How long does a recommendation letter last? and copies of recommendation letters (college, good)

[dontfret]

I'm not sure if this is the right forum to ask this question.

I am looking for an internship and I wonder how long does a recommendation letter, written by my professor, last?

What happens if I need to use my professor's recommendation letter after a year when I have graduated from my college? Does this mean the recommendation letter has expired?

And then the issue with applying for many jobs. Let say I apply for five jobs that all need an academic reference. How do I send five recommendation letters to each of the five companies when my professor only wrote one for me? Can I copy the only one recommendation letter and send out the 4 copies to the rest of the companies who don't get the original letter?

[J Andb]

If you use a good color printer and a good quality paper, a copy will be fine. ...It's only when they have used disappearing ink, do you have a problem.

[zthatzmanz28]

Many employers do not want letters that are over 18 months. I always upload mine on the computer and just change the dates.

But there are some that only want "recent" employers within the past 12 months or so.

[dontfret]

Oh no, I can't get one professor to write 5 recommendation letters, and who has time to write that many?????

[zthatzmanz28]

Originally Posted by dontfret

Oh no, I can't get one professor to write 5 recommendation letters, and who has time to write that many?????

Why would they need to write 5 letters?

[dontfret]

Originally Posted by zthatzmanz28

Why would they need to write 5 letters?

Because I'm applying for 5 different jobs, guess one professor has to write 5 if I were to provide references

[Everdeen]

Whenever I ask someone to write a letter of recommendation, I offer to write it for them. Usually, they are relieved. Then all they have to do is sign it. Unless you put something really outlandish in it.

[dontfret]

Originally Posted by Everdeen

Whenever I ask someone to write a letter of recommendation, I offer to write it for them. Usually, they are relieved. Then all they have to do is sign it. Unless you put something really outlandish in it.

I did this one time because my supervisor asked me, but I wasn't sure if it was ok in terms of basic letter-request etiquette. I mean it's not considered "presumptuous" or "arrogant" requesting to write my own and let people sign the letter right?

[Mack Knife]

Here is how it works. If you have a written letter (not some email garbage) it lasts as long as the person that write it can attest to your qualifications in whatever capacity they are aware of, not one minute longer.

If you are depending on a letter that is five years old, good luck because if you can't dig up another to cover that 5 years, whatever someone wrote then isn't worth squat now. You are leveraging good intentions if you use old letters of recommendation and don't be surprised if the person who wrote the letter qualifies their recommendation if someone wants to verify it. You will looked upon poorly and burned a bridge.

If you need a letter, get one that is current; in other words within the time period that doesn't have a gap between the letter date and the need that you'd have to explain, without another letter from someone else that is consistent in recommendation to the first.

[dontfret]

Thanks! This is helpful!