I've been asked this when requesting a letter of recommendation, and honestly I find it a bit insulting when I worked with the person closely. I see writing le

I've been asked this when requesting a letter of recommendation, and honestly I find it a bit insulting when I worked with the person closely. I see writing letters of recommendation as one of the responsibilities that comes with more powerful/prestigious positions. If you work closely with someone, a recommendation request is a way of giving back and helping further someone's career. If you ask me to write my own letter, it implies that either you haven't paid much attention to my contributions or that you don't think that I'm worth your time. To be clear, I'm talking about cases where the person should be familiar with me and my work, such as a direct supervisor or research advisor. If I'm asking someone who isn't familiar with me, then I think it's far more fair to ask me to write my own letter.