The Career Center offers a recommendations file service to assist you in your search for employment and/or admission to graduate or professional school. A file may be started at any point during your academic career or after graduation. The best time is whenever you feel the need to retain a recommendation in a centralized place for future use. To open a recommendations file, please stop by the Career Center to pick up a registration packet or download the packet here: Recommendation Documents to Download.
It is your responsibility to solicit and have sent to the Career Center any letters of recommendation you wish to place on file. It is wise to solicit recommendation letters several months in advance of application to graduate/professional school or anticipated employment. You may have as many recommendations on file as you wish. A minimum of three and a maximum of five is suggested. Keep in mind that most graduate/professional schools require letters of recommendation which are written by Deans, faculty members or others who know your academic work.
All original letters become the property of Lawrence University and are stored in the Career Center. Upon your written request, copies are released.
Once a recommendations file is established, you have the security of knowing that copies are easily accessible for employer or graduate/professional school use. The file eliminates the necessity, in future years, of locating people whom you would like to recommend you.
In some cases, a recommender prefers to write separate letters of recommendation to each employer or graduate/professional School. You may wish to request that, in addition, the writer place a general letter of recommendation in your file in case you need to use it at a later date.
