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Applying for jobs without a letter from one’s postdoc supervisor?

In our September “how can we help you?” thread, a reader asks:

I’m wondering if anyone has experience or advice on applying for jobs as a postdoc without a letter from your current supervisor. Things started out well, but deteriorated after several months for reasons that remain somewhat mysterious to me. Recently my supervisor told me they will not be writing me a letter. I have strong letters from my dissertation advisor and other faculty I worked with during grad school which I can use (they’ve all been updated). But I’m not sure how to navigate not having a letter from my current position (for instance, how to talk about the situation if I’m asked directly about it).

I’m very sorry to hear this happened to the OP. Do readers have any helpful insights to share?

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6 responses to “Applying for jobs without a letter from one’s postdoc supervisor?”

  1. Anonymous

    I applied to jobs without a letter from my postdoc supervisor. We never quite clicked so weren’t close and he was hands off enough that I didn’t have a sense he actually knew my work well, so I never asked him. In my experience postdoc supervisors in our field aren’t really “supervisors” as they are in the science, nor like advisers in many cases. Lots of times they are just the person with the grant or the person the department tasked with the job. Nobody asked me about it in the slightest when I was on the market, and I got a job, so i think it can be fine. I’m not sure it stands out, at the very least not unless your supervisor very obviously works in exactly the same area.

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  2. Anonymous

    Well, this isn’t great news, but I wouldn’t worry about it too much for job applications. I can only imagine someone asking about it if they have hired you and are gossiping with a new colleague. More likely, by the time that happens, they’ll have forgotten who wrote (and didn’t) your letters anyway.

    It’s true that this could hurt you with some committees, but so can literally any aspect of your profile. If you have current supportive letters, that will be fine for many places. The supervisor might not have been well-positioned to write a letter anyway, for a variety of reasons. You haven’t been at the job that long, they’re lax about oversight, you’re in a research postdoc and committees want someone to vouch for your teaching, the supervisor is mostly working in an AOS that differs from the one you’re applying in, they’re writing European letters for American jobs…

    One thing to try is see if there’s someone else not from your grad program who would write a letter. But that’s probably something to think about doing regardless your relationship with this scholar.

    In brief: don’t give this a lot of emotional energy and just work on stuff that will help you get a job at a more supportive place.

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  3. Anonymous

    I agree with the above comments – it isn’t a big deal not to have a letter from your post-doc supervisor (though I’m sorry to hear about the problems…) One thing to consider: depending on how much teaching you’ve done prior vs. during your post-doc, you might consider asking someone (else) to “sit in” on a couple of the classes you’re teaching while a post-doc, if you think they could say something good and useful about your teaching in a letter.
    If you’ve done a lot of (solo) teaching prior to this post-doc, and already have letters that talk about your teaching, then I don’t think you have to worry about this, either. But some folks don’t do much if any solo teaching until their post-doc – and some then do quite a bit of teaching during the post-doc. If you fall into this latter category, this is something to consider. But the person you ask doesn’t have to be your official “research” supervisor.

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  4. Anonymous

    Second all the comments. It’s not ideal but nothing to worry about.
    (Not ideal does not mean bad: imagine getting a beautiful garden with an ugly tree. it is still beautiful just not ideal.)

    It will only become a problem if you are several years out (>1) and still don’t have a letter outside your graduate school.

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  5. Anonymous

    I did this. I had a good reason. I’m sure it raised some concerns, but I got a job.

    Honestly, at the end of the day, the only thing you can do is to apply anyway, and in the somewhat unlikely situation you’re directly asked about it, just try to stay positive and emphasize the reasons why you *did* choose your other writers over the reasons why you *didn’t* choose your supervisor.

    Reply
  6. Anonymous

    just adding my name to the pile: I never asked my postdoc supervisor for a letter and landed a good permanent job

    Reply

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