A Few Recommendation-Letter Questions

An anonymous commenter has asked several questions about rec letters:

1. If you've been out of grad school for a few years (and your research is no longer focused on the questions you dissertation concerned), will hiring committees still expect you to have a letter from your dissertation supervisor? And what about the other members of your dissertation committee? 
2. Relatedly, if your dissertation supervisor has not been reading your most recent work, would it be inadvisable to still include a letter from him/her? 
3. How common is it to ask someone you have not met in person for a letter? Is doing so commonly considered rude? (I'm thinking of someone who you've exchanged papers or comments with via email; an expert in your field who has said nice things about your work). 
4. And is a hiring committee likely to be put off by a letter that includes a sentence like "while I have not actually met so-and-so . . ."?

I can't speak to all of these, but in response to (1), I expect SC's will expect you to have a letter from your dissertation advisor as well as another committee member or two (I expect they would find it very strange -- a yellow flag, if not a red one -- for you not to have any letters from your diss committee). In response to (3), my experience is that it is common and isn't considered rude at all, provided you have indeed exchanged papers, emails, etc.

Any thoughts from the rest of the community?

Comments

[Rachel]

I feel really bad that this hasn't gotten *any* response. I think it's because we just don't know the answers.

However, I can say something about #3: It's more common than you think, and it's not inappropriate to do this. Just ask. The worst that can happen (and I mean this) is that they'll say no. Of course, just how you do it is important.

Something like this: Hello, [Dr. X]. I'm writing hoping that you might be willing to write me a reference letter that I could put in my job file. If you could find the time, I've attached my CV and a couple papers/publications. If possible, I'd love a chance to have a chat at [upcoming conference Y].

Of course, you don't have to include the last part, but if you can write this before going to a conference where you're pretty sure X will be, then this form of networking is KEY.

Also, you should be doing this *anyway.* I almost always plan to meet a few new people at conferences, often from blog or Facebook interactions :)

[Daniel]

In response to Rachel on #3, I'm not so sure that the worst that can happen is that the person says no. I've heard from many people that positive but nevertheless short or less-than-extremely-enthusiastic letters can hurt a candidate. When you ask somebody for a letter who you don't know, and who's not invested in you as a candidate, you run a risk of getting such a letter. If you have a placement director who can look at the letter first and decide whether or not to include it in your file, then there's no problem. But in case, being a few years out, you don't have access to that sort of service, I think you're running a risk including a letter in your file written by somebody who doesn't know you all that well, unless you're very confident that the letter will be very good.

[Rachel]

Sorry, there was a background, unstated assumption that a candidate could have someone (like a placement director) to review the letter to decide whether it's suitable for inclusion.

My "what's the worst that could happen" comment was merely about the act of *asking* for the letter. Yes, I completely agree with the caveat.