Approaching people for recommendation letters

In our newest "how can we help you?" thread, Sam writes:

I wondered if anyone had any advice or strategies regarding when and how to ask senior members of the profession for letters of recommendation. There are a few such people whom I know well and who I know think very well of me as a philosopher but haven't read much, or any, of my work. I feel bad asking them for recommendations since it seems like I presume that to write a good letter they would have to get to know my written work, and so it seems like a much bigger ask than simply writing a letter (which is already not a significant ask!). I would also hugely appreciate any general strategies for approaching people. In general I am not such a confident person, and in particular I am really concerned that those I ask would think that I had an ulterior motive in building relationships.

This is a good query, and having been in Sam's position, I expect many other readers may be in a similar position too. One reader submitted the following reply:

Sam I think you misunderstand letters. No one should be writing a letter for you if they have not read your work. They cannot say anything worth including in an application, unless they have read your work. So it is hard for me to understand what you mean when you say such people think very well of you as a philosopher.

However, this doesn't seem to be what Sam is saying. Sam seems to recognize that to write a good letter, a letter-writer will presumably need to have read his work. Sam just seems to be (quite reasonably) concerned with asking someone who hasn't read his work to write a letter because that would require the person to actually sit down and read his work--which is a lot to ask! (Also, as an aside, there are plausible grounds for someone to think highly of you without reading your work: you may have had good philosophical conversations with them, they may have attended a talk of yours and complimented you on your presented paper, etc.). Anyway, bearing all of this in mind--namely, that Sam's concern is about coming across poorly in asking someone who hasn't read his work to write a letter--I think Sam's query is a very good one.

So, what do you all think? Do you have any good strategies for approaching senior members of the profession for letters? I'll just quickly say that, in my experience, there is little harm in asking, provided you have at least some previous background with the person and do so tactfully--and, I think 'fortune favors the bold', as it were. But I do think having some real background with the person is probably key here. If you're going to email someone for a letter, it should probably be the case that if they see an email in their Inbox from you, they will both (A) know who you are, and (B) have some previous interactions with you (even if it is just a few conversations at conferences, for example). If both of these conditions are satisfied, you can (I think) simply write the person a kind email asking if they would be willing to write you a letter, noting that you would be grateful but will of course understand if they must decline. I've done something like this on a number of occasions, and while on some occasions the person in question has said, "Sorry, but I just don't feel like I know your work enough", in other cases the person was happy to say yes--and, I think, in the grand scheme of things, the latter (at least some people saying "yes") is more important than the former (a few people saying "no"). Finally, I think it is highly unlikely that anyone will be positively offended by you asking, such that they will "remember it forever" and hold it against you (and, if someone does, then I think that's on them, as this seems to be an unreasonable grounds for serious offense).

But these are just my thoughts. What are yours? Do you have any tips for Sam?

Comments

[associate prof at R1]

FWIW--I've asked two different people who didn't know my written work well (or at all) to write letters for me. The first said no. That didn't affect our relationship, as far as I can tell; he still thinks highly of me, we see each other at conferences, everything is fine. (I made sure to couch the request in terms where it was very clear that it would be supererogatory and I was not expecting him to say yes.)

The second said yes, read a bunch of my work, and wrote me what I believe is a very strong letter. We also still have a great relationship. (Both of these were quite a few years ago, but I assume things aren't somehow different now.)

I'm not sure there's a moral here, but if there is I think that is if you ask in such a way where you make very clear that you know this isn't in the standard, required realm of their letter writing, they don't have a special obligation to you, etc., and that you have other options if they say no (so they don't say yes out of feeling bad for you and then write a mediocre letter), I don't think you have much to lose in asking.

[letter requester]

I've never asked someone who I'd either not met in person or who I didn't already know read my work. But I agree with what others have said here: phrase it right and you have nothing to lose. One thing that I say in my request email is that I have other people I can ask for letters and so there's no pressure for them to write one.

[Paul Carron]

it strikes me that this isn't unlike external reviews for a tenure notebook. In that case, it can't be someone from your diss committee or a grad school prof or a co-author or editor of a collection you published in etc. So, someone has to do it who at best you know from conferences most likely. Now, you don't do the asking (you chair does), and it requires a LOT more work, but if folks are willing to say yes to that, then I would imagine some folks would be willing write you a letter.

Now, here's the flip-side. I write lots of letters for undergrads, and my policy is that they need to have taken me for at least 2 classes and received a B+ or higher in each class. I tell them that this is because I need to be able to write a letter with specific examples of their work and intellectual character, and because I want to be able to actually recommend them. So, it would seem that you would be asking for someone to read a good chunk of your work, which isn't a small ask. But if you write it as Marcus suggests, the worse that will happen is that they will politely decline.

[Lady Detective]

For this year's job search, I asked two new people to write and they both said no.

The first person said no in a kind of jerk-like way—"why would you think I would be a good person to write for you?—and the second person, a co-author, said no because he was finishing a book and did not have time to write it.

These rejections lead me on to ask two people much better known in my field and much more familiar with my work to write for for me. And they both said yes immediately.

So, FWIW, I draw two conclusions to pass on:

1. If someone says no to your request for a letter, it may be for the best. They might not be able to write you a strong letter. So don't take it too negatively if you ask and people say no.

2, More importantly, if you are holding back from asking people well known in your field who know your work, because of fear of looking like a fool, don't hesitate.

As Marcus states above, there is really no downside to asking and having people decline you.