Hi Brian, Very good point! There are even potential candidates that will not apply for a position because they don't want to keek annoying the providers of the letters.
Fidele On Wed, Aug 30, 2017 at 9:27 PM, Patrick, Brian <[email protected]> wrote: > Dear colleagues, > > > > I have noticed over the years a significant increase in the number of > position announcements that state that full applications must include three > letters of reference. As someone who has been on numerous search > committees, has written a fair number of letters of recommendation, and has > applied for a fair number of jobs, I can honestly say that this is > exceptionally inconvenient to applicants, to those writing the letters, and > not necessary for an initial application. A list of at least three > references should be sufficient for an initial application. > > > > Let’s be honest, in a large stack of applications, only a few tend to > bubble to the top, and they extremely-rarely-to-virtually-never do so > because of their recommendations. Search committees, please do NOT require > three letters up front. It is largely unnecessary and extremely > inconvenient (for the candidate and letter writers) to provide this > information if the candidate doesn’t even make the cut for a phone > interview. It’s a wasted effort for the vast majority of job applicants > and for those writing those letters for the vast majority of job applicants. > > > > In short, ask for a list of references only. If letters from those > references are needed from a few candidates for whatever reason, then make > the request after making the initial trim of the pool to the candidate list. > > > > If you do not have a choice whether or not this is required, then it needs > to be explained to the HR person or whoever makes that call that it is > largely an inconvenient waste of many people’s time to provide the letters > up front. It is always better to ask for a list of references. > > > > Thank you for your time and for letting me express my opinion on this > topic. Too many young scientists are put in awkward positions because they > have to ask for 14 letters from the same few people. Personally, I try to > personalize each letter I write to the institution or type of job for which > the candidate is applying. It gets very annoying to have to provide this > when a colleague applies for a job that may be a stretch for them (but they > should still apply!). I think they should apply, and I want them to > apply—my ire lies with the committees that make that up-front request for > all applicants. > > > > Thank you again for your time! > > > > Best regards, Brian > > > > ----------------------------------------------------------- > > L. Brian Patrick, Ph.D. > > Associate Professor of Biology > > Department of Biological Sciences > > Dakota Wesleyan University > > 1200 W. University Ave. > > Mitchell, SD 57301 USA > > Office: 605-995-2712 <(605)%20995-2712> > > >
