Letters of recommendation

The graduate secretary will produce and mail the letters of recommendation section (recommendations from ISU faculty only) for students eligible for placement help. For each dossier being sent, the doctoral candidate needs to give the graduate secretary a typed or emailed information sheet giving the name, school, and address of the person requesting the credentials, and specifying which recommendation letters go to that person. The graduate secretary will need at least three days advance notice for each credential mailing requested.

If doctoral students wish, the complete dossier can be mailed with the letters of recommendation section so that prospective employers get the complete file at one time. Students desiring this option will be able to personalize an entire dossier for a particular audience, but they will need to work closely with the graduate secretary to coordinate the assembling of such a dossier. Because of budget restrictions, doctoral students desiring this option must provide the necessary copies and postage for all materials except the letters of recommendation section.

Due to these same budget restrictions, doctoral students may request mailing of up to 10 copies of their dossier only, assuming that the dossier is less than 50 pages in length. In short, the department will assume costs for mailing up to 500 pages total. Students will assume the responsibility and absorb all costs for mailing more than 10 copies.

Although the department will provide students with up to 25 sheets of letterhead, students should check with their advisors concerning whether or not the use of letterhead is advisable during their job search, since company letterhead is usually restricted for company business.

Possible pieces for student dossiers

a. Dossier

• cover page with list of contents for dossier
• application letter
• vita
• transcripts
• recommendations section:
  • confidentiality statement
  • cover page identifying faculty recommenders (written by candidate)
  • recommendation letters
• writing sample

b. Appendix

• research statement
• teaching portfolio
• a teaching philosophy (1 page)
• a brief comment (1 paragraph) on each class for which materials are submitted
• representative course materials (syllabi, assignments, exams, maybe a few handouts)
• representative evaluation comments (1 page)
• a table of quantitative data from the evaluations
• professional portfolio

Mentoring

To ensure that dossiers look as good as possible, students may want to ask for help in their job search efforts. This help will probably come from mentoring done by POS chairs during the search process. If the POS chair is unable to perform this mentoring, Ph.D. students should check with the Director of Graduate Education, who will put them in touch with a member of the departmental faculty who can serve as an alternate mentor.

Students may also wish to contact LAS Career Services (200 Catt Hall, 294-2542). That office might be able to offer aid in looking for non-academic positions.

In addition, students may also contact the Education Career Services Office (E105 Lagomarcino Hall, 294-3708), which, for a small fee, will handle the mailing of dossiers and letters of recommendation.

Job listings

Job listings sent to the department are often posted on department bulletin boards or via email.