Before you start writing a letter of recommendation for a friend, clarify the purpose of the letter itself. Is it for a job, graduate school, a volunteer position, or something else? Understanding the ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Because of the competitiveness of the college admissions process, every piece of an application matters, including a student's ...

Shortly after becoming a full professor, I asked a colleague who had held that rank for years to name the greatest challenge she had faced in this ultimate chapter of faculty life. Her instant reply: ...

You never know when you might get a request to write a reference letter. In many instances, you will need a letter of reference when applying for a job. Either way, it’s vital to understand the ins ...

Here is a common scene: A supervisor agrees to write your letter of recommendation with one condition—you draft it. Shocker. We, too, were surprised the first time this happened to us. We assumed ...

Personal recommendations are an important request and require special attention to make them suitable. If you’ve been asked to write a personal letter of recommendation for a friend, you may have ...

Undergraduates need them for graduate-school applications; PhD students and postdocs use them to apply for fellowships and jobs; senior scientists often have to have them to apply for awards and ...

Question: I’ve just submitted my Ph.D. and will start the job search shortly. The problem is that I had a particularly difficult relationship with my supervisor (Prof X) and I am unable to trust ...

Q. What sort of things do co-op boards look for in reference letters? Are reference letters from out of state acceptable? I’ve only been in New York for six months and I don’t know that many people ...