Why it’s time to bin recommendation letters in science job applications

Requiring 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. …