Неплохие статьи о рекоммендациях

1) Getting Good References in Bad Circumstances:

2) How important are letters of recommendation?

3) и, наконец, How to Write a Good Recommendation

Забавное:

• What the letter says: "I am thrilled to provide a reference for Dr. So-and-So, whom I trained and with whom I thereafter collaborated for many years." What the committee members think: The department was supposed to get letters from objective reviewers. Why is it wasting the reference's time, and ours?

• What the letter says: "Dr. So-and-So richly deserves this promotion. She has published 79 papers on Garcia's disease and received 7 NIH grants." What the committee members think: Big deal. We can count, too. This letter writer is too lazy or ignorant to read the work and evaluate it.

• What the letter says: "Dr. So-and-So is a remarkable scholar." What the committee members think: Yes, but remarkably good or remarkably bad? It would be nice for you to tell us.

• What the letter says: "Dr. So-and-So is of good character and meets the highest standards of professional ethics." What the committee members think: Nice to know, but what does that have to do with academic achievement?

• What the letter says: "If my beloved mother, blessed be her memory, had had Garcia's disease, I would have wanted her to be in Dr. So-and-So's care." What the committee members think: What's love got to do with it?