Do you need recommendation letters from professors when applying for jobs or internships?
I feel like I’ll be in trouble if I need recommendation letters from professors cause they don’t know me that well.
It’s been my experience that you don’t generally need rec letters for internships. For graduate school generally you do need professor recs. For professional jobs you often need references (which can be from some professors but usually should be from past employers).
I know it’s hard, but try to start getting to know your professors better. Identify a few that seem approachable and swing by their office hours. It’s good to have options.
They are more approachable than you think. I remember being terrified to approach a professor for a rec letter back when I graduated from college. It is one of the scariest things I have ever done, seriously. He could not have been nicer. He asked some questions about my career goals (and laughed, and told me I should shoot higher than the modest ambition I stated). Now I know it is really part of their job to write letters for students when it is feasible.
But you should take a few questions to office hours during the semester to establish a relationship. For grad school (PhD programs) you need three – my junior D has two, but is sweating that third one.
For jobs you often list references and if the company or organization is interested in you they contact those people. Sometimes those people are asked to complete some kind of form or write a letter on your behalf. For internships it depends, but I suspect for most of the competitive undergraduate internships you do have to request letters of recommendation. For graduate school as well. This is where going to office hours and just being cheerful, friendly and interested in your professors can help you a lot.
It depends. D applied to some internships (did not require letters) and some summer research positions (did require letters). So it depends.
Whatever you do, don’t list someone as a reference without asking them for permission first.
When you ask for permission, you should give them a copy of your resume and/or a brief summary of your goals for the job/internship so they have a basis for writing their recommendation.
You don’t need recommendation letters for a job but if it’s a positive one, it shouldn’t hurt your chances.