official letterhead?

[whatever]

Question: Do you use official department letterhead when you send out cover letters?

I do not. I format my letter like any standard business letter, with my address, recipient's address, etc., at the top, but no letterhead or logo.

Have I been doing it systematically wrong this whole time?

[jobplease]

As with everything else, opinions on this differ. A professor once told me that others would see letterhead as horribly tacky, because I'm not a member of the department (ouch!). Others claim that it is absolutely imperative to do so, because otherwise your application will be tossed immediately for not being professional.

In reality, it probably does not matter so do whatever makes you want...

[junior]

I say when in doubt, use letterhead. BUT any department that doesn't want to consider you because you don't use it sounds awfully petty.

[616e6f6e]

I think that this is one of those issues that people obsess over mainly because it is one of the few aspects of the labor market we have control over rather than because it actually matters. (I'm not saying the OP is obsessing, just to be clear). Same with issues like the paperclip v. staple debate, dressing up for phone interviews, etc.
Plus, there is a lot of institutional variation in the circumstances where you can use letterhead/the school logo, so while it can never hurt it certainly isn't a requirement. At the university where I got my MA for example, we couldn't use the logo or letterhead for anything except an IRB sanctioned survey under very specific conditions. Even using the logo on a poster or professional presentation required written permission and took weeks to process. At my PhD institution there are no rules at all from what I can tell. Everyone just uses letterhead and the logo as they please. And I do use letterhead for my cover letters, but I might get rid of it to give me some more room to blabber.

[anon2]

The letterhead is another part of the impression management you are about to do for the next few months. Despite what people may tell you about its importance, it does matter--though obviously not as much as other things like your publication record. My general sense is that the more prestigious your university, the more it matters. That is, people on search committees notice high ranked departments and tend to set them aside when going through the stacks of applications. There are various motivations behind why people do this (not all are good) and while I do not agree with it in practice it is what it is. In short, yes, it does matter. Unfortunately, there is no way to predict how it matters.

[yep]

University letterhead is for university business. If you write a reference letter, sure, put it on letterhead. But for an application packet? Kinda tacky. Why risk being tacky? If you have a prestigious university name, you just put it in the first line when you talk about your PhD and/or current position.

[crimey]

My committee told me to use letterhead. In fact, for electronic applications they told me to print out a cover letter on letter head, sign it in blue ink, and then scan it as a PDF to upload to the application website. Pretty detailed instructions. I chose to follow them.

[anon111]

I don't understand all the discussion over the "right to use" letterhead. I have never seen a case where a search committee saw letterhead as "tacky" or "inappropriate" and it just doesnt make any sense that someone on a committee would even care. Lots of people use letterhead in applications so it isn't like it would stand out. Besides, in many cases you are an employee of the University as a TA or RA so it is entirely appropriate to use it. Indeed, I recall a number of situations as a graduate student where I was required to use letterhead (book requests, human subjects, grants, etc...). In the end, I don't think it will make a big deal either way, so if you don't feel comfortable doing it, then don't do it.

[yep]

When I give responses like this, I am channeling a certain senior professor in my department. He would definitely find this tacky.

My own feeling - why bother? You're wasting time and effort that could be used for doing additional job applications.

[slinky]

I sat on a VAP search committee. Letterhead was the norm, not the exception. And, honestly, I took the letters more seriously from those who had letterhead (especially if they were ABD). Made it look like the candidate was plugged in to their department and the field. Letters without that official imprint, composed in Times New Roman Font, reminded me a bit of a person writing cranky letters to the editor from their basement.

[lookielou]

Use letterhead. (You only have to use letterhead for the first page, if it's a print application.)

I got my department to create virtual letterhead so that grad students on the market and faculty writing job letters could use it. Your department may already have it.

In my department, SC members remember how tough it is to be on the market and acknowledge the fact that not all applicants have access to institutional letterhead, especially if they're in departments in which requests for supplies are strictly scrutinized.

Cut applicants some slack. Use their qualifications as reasons to put them into the competitive batch of applications, not whether they use letterhead or not.

[greatdebate]

For electronic apps, I copy/paste my current uni's logo as a header on the first page of my cover letter. Paper apps are printed with the first page on official letter head. After all, I work here, and this shows that I've at least been entrusted with a key to the supply closet.