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Career Sense is a blog for academic job seekers.
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An open forum for advice on reference letters
One of the most popular career articles on University Affairs has been How to ask for a reference letter. The popularity of this article is evidence of the intense interest, and perhaps trepidation, at the thought of asking for reference letter causes PhDs.
Since asking for references is an activity everyone in academe will have to face at one time or another, I’m sure there are lots or questions, concerns, even horror stories out there. I think I’d like to change things up a bit here and open the floor for questions and concerns about asking for reference letters.
All names will remain confidential unless you choose otherwise, and no one will be able to see your e-mail address when you send your questions and comments. Keep in mind this is a mediated board, so anything sent in will be vetted by the editor before it goes live.
About reference letters
One perennial problem is how to ensure well written letters are submitted on your behalf. I have spoken to many graduate student advisors who have run university dossier services (which collect and archive confidential application materials such as reference letters and official transcripts) and we have all seen letters that are not likely to help a candidate, and in some cases could actually hurt their chances in a competitive job market.
Here are some steps you can take to minimize the chances of one of your letters becoming a proverbial albatross around your neck:
- Always give your referees a graceful way to decline when you ask for their support: “I realize your plate is terribly full this term. Do you think you will have time to write a letter of support for my applications to XXX? I will understand if there is too much you have already committed to take on another responsibility of this type.” If they agree to write for you, you have a better chance that they will do so conscientiously.
- If you are concerned about one of your referees’ ability to write a strong letter, make sure at least one, if not two, of your referees are more experienced. You might even ask if they could provide a little mentorship to the potentially troublesome professor.
- Diplomatically “suggest’” what content would be most valuable in your letters. This should include reminders of particularly impressive work you have done, student evaluations and awards. These suggestions can help your referees focus their letters and avoid overly duplicating each other’s content.
- If your university has a dossier service (in Canada only University of Toronto and York University do), you will not be able to access your file to read what your referees have written. However, if you do have a serious concern, then talk to the service coordinator about having your referee or another member of your committee read over your file. They can let you know whether the file was acceptable as it was, or even what could be added to it to strengthen it.
Here are a few links to other resources on University Affairs about reference letters. I’ll be interested in hearing your take on it. I’m also looking forward to providing whatever insight and suggestion I can that might help you avoid an unnecessary explosion!
I personally think that applicants are led to believe that reference letters are far more important that they actually are in hiring decisions. I appreciate the advice being provided here but articles like this help perpetuate the myth that the perfect reference letter will land you a job. My experience on hiring committees is that reference letters are really just a formality. A bad letter can certainly sink an application in some cases, but positive letters – whether glowing or mildly supportive – seem to be given the same value in a person’s overall application package, which is not much. A person’s CV, research interests, political leaning, teaching record, ethnicity/gender, personality – these are the things that matter in the end, especially once you reach the interview stage.
Also, a bigger issue for many is how to get reference letters at all. Some faculty will get 5-10 requests for letters from students applying for the same job. I know some faculty who have a policy of writing 2 letters max for any given job. This usually means they will only write letters for their own supervised PhD students and everyone else is SOL. On the other hand, other faculty will write an unlimited number of letters, which can have the effect of watering down the value for all.
I would like to see universities adopt a more standardized and fair way of getting references – one that reflects the reality that many jobs receive well over a hundred applicants, all of whom have to get letters from the same small cadre of faculty. I think it’d be better if contacts for three references would have to be listed on your CV – these would only by contacted after a shortlist has been created.
Your points are well taken, reference letters are only one element of an application package, but in a tight competition, which is more likely in a market like the current one, small discrepancies may carry more wieght than usual when it comes to differentiating otherwise stellar candidates.
This point was raised in a recent article in The Chronicle http://chronicle.com/blogPost/Recommendation-Letters/20860/?sid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
Your idea of the impact the opinions of referees has and at what point they should be introduced into the process is an interesting one. I can see how it might streamline the process for committees, but would it be as beneficial for the applicants I wonder.
Provided you are in good terms with your employer, it may be a good idea ti to write a suggested reference letter, containing the information that is most valuable to you, and let the employer edit it. I have done on several occasions, and the employers have actually just recopied my letter.
Dear sir/madam,
Hello! I am a student in my second year of master degree. I’d like to ask about who to be invited as referee.
As my master degree is a part-time one, most of us only get evening classes once or twice a week. We have different professors for different courses, and some courses even get two professors to share the whole course. As a result, the time of interaction between professors and individual student is very limited. And some classes are very large comprising of more than 50 students, so the professors may not even have chance to recognize any individual student.
So, I’d very much like to ask, in such a case, it is very difficult for me to find a suitable referee to invite. Then, what shall I do?
Thank you for your kind attention.
Elaine – great question! As a Masters student considering a PhD program, I think its safe to assume you have done very well in your classes. This alone will raise your professors’ awareness of you.
It is also a good idea to actively foster a relationship with professors you would consider asking for letters of support by attending their office hours and discussing your research questions and plans with them It doesn’t need to take alot of time, and most profs are delighted to speak with serious students.
Your profs can also be excellent sources of information about good schools in your field and may even be able to provide introductions to colleagues at prospective schools for you to contact and beging ‘conversing’ with online prior to submitting an application. This will increase your chances of finding a program that is a good fit for your research interests. It can also increase your chances of getting into a program if you can show that you have shared research interests with their faculty.
If you are serious about applying to a PhD program, it is very important that you make the time to develop relationships with faculty – make it a priority!