Importance of getting post doc recommendation letter from internship supervisor?

[potato4444]

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I am in the process of applying for research-focused post-docs (T32, etc.) One of the positions that I am applying for is at the same institution as my my internship site, with a mentor that has supervised an independent project that I am working on during internship. Because I am applying to work with this person, they cannot write my letter of recommendation for the post doc. As a result, I secured letters from three faculty members who I have collaborated on research projects with.

My question is this: I will also be applying for other post doc positions as well, and I'm wondering how problematic it would be to not have any letters of recommendation from my internship site? If I did ask my current supervisor from internship to write a letter, I would be in the position of asking the other three letter writers to send their letters to certain post doc positions, but not others. On one hand, I know that my letter writers only have to write one letter, regardless of the number of post doc sites that they send that letter to... but I would also worry that they would feel their time was wasted if they find out I took a position somewhere that they didn't send a letter. On the other hand, I worry that it could hurt my application to not have any letters of recommendation from my internship site.

 

[str63]

DCT here. I think it could look like a potential red flag if you don't have any letters from your internship program. Obviously this may be fine for your current place since they know you, but if I was reviewing your application, and you didn't have a letter from a supervisor at your internship (especially one that you were doing research with) I would think this was because he/she couldn't write you a good letter. It's fine to not use the same letters at every site. I don't think someone would be upset that you selected a place where you didn't use one of their letters. I would highly recommend using an internship supervisor for your other sites. Good luck!

 

[WisNeuro]

Yeah, as a reviewer, it is weird when there are 0 internship letters of rec. Over the years I've had a handful of cases where an applicant was at an internship site with people I knew (within the neuro realm) with no internship letters of rec. When I contacted the people I knew there, there was a reason.

Granted, definitely some caveats, but at least for people in the primarily clinical world, definitely looks weird not to have one.

 

[DynamicDidactic]

When I applied for post docs, I used an internship supervisor's letter when applying to more clinical sites. When I applied for research sites, I used only people from my grad program that could speak much more to both my research and clinical skills.

Bottom line: imo, use the letters that can speak best to the position you are applying.

 

[potato4444]

Thank you all for the responses - makes sense!