It was an exciting time and
I was applying for faculty positions in India. There came a nonsense from NCBS,
india's top research institution. They asked for not two, not three, a total of
eight reference letters ! Here is the text on their web page (https://www.ncbs.res.in/faculty_positions)
as of today:
"You
will also have to provide the names and addresses (including email) of eight
referees who can comment on your application and on your abilities."
(And guess what, they also ask for 2-3 reference letters for students who wants to attend a conference organized by NCBS)
At first it looked strange to me. Then for a while I thought may be the top institutions may need so. I started contacting my peers around. I easily managed assurance from 4-5 of my peers, four of them Indian. Then I contacted a senior professor in my then university of Uppsala. He said he will write for me, but also expressed his surprise on why I am asking him despite having only casual link with him. On my elaboration of the issue, he laughed and said "they are crazy, dont even go to such people". That spontaneous reaction from a successful scientist convinced me that it indeed is bullshit to ask eight reference letters. I never applied to NCBS, a fact that can be verified from NCBS too.
Why am I so hostile to that requirement? First
of all, I never liked the concept to reference letter as prerequisite for an
application to be screened or processed at first place. Well, what if someone's
PhD or post-doc or both PIs turned out be assholes and don't bother about these
automated request flooding in their inbox? Secondly, is there
any "bad" reference letter at all? They are always good, isn't it?
Why to have such a formality then? Thirdly, should not good profile be speaking
itself about the candidate? The Irony is that most institutions (even in
the west) ask for such requirement through their automated online application
system. ONly when all the reference letters reach them, they consider the
application complete. I am not against the reference letters, but considering
these letters as one of criteria for the completion of
the application is nonsense. A candidate with good record deserves to
be interviewed with or without reference letters at first place. Then comes the
role of reference letters to 'only ensure' the suitability of
the candidate for the position. Remember, I did not
invoke a very subjective matter of judgements through reference letters.
How do someone judge us from reference letters given that most of them are
generally good? Does the profile of peer matter? How do they read between the
lines? How to they insulate the professional comment made from personal
opinions? Without invoking these non-trivial issues, the requirement of
such letters to complete the application itself
looks ridiculous. And then you think asking for eight letters
will make you special. Yes, it does but not in scientific excellence but in
advertising your arrogance in a stupid form.
Its very true sir, same is true when a graduate student wants to go a research institute, how can he find good reccomders, as spend just a semester in classes with them and unless he is an extra brilliant student to impress the teacher. One such incident happened with me where I was denied a reccomdation from a teacher I felt was godly in nature, but to my surprise he denied me a reccomdation( although I was a fellowship holder) and preferred the other one based just on linguist ethnicity.. which let me belive that science in india still is 90% sheer luck rather than your hard work being judged...(I request If u can pls continue writing this blog, I found it very intresting and others who read will surely do too..)
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