Letters of Recommendation and References
Letters of Recommendation
I am usually happy to write letters of recommendation, as long as I feel I’m in a position to speak knowledgeably about your skills and capabilities as a worker or graduate student and have adequate time to write the letter.
Here are some things you can do that will help me write the best letter of recommendation for you:
Give me an ample amount of time to write the letter. I can’t stress this enough (and this is likely true for all of your other professors as well). My schedule is typically booked, so a month or more is really the most preferable timeframe, though I can usually make 2 weeks work. Any timeframe shorter than that is going to be very difficult, or even impossible in some cases.
When you ask via email or in person (either form is acceptable to me), have the following information ready (or included in the email):
If I haven’t seen it already, I’ll also likely ask for a copy of your resume or any other materials that give me a sense of your background or goals so you may want to have those handy.
I also recommend that you request an appointment time to come in and talk to me about your goals and plans. If I can hear directly from you about what you’re planning to do, then that will help me to tailor your letter to your specific goals. It is not completely necessary, but those conversations can be surprisingly helpful when I am writing your letter later.
Follow up. Particularly if you’ve given me a lot of notice, it can’t hurt to follow up once, within a couple of weeks of your deadline, just to make sure the letter is in progress. I’m not impervious to forgetfulness, and your reminder will just put it back at the top of my list if it has gotten overwhelmed by other things.
References
Same thing is basically true for job references, though I realize the materials and timeline are a little different when applying for a job.
Contact me as soon as possible about the possibility of being a reference, let me know what job you’re pursuing and (briefly) why, and, if I can do it, I’ll likely ask you to send me the copy of your resume you used to apply to the job (if possible), just so I know what you’ve emphasized.
I am usually happy to write letters of recommendation, as long as I feel I’m in a position to speak knowledgeably about your skills and capabilities as a worker or graduate student and have adequate time to write the letter.
Here are some things you can do that will help me write the best letter of recommendation for you:
Give me an ample amount of time to write the letter. I can’t stress this enough (and this is likely true for all of your other professors as well). My schedule is typically booked, so a month or more is really the most preferable timeframe, though I can usually make 2 weeks work. Any timeframe shorter than that is going to be very difficult, or even impossible in some cases.
When you ask via email or in person (either form is acceptable to me), have the following information ready (or included in the email):
- What the deadline is (see discussion above)
- What you’d like the letter for (fields/schools/jobs you’re applying to)
- Why you’re asking me (why you think I would be a good recommender for this program or job)
- What the letter submission process is (do I need to mail paper copies, or is there an online system)
If I haven’t seen it already, I’ll also likely ask for a copy of your resume or any other materials that give me a sense of your background or goals so you may want to have those handy.
I also recommend that you request an appointment time to come in and talk to me about your goals and plans. If I can hear directly from you about what you’re planning to do, then that will help me to tailor your letter to your specific goals. It is not completely necessary, but those conversations can be surprisingly helpful when I am writing your letter later.
Follow up. Particularly if you’ve given me a lot of notice, it can’t hurt to follow up once, within a couple of weeks of your deadline, just to make sure the letter is in progress. I’m not impervious to forgetfulness, and your reminder will just put it back at the top of my list if it has gotten overwhelmed by other things.
References
Same thing is basically true for job references, though I realize the materials and timeline are a little different when applying for a job.
Contact me as soon as possible about the possibility of being a reference, let me know what job you’re pursuing and (briefly) why, and, if I can do it, I’ll likely ask you to send me the copy of your resume you used to apply to the job (if possible), just so I know what you’ve emphasized.