I interviewed for a spring semester RA position with a professor a few days ago and just received an email stating that I was selected. I'm pleased; however, I didn't have the professor for class (the job was posted on the school's job bank), I hadn't met him/her before the interview, and I don't know anyone who knows him/her well (I'm a 1L). This normally wouldn't bother me too much, except that the prof was rather rude throughout the interview (showed up late without apology, spoke sarcastically/critically of colleagues, etc.). Further, it seems suspicious that a 1L was chosen, given that a 2L/3L would probably be a bigger asset to the prof and one would think that 2Ls/3Ls would jump at the chance to earn some easy money over the semester--unless, as I suspect, the prof is a jerk.
That brings me to my question: before accepting, can I ask the prof for a reference of a past RA? I'm leaning toward just accepting the position, working for a few days and simply quitting if I feel that the prof's attitude isn't worth the hourly wage, but the project is time-sensitive and I'd hate to cause the prof to miss a deadline.
Asking RA prof for a student reference Forum
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Anonymous User
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TB12
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Re: Asking RA prof for a student reference
Please tell me this is a joke.
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Anonymous User
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Re: Asking RA prof for a student reference
OP here. It's not. Care to elaborate?TB12 wrote:Please tell me this is a joke.
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LawIdiot86
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Re: Asking RA prof for a student reference
Professors ARE pushy and rude because there is no incentive for them to be nice to new underlings whom they can load up with grunt worth. We're young and worth a dime a dozen. For the first couple years of our career it's expected we will be abused by professors and partners like you've described. Then we gain experience and become actual contributing members of society, which means they treat us better. It's just paying your dues.Anonymous User wrote:OP here. It's not. Care to elaborate?TB12 wrote:Please tell me this is a joke.
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TB12
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Re: Asking RA prof for a student reference
Most profs have huge egos. They're not going to take kindly to a 1L making them get references to prove that they're worthy of your summer plans.Anonymous User wrote:OP here. It's not. Care to elaborate?TB12 wrote:Please tell me this is a joke.
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