GoKawiilRequiring many letters of recommendation at the first stage of a job application can sink jobseekers’ chances.Credit: frema/iStock via Getty
Late last year, a colleague showed me a job posting that he was interested in. The research aligned perfectly with his training, the laboratory was prestigious and the timing was right for his next career move.
But he let the application deadline pass by without submitting, when he realized he needed to supply three letters of recommendation.
A reference from his current supervisor, the most relevant person to speak about his recent work, was not something he felt able to ask for. He had already exhausted his supervisor’s goodwill on previous applications and further straining the relationship for yet another request was not viable.
The opportunity disappeared, not because he lacked the skills, but because he felt that he could not clear this procedural barrier.
His story is not unusual. It plays out constantly in labs around the world because of a hiring practice that has outlived its usefulness: requiring several letters of recommendation at the first stage of a job application.
As a physician-scientist who has worked in Japan, the United States and southeast Asia, I have watched this problem repeat itself across borders and institutions. The reference paradox, as I have come to think of it, punishes vulnerable researchers, rewards those with privileged connections and shrinks the talent pool of science.
A system built for a different era
Fifty years ago, letters of recommendation made sense. They verified that candidates were real, had completed their training and possessed the skills that they claimed. Hiring committees had few other ways to confirm these facts. If you were looking for a scientist with experience in mouse microsurgery and received an application, then a signed reference letter was one of the only ways to verify their experience.
But that world no longer exists. Today we have Google Scholar, ORCID, PubMed and databases of institutional credentials that store records of academic and professional achievements. A hiring committee can verify a candidate’s publications, citation metrics, grant history and clinical experience in minutes. The verification function of letters of reference has been entirely replaced by digital transparency.
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