What should a work supervisor put in a recommendation letter for someone applying to statistics PhD programs? This fall, I'll be applying to PhD programs in statistics in the U.S. I'm currently a full-time student in an applied math master's program in the U.S.; until this fall, I was a part-time student and a full-time data analyst at a financial services company. It looks like I'll only be able to get two good recommendation letters from professors, so I'm considering asking my former work supervisor to write one for me. She was my supervisor for two and a half years, during which time we worked together closely on many projects. She doesn't have a PhD in statistics or any other field, but she was a data analyst before becoming a manager. What sorts of things should I ask her to write about in her letter? The professors I'm going to get letters from taught statistics classes that I took and are supervising statistical research that I'm doing; I'm guessing that I should ask my former supervisor to write about things that my professors might not touch on, but I'm not sure what those things should be.
The readers of such letters will normally be looking for predictions of success in the academic program and thereafter. The past is less important (what you have already done) unless it supports that prediction of success.
If the letter writer understands that, and they are supportive, then you should be fine. But a &quot;bald&quot; statement that &quot;I predict the success of this person.&quot; is too easy to discount. It needs to be a bit more subtle than that.