you have enabled "Prevent Editing"
Based on the settings of your site it is possible that the recommender is unable to edit the task after already completing it.
- Assume the role of the recommender to confirm whether or not they have completed the task
- If they have completed the task, go to the Workflow
- Enter the Stage Configurations where the recommendation task exists
- Open up the Tasks tab
- Within the task settings of the task they are trying to edit, confirm whether or not "Prevent Editing" has been enabled.
Once the recommender has completed the recommendation task for the application they will need to Submit the task. Until the recommendation is submitted the request will appear "In Progress." Once the recommendation has been completed the In Progress status will appear as "Completed" with the date and time it was completed at. This will allow you to ensure that the recommendation was submitted and was appended to the application.
As an administrator, if you wish to confirm this for the recommender:
- Assume the role of the Applicant
- Access the application
- Click on the recommendation request.
- If received correctly the request will now say "Request received" and the applicant will be required to Submit the recommendation in order to successfully pend it to their application.
By default, applicants will not be able to view the recommendation that was completed for them. They will simply be able to see that it has been completed. However, there is a setting to enable applicants to view the recommendation.
To confirm if this is the setup in your site:
- Go to the Workflow
- Enter the Stage Configurations where the recommendation task exists
- Click on the Tasks tab
- Click on the Recommendation task
- Confirm whether "Allow applicants to see completed recommendations" is currently enabled or disabled.