When applying for post-doctoral and faculty positions you are typically asked for three (sometimes more) reference letters to support your application.
Given that it is competitive out there, it also makes sense to apply for all positions that are good matches to your qualifications and career development goals (in the case of post-docs).
Sometimes this may mean asking for several reference letters (or pre-application "can you support me if required?" requests) in a short space of time.
Also, there may only be a small pool of people (i.e. 3 or 4) who know your work sufficiently well to give an excellent reference.
I have also been told that referees want to help you out, and that there is no reason to fear asking them. And, that in many cases once a letter is written it can typically be quickly repurposed. But there must be a breaking point.
How do I manage this without being disrespectful? How many requests in a given unit of time is too many, or harms my credibility? I am asking this question in this forum, as I am interested in the norms in the academic world, which are often somewhat different than the rest of the working world.
No comments:
Post a Comment