Letter of recommendation conundrum

[Novalis88]

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What are the best practices for letters of recommendations? Do medical schools need to know when they written? Is there such a thing as a letter of recommendation that is too old? Do I submit them or do the writers have to submit them? Do letters have to be dated? Etc.

Reason I ask is because my employment will soon be changing. I have recently found out that I’m incredibly underpaid at my current job, to the extent that I’m borderline being taken advantage of, so I found a few other employers all who are offering me much more than the place I’m currently at, with much shorter commute.

However, I’ve been with my current employer for four years and I’m counting on them for a letter of recommendation. They know me very well and have seen my leadership abilities and can speak strongly about them in a letter of recommendation. So you can see my conundrum.

I want to get the letter of recommendation before I bounce, since my leaving will probably burn that bridge and my manager would probably not write me a letter in the future.

Can I get my letter now, then use it when I eventually apply to schools two years from now? Or will it be known that the letter is not recent?

 

[Dragonite7]

One of my letters wasn't dated and I got an email from a school asking me to have the professor reupload it with the date it was written, so I would say that letters should be dated.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

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To the questions: yes, letters should have a date on them as well as an authentic signature (loosely defined), and appropriate branding when allowed. Figure out what the policy would be for your supervisor to use company-branded letterhead for your LOR.

You can get the letter now and put it in a dossier. (SDN has a discount code for PrivateFolio so check them out.)