Recommendation Letter Interfaces
Disclaimer: I'm not trying to say that I dislike writing letters of recommendation or filling out reference forms. In fact, I consider it a great honor and a unique privilege when a student asks me to be a reference for them. However, things can get a little uneasy and a little frustrating when working with some of the online interfaces that are out there.
I've only been teaching at a university for a few years, but I've had over a dozen students contact me about submitting letters of reference (letters of recommendation) for a wide variety of positions (including graduate school positions, scholarships, internships, and the like). This process has turned out to be more stressful than I originally thought possible, because each institution handles recommendation letters differently. The lack of consistency between different interfaces can be frustrating to deal with, especially when multiple students have requested letters for multiple different positions at the same time.
I understand that the setup for a graduate school application will be different from a scholarship application, which will be different from an internship application. That said, I would like to see more standardization of the process. That would benefit everyone, including the applicants, the institutions, and the recommenders themselves.
Before I go any further, here is a summary of my different experiences to help illustrate why consistency is an issue (I will be omitting specific names for obvious reasons):
- One interface I used only sent a confirmation email to the recommender and not the applicant, because they use a generic webpage that cannot be directly linked to the applicant. That is, after the letter is submitted, someone has to figure out who the submitted letter is associated with. This is a problem if two applicants have similar names or an applicant goes by a name different than their given name (e.g. someone named "Jonathan" goes by "John" or someone uses their middle name instead of their first name).
- One interface has a needlessly strict policy that doesn't allow recommenders to communicate with the hiring staff after the application has been submitted. This is a problem if you want to include information that has arisen since the letter's submission. This is also a problem if you make a mistake (we are all humans, after all).
- Some interfaces have a box for text and also have a button for uploading a file. It would be better to have just the text boxes or just have a button that can be used for uploading files. Even better, I encountered one webpage that had the "submit" button very close to the "upload file" button. One unfortunate mouse slip or mis-click and you've got a mistake to correct.
- Some interfaces send a confirmation email to the applicant and not the recommender. As the recommender, it would be nice for me to confirm that the institution got everything they needed from me.
- One institute didn't even have an interface and just required all application materials be sent to an email address. I'd be concerned about a student's application or my letter incorrectly getting thrown into a "spam" or "junk mail" folder.
- One interface I've used repeatedly has a session timer. Better hope your Internet browser doesn't spontaneously freeze up or crash on you (or your Internet goes out or your power goes out). If that timer expires or your computer decides to have an untimely problem, you're out of luck (this is the same interface that doesn't allow you to communicate with the hiring staff!).
As far as design goes, some layouts are more intuitive than others. Some layouts are more robust than others. But, as someone who has designed webpages and web apps professionally (including experience in the private sector), I frequently see room for improvement or minor details that should be fixed.
Here's what I would like to see:
- Have the institution send confirmation letters to both the applicant and the recommender. That way, both parties know the reference form was completed. In the email, include a point of contact in case there was an issue.
- Put plenty of space between individual buttons, text boxes, and menus; and use large font sizes. This minimizes the chance of a mis-click and makes the individual features easier to identify (especially for people with visual impairments).
- Either have one text box for the written recommendation or have an upload button. Don't have both and don't have more than one text box.
- I've had students submit me as a reference without contacting me beforehand. Include an option that says "this student needs to discuss this with me before I submit a reference". This should send the applicant an email saying something to the effect of "this recommender has requested that you meet with them before a letter can be submitted".
- If an applicant puts down a recommender and then removes the recommender (before the recommendation is submitted), an email should be sent to the recommender informing them of this. If the recommendation has been submitted, the applicant cannot remove the recommendation (only the recommender can remove the recommendation).
- No session timers. This is a silly idea that only adds an extra failure point. Usually, uploading and submitting a reference letter doesn't take more than 10 minutes anyway (writing the letter is the most time consuming process).
A lot of these details are not much to ask for, and I say that as someone who has had to deal with requests to have major features added to a web app that require multiple days to fully incorporate. For interfaces that already send automated emails, you can just send a different email to another recipient. The spacing between website features can be adjusted by literally just changing a few numbers. The last two suggestions may be a bit much to ask for, but it would make my life a lot easier. I don't like being blindsided by an unexpected recommendation request, and I don't like it when I go to the trouble of submitting a reference only to have my reference deleted by the applicant.
Obviously, I'm not the only one who has to submit references on the behalf of others. But, I'd like to think I'm not the only one who takes issue with some of the websites that manage references. If anyone involved in designing webpages to handle reference forms happens to be reading this, please do me (and other people, including your own staff) a favor and make these webpages as painless to use as possible.