Letters of recommendation

[letters]

I've been really curious about something. What are search committees looking for in letters of recommendation? How much weight are they given? How much reading between the lines goes on?

Also, when do they read them? After they've narrowed the pool considerably, or closer to the beginning?

[anonime]

I have additional question regarding this. Does the date of the letter matter? I am having a hard time asking a prof updating his letter for me - he just can't be bothered. I have now finished and holding a one year post. Is it okay to just use the old one?

[letters]

My experience having served on multiple search committees:
What are they looking for?
Evidence of scholarly potential. Detail matters. A letter that simply says you are great without discussing why you are so great is worthless even from the illuminati. Seriously a vague letter from the resurrected Durkheim himself wouldn't do much good. Basically a good letter should lay out your strengths and why the research you do is important and how likely you are to keep generating new and good ideas.

How much weight and when?
It varies considerably by department, committee, and individual members. I personally read letters after I had culled the pool down to 15-20 candidates I liked. If in looking through CV and personal statements it was clear the person was not going to be competitive I didn't read their letters. This is not necessarily indicative of how search committees operate. Your milage may vary.

Reading between the lines?
Yes this happens. I try to be very careful about it but sometimes the letter writer is clearly sending a message that they are not enthusiastic. Phrases like "he's a competent data analyst" are not to be taken as a compliment for a job at an R1.

Timing of the letter?
You letters should always be as up to date as possible. Sometimes getting a busy mentor to write a letter can be like pulling teeth but if they can't speak to who you are and the work you are doing now it is not ideal. Also some places have very strict rules and affirmative action policies that only allow them to evaluate complete dossiers. You don't want to miss out on a job just because one of your letter writers was tardy. In that case an on timely slightly out of date letter is better than a late one.

Hope this helps.

[letters]

Yes, that was helpful. Thanks.

OK. Here's another thing. I wanted to be cool and address my letter to an actual person as well as the search committee as a whole, and in a couple cases, I now realize that I addressed it to an administrative assistant who was listed as a contact person. I had just assumed that it was a member of the search committee. Will they think I'm a total idiot?

[dontsweat]

I'm sure you're fine. If someone is going to be that trivial, they could easily find other reasons to shoot you down as well.