Which job supervisor for rec letter?

[bricktwelve]

I'm trying to decide which of my clinical job supervisors to ask for a rec letter. This job experience is relatively high-level patient care and will be one of the cornerstones of my application, so it's important the letter is good.

Option 1) Senior Director. Has a PhD, has been working here for ~20 years, the entire department's boss. I know him decently well. See him for ~10 minutes every week or two (but not directly in a clinical setting, just me updating him on patients). He's nice and has definitely written a lot of rec letters, but he's also quite busy and I kind of get the vibe he might end up writing a somewhat generic letter for this reason. It would definitely be a very positive letter, but I'm uncertain of how personal it would be (if at all)

Option 2) Senior ____ (my job title). One of my "direct bosses" that I actually work alongside clinically sometimes. Only has a masters, has only been working here for ~2 years, probably hasn't written many (if any) rec letters. However, he's literally one of the nicest people I've ever met, and would definitely put a lot of time and effort into a thoughtful, personal letter. He's also seen my management of complex patient situations, and actively compliments my critical reasoning/clinical judgements. It would be a very positive, highly personalized letter.

For reasons I don't want to waste space elaborating on, I don't think having them co-write it or having the director just ask "option 2" for his opinions/input would go well.

So... which letter would you recommend?

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[ScottTenorman54]

Option 2, imo. AdComms are very familiar with the "letter from a big name" angle that people try to play, it's not really very useful. Plus, (2) has seen you in a clinical setting. And on top of that, if he's inexperienced with writing letters, he'll probably be more open to suggestions from you about what to include in it.

 

[bricktwelve]

Option 2, imo. AdComms are very familiar with the "letter from a big name" angle that people try to play, it's not really very useful. Plus, (2) has seen you in a clinical setting. And on top of that, if he's inexperienced with writing letters, he'll probably be more open to suggestions from you about what to include in it.

(1) is a very chill person though, and I've heard he often asks people if there's anything specific they'd like the letter to say. While (2) has seen my clinical interactions and reasoning skills more up-close, (1) has seen more of my overall drive that (2) hasn't (like asking for more responsibility, doing more than I'm asked to do, etc). (1) is also "the rec letter guy" for our job (though this isn't a scribe/emt-like job that people apply to med school from, so perhaps others ask (1) because they would be better suited with a letter from someone known in the field). (2) has also definitely talked to (1) about how he thinks I'm very clinically competent, but I'm not sure in how much detail, and, again, how personalized (1) would actually make the letter either way.

Summary: they've both seen different strengths they could advocate for, and (1) has far more experience writing letters while (2) would spend more time on the letter and (I believe) be more personal in it.