Something a little different from me this week!
A friend and fellow doctor (in sociology) found this fascinating blog posting and I thought it worthy of publishing here, see what you think here
Although it is rather full of ‘American-speak’ I think it’s really relevant for jobseekers of all levels on this side of the Atlantic too. The basic message is think about your referees’ letters, they could be all-important in helping to get that job. When I was searching for my permanent job I was extremely fortunate in that my referees were world-renowned scholars in their field and they knew my work extremely well. But it is worth considering who you ask to be a referee and when: the decision can be laced with all sorts of political overtones and could make or break your job application.
Paul Kei Matsuda who wrote the original blog reckons the best way to get a good referee’s letter is to provide them with lots of information about yourself, not just a flimsy CV. Don’t assume that your supervisor/examiner/tutor knows everything about your education, jobseeking history, hopes for the future, spell it out to them! As someone who will be writing references for my 3rd year undergrads for the first time this year I completely concur with this advice: the more info you can provide, the better reference I will write.
Matsuda also emphasizes that you should choose someone with a close working relationship to you…don’t necessarily go for that big name who said something nice in passing. Again, this is really good advice. There is a time and a place for academic name-dropping, but referees’ letters are not that place.
It’s an area of job applications that many people don’t think about (they just assume that a referee will write a decent letter and leave it entirely in their hands). But you should spend as much time thinking about referees’ letters as about your CV or covering letter: it’s a vital part of the process.
