The Philosophers' Cocoon

A safe and supportive forum for philosophers.

Owned & Moderated by Marcus Arvan (University of Tampa)

Contact: marvan@ut.edu

Blog mission & moderation policy

IMPORTANT NOTE on how to ensure anonymity in commenting
Job-Market Reporting Thread (2025-26)
Job-Market Discussion Thread (2026-27)

recent posts

about

Do postdocs need recommendation letters from their postdoc institution?

In our July "how can we help you?" thread, a reader asks:

Does a lack of letter of recommendation from a job applicant raise a red flag for search committees? I'm a postdoc at a pretty good place, but my primary duties are teaching and my supervisor is pretty hands off, and so I haven't developed the kind of relationship with them that asking for a letter, at least for the coming job cycle, would be appropriate (or maybe a postdoc supervisor expects to write a letter eventually?). Should I try to develop a relationship with someone else in the department in the hopes of obtaining a letter? Any thoughts on these issues would be welcome!

Good questions–I suspect the OP would be just fine without a letter from someone at their postdoc institution, provided they have other letters. But maybe I'm missing something. 

What do you all think? It would be great to hear from search committee members and past job-candidates.

Posted in

3 responses to “Do postdocs need recommendation letters from their postdoc institution?”

  1. Robot Overloads, Assistant Prof Edition

    Anecdotes are not data, of course, but I got a TT job last year in the first year of a postdoc without a letter from my postdoc adviser (the postdoc started basically in October, so there wasn’t time to build any relationship before going on the market). The lack of a letter never came up, though it could of course be that places that found its absence notable did not interview me.

    Reply
  2. postdoc in the fall

    We should maybe distinguish first year of a postdoc from subsequent years. I would hope no one would expect you to have a letter from a postdoc advisor for a postdoc that started just a month or two before application deadlines (but maybe I’m way off!). But what about if you’ve already been in the postdoc for a year or more? I don’t have a view on this myself, but I’m curious what others think. Also curious about a different question the OP raises: do postdoc advisors expect to write a letter eventually, the way PhD advisors do, or are you going out on a bit more of a limb asking for a letter as a postdoc?

    Reply
  3. Bill Vanderburgh

    I agree with the general sentiments expressed already, namely, that if you have been in the new position (post-doc or other) for just a few months, a letter from the new institution won’t be missed (partly because it couldn’t have said anything useful anyway). But if it has been a full semester or two, a letter from someone at the new institution (post-doc supervisor, dept chair, even a colleague who has visited your classroom to give feedback) would be beneficial.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Discover more from The Philosophers' Cocoon

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading