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You should ask your references to send the letters directly to the hiring committee. Your references will be more candid in letters that you have not seen and this will increase the credibility of th …

The statement of purpose is helpful to me in writing a letter of recommendation for a student because I can say things in the letter that relate to the specific plans that the student has beyond the m …

From my point of view as a recommendation writer, it's not much harder to send out 5 recommendation letters for a student then it is to send out one letter, since the letters vary only slightly and in …

Assuming that the student had good grades, I'd explain that I couldn't remember the student and that I could only base my recommendation on the transcript. I'd still be willing to write such a letter …

My advice is to start your letter by explaining who you are and your background. For example, you could mention where you went to graduate school and that you think the student could succeed in that …

I would view the letter favorably if the letter writer made it clear that they had observed the candidate's teaching. I've seen some TA training programs where the TA's are observed in the classroo …

In general, when you ask someone to write a letter of recommendation for you and they are unwilling to do so then it is likely that the reason they are unwilling to write a letter of recommendation is …

This is probably not a good idea. A strong letter of recommendation will make it clear how the recommender knows the applicant. If it is apparent that the recommender is a family member, then many r …

I've served on many search committees in a mathematics department. At our institution teaching and research are both important, and I wouldn't describe our institution as entirely "teaching focused." …

In contacting your old professors you might start by reminding them of what courses you took with them and what grades you earned in those courses. It would also be appropriate to supply a copy of you …

In my experience as a letter writer and as a member of graduate admissions committees, it's very rare for graduate admissions committees to contact a reference. On the other hand, it's quite common t …

I've seen this situation. In our department all faculty vote on admission decisions (we don't have a separate committee that is delegated to make these decisions.) The faculty who have written recom …

It would be normal to have some letters of recommendation from professors at your undergraduate institution. In my experience, faculty often write such letters for students a few years after they've …

In general you should ask for a letter of recommendation for a particular purpose at the time you need it. That purpose might be as generic as "admission to graduate programs in my field" or "to get …

Short of asking to draft the letter (which many letter writers consider inappropriate), you can simply ask the letter writer to address particular issues in your letter. You should also supply copie …