September 18, 1998

How important are letters of recommendation?

Question: I'm ready to go on the job market. How can I get the best recommendations? How can I tell if I'm getting good ones?

Mary: Recommendations are critically important, and the more competitive the job for which you're applying, the more important they become. Faculty members at our major research institution tell us that when they serve on search committees the first thing they look at in the file is the letters.

Julie: As to whether you can tell if you're getting good recommendations, it's difficult to be absolutely certain, but there's a lot you can do to improve the odds. Let's assume that all along you've been working at maintaining good relationships with your faculty and have been keeping them up to date on your work.

Let's make the further wild assumption that you've met all your deadlines as you've gone along. In other words, let's assume you're the perfect doctoral candidate.

Mary: Even if you are that mythic creature, to tell you, "No problem, don't worry about it," we'd also need to assume that you have the perfect advisers, who are well-known in their fields, intensely interested in and impressed by your work, and utterly timely in meeting all the requirements of being a good adviser, including proactively promoting you on the job market.

Julie: However, the reality is that probably only some of this applies to everyone. So, you need to ask yourself, "Who knows my work the best?" Usually, there's an obvious answer to that: your adviser and members of your committee, and perhaps whoever is best equipped to write about your teaching.

Talk with those people about your plans and how they will work with you to support your job search. It is appropriate, especially if you have known your recommender for some time, to remind them of your work. Faculty typically write for many people and probably won't recall everything you've done without some help from you. It's helpful to provide them with a current copy of your vita and other materials you have prepared for your job search.

Mary: Of course Julie is describing the easy situation. It's more difficult when you doubt that someone will recommend you enthusiastically. The absence of a letter from your adviser is a major red flag, but you probably have some choice about others.

When you ask someone to recommend you, make it easy for them to decline if they can't write enthusiastically. You could ask if they know your work well enough, or you may choose to be very direct and tell recommenders that you feel this market requires very strong recommendations and ask whether they would be comfortable recommending you.

It may help them to know where you're applying, because some may recommend you more strongly for positions they consider less competitive. If you've had an experience with someone that may dim that person's opinion of you, it may be wise to address the matter directly with him or her.

Julie: But before we go on, let's tackle the hard question of what to do if you don't have a letter from your adviser.

Mary: The answer will depend on why you don't have a letter from the person. I'd suggest you ask the most senior person in your department whom you trust to write a letter for you that will, according to that person's best judgment, address the situation directly or indirectly. It is especially important in this case to have several other strongly positive letters.

Julie: One reason, of course, that someone might not have a letter is that the adviser has died or become incapacitated. There may be a system on your campus that protects you in this situation. Either your department or the career services office on campus may keep recommendations on file to be sent out at your request. Be sure to check with your department to see what is usually done.

The law protects your right to have letters be non-confidential, which means you can look at them. However, confidential letters are usually viewed as more credible and compelling.

Also ask your recommenders whether there are circumstances under which they would want to make phone calls for you. An enthusiastic call from a recommender, especially one known to someone on a search committee, can keep a candidate in the running until the next stage of a screening process.

Mary: The proper handling of letters of recommendation is dictated by law, and letters sometimes play a key role when suits charging employment discrimination are brought. As a result recommenders are becoming more careful and, to some extent, more positive about all candidates.

Thus, sometimes people in a hiring position turn to the phone, face-to-face conversations at conferences, or e-mail for what they consider a more honest, less sanitized evaluation of a candidate. Keep your recommenders current with their plans, so if they get a phone call they won't sound surprised to hear that you're considering a particular job.

Julie: In addition, keep in mind that anyone with whom you've obviously been associated may be asked about you informally whether or not you provide that person's name as a recommender. For example, if a national authority in your field of research works in your department, that person may be asked about you whether or not you give him or her as a reference.

Mary: This means that it's a good idea to keep current with everyone you think may be asked about you. If you have some fences in need of mending, get at it.

Julie: Once you have your vita and other supporting materials prepared, have decided whether to use a home page, and have made appropriate arrangements with your recommenders you're ready to begin applying full speed ahead.

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