Before you start writing a letter of recommendation for a friend, clarify the purpose of the letter itself. Is it for a job, graduate school, a volunteer position, or something else? Understanding the ...

Here is a common scene: A supervisor agrees to write your letter of recommendation with one condition—you draft it. Shocker. We, too, were surprised the first time this happened to us. We assumed ...

Shortly after becoming a full professor, I asked a colleague who had held that rank for years to name the greatest challenge she had faced in this ultimate chapter of faculty life. Her instant reply: ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Because of the competitiveness of the college admissions process, every piece of an application matters, including a student's ...

You never know when you might get a request to write a reference letter. In many instances, you will need a letter of reference when applying for a job. Either way, it’s vital to understand the ins ...

Personal recommendations are an important request and require special attention to make them suitable. If you’ve been asked to write a personal letter of recommendation for a friend, you may have ...

Undergraduates need them for graduate-school applications; PhD students and postdocs use them to apply for fellowships and jobs; senior scientists often have to have them to apply for awards and ...