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In our new "how can we help you?" thread, a reader asks:
When applying for jobs, does it matter how recent your sample is? I’d be inclined to submit an older sample (circa 2021) due to concerns about length and controversial ideas in my more recent publications. But would this look fishy?
2021 wasn't all that long ago, but I'm not certain "how old is too old" here.
What do readers think?
FWIW, the advice I’ve gotten is that your writing sample should be your best work in the job AOS, regardless of how recent it is.
I am definitely on the side of thinking that sending something old looks bad. (I can’t even count the number of search committees I’ve been on.) Your work should be getting more mature and better; and ultimately we’re more interested in where you are heading than where you have been.
OP doesn’t say their career stage but I think it makes a big difference whether you are a graduate student applying for a first job or a TT applying for lateral moves. My impression is that your writing sample should be your best work and your best work should be recent. If those two things come apart it’s better to send better work than more recent work, but it will be notable that your ws is 4 years old. However, exactly what inferences committees draw from this may reasonably depend on how much of your total career has elapsed since.
Sending something old will prompt the question, “But what have they been doing in the meantime?”
This is likely to cause the committee to review your recent controversial papers as well.
For more research-oriented positions, I suspect that you have nothing** to gain by not sending in one of your more recent papers. If you send in an older writing sample, this would only delay, but not prevent, your “controversial” ideas from being read. Surely search committee members would still look at your recent work (even if you didn’t attach it as part of your application) and ask about those papers in the event that you’re invited for an interview, no?
For teaching-oriented positions or teaching-leaning positions, I’m not sure.
**Assuming that the quality of writing and quality of reasoning are better in the newer papers. I second what “post doc” mentioned above
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