Adding New References to a CV as a Junior Professor

From Lieter Reports

A tenure-track professor writes:

I got my Ph.D. several years ago, and I thought it might be time to update the list of references on my CV (which currently consists of a handful of my professors from grad school). I've made a number of contacts over the past few years, and I'm not sure how to choose my references. Some are more famous than others, some know me and my work better than others, some seem to like me better than others, some are closer to my area of specialization, some are from (all-around) better ranked universities, some are junior, some are senior, some used to be my teachers, and some are colleagues at my home institution and other institutions I've visited (on fellowship). I also wonder: how many references should I have, and what's involved in their being my reference -- for instance, does it imply that they have written a letter of recommendation for me?"

I'll weigh in at some point, but let me first ask readers for their thoughts.

Posted by Brian Leiter on March 15, 2011 at 05:43 PM in Issues in the Profession | Permalink

I found the following comment the most useful.

Being a reference means that they will write a letter or respond to calls on your behalf. The following are positives: senior, famous, not associated with you as colleague or teacher, knowing your work well, being close to your AOS and likingyour work. The lattr is essential. A weak letter sinks you. I dont think institution matters if the person is well known. But if they are unknown and junior it might a bit. That is not to say that a ref has to have all these to be useful, but each helps.

http://leiterreports.typepad.com/blog/2011/03/adding-new-references-to-a-cv-as-a-junior-professor.html