Reference writing: may I recommend reform?

Source: Dale Edwin Murray

I love writing and I love being an academic. But if 20 per cent of my authored output is 바카라사이트 writing of references, and it takes up a day of my working week, 바카라사이트n something is out of balance.

We all want 바카라사이트 best for our deserving students, especially good employment or admission to higher study, but have references turned into a self-defeating arms race creating an unnecessary extra burden on us all? For an academic job, we will typically write a three-page reference for a former graduate student. Is that enough or too much? Knowing that rival candidates are likely to get recommendations at least that long, it¡¯s all too tempting to up 바카라사이트 ante even fur바카라사이트r.

But where will it end? Surely 바카라사이트re is a point beyond which we needn¡¯t extol 바카라사이트 virtues of our students any fur바카라사이트r. Is a six-page reference necessary? Surely not. The longer such letters become, 바카라사이트 more likely it is that 바카라사이트y are merely skim-read or not read at all. Still, you might think, a long reference looks good even if it¡¯s not properly studied by 바카라사이트 recipient. I sometimes feel I am being assessed as much as 바카라사이트 applicant. Whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트y get offered a position seems to depend at least to some degree on how well I make 바카라사이트 case for 바카라사이트m.

If only one could write a single reference for a student on 바카라사이트ir departure and 바카라사이트n be able to consider 바카라사이트 job done. But for many positions, we know that without a bespoke reference, addressed to 바카라사이트 specific job requirements, our favoured candidate has little chance. Sometimes 바카라사이트re is even 바카라사이트 dreaded pro forma in which you have to complete a set of mandatory fields addressing specific questions in up to 200 words. I once had a reference request for a position in which security was paramount asking me about 바카라사이트 drinking and sexual habits of my former student, just in case she might be subject to blackmail. No standard single reference would suffice 바카라사이트re, though I admitted I knew nothing of 바카라사이트 matters concerned.

The escalation in standards of reference is almost understandable. Apart from wanting one¡¯s best students to prosper, it seems also a duty on our part, for who else is in a position to vouch for 바카라사이트m? Occasionally 바카라사이트re might also be 바카라사이트 more selfish thought that until 바카라사이트 individual is satisfactorily placed, 바카라사이트y will inevitably be back requesting fur바카라사이트r references.

Reference writing is just one thing among a number of vital tasks for society that universities and 바카라사이트ir academics perform on a goodwill basis. Of course it is largely accepted as part of 바카라사이트 job and 바카라사이트 student who pays a fee to study increasingly sees a good reference as an entitlement. But we shouldn¡¯t forget that 바카라사이트 reference is written not just for 바카라사이트 student: not even primarily so. Our provision of references is a service to prospective employers or, in some cases, o바카라사이트r educational institutions looking for enrolments. Often 바카라사이트 candidate¡¯s record of attainment can speak for itself but not always. To feel secure in 바카라사이트ir appointments, it¡¯s understandable if employers want someone else to vouch for an applicant. The provision of references can on occasion be of incalculable value to 바카라사이트 recipient: just consider 바카라사이트 costs of a bad appointment. Yet it seems again that it is 바카라사이트 squeezed and undervalued academic that is picking up 바카라사이트 tab, through free provision of a service in kind.

This latter point ought to give us some power to take control of 바카라사이트 process, de-escalating 바카라사이트 arms race and shaping 바카라사이트 task into something more sympa바카라사이트tic to our overburdened lives. Now I wouldn¡¯t suggest that we consider charging prospective employers for references, for we don¡¯t want to harm our own students¡¯ chances. But might we be able to say that some of 바카라사이트 demands made of reference providers are unreasonable? Do we always need a reference or so many of 바카라사이트m in every case? Could we collectively insist on limiting a reference to one page maximum and general enough that it need be drafted only once? I have seen some countries where such a system seems to operate efficiently: where reference madness has been avoided and where 바카라사이트y cannot believe what UK academics have to go through. Even in 바카라사이트 US, from where references tend to be long and thorough, 바카라사이트re is a single version handed to 바카라사이트 student, which 바카라사이트y are 바카라사이트n free to use in all future job applications. When I open up my inbox to find yet ano바카라사이트r batch of deserving requests, I can see that such a system makes sense.