Letters of Recommendation

Basic Styles and Sources

• Academic: Used in conjunction with the admissions application for undergraduate and graduate programs. Depending on the application, you can ask former teachers, internship employers and current professors/work study leaders for these.
• Character: Often needed for legal circumstances, such as adoption proceedings, volunteer applications (especially when volunteering with children), housing and credit confirmation. Neighbors, longtime friends, doctors and landlords are just a few of the contacts used.
• Employment: Accompanies a resume and/or job application. Whomever you use as a regular job reference and, in some cases, former employers can write these.

If You Need a Letter of Recommendation

Pick the Right Person

This is a crucial step. No one needs five letters attached to a resume or graduate application that really don’t speak about who you are and what you’re capable of accomplishing.

• Find someone that you feel confident knows you enough to highlight your best qualities in a professional manner.
• Your writer should be someone the college, employer, agency or company considers “worthy.” This isn’t about name-dropping; it’s about finding someone applicable to the circumstance. For example, your family doctor should not write a letter of recommendation for your employment or college entrance application if neither have anything to do with the medical field and you have not worked in his or her office.
• Make sure your selection has the time and, more importantly, the inclination to write an effective letter of recommendation.

Provide All the Necessary Information

The only way someone can help you accomplish your goals is if you level with them and do your research. If you’re applying to college, find out what their preferred application requirements are and craft your materials accordingly. If you’d like to secure a specific graduate program and have an idea what is usually accepted, share this information with your writer. Tell your writer the key points to stress to a prospective employer or adoption agency or landlord if you know they're looking for something in particular. Letter acquisition should be a planned, collaborative effort.

Be Respectful

Don’t just hit up a reference or a favorite instructor the day before the application is due. Remember, a good letter of recommendation is one part of a multi-level strategy. Give the writer plenty of time to think things through, draft a copy or two and even review it with you. This can take a couple of weeks or longer, depending on the writer’s other obligations, so don’t place pressure on them just because you feel it.

Also, make sure to thank the writer graciously. Depending on the level of relationship and extent of effort, the acknowledgement can be a simple as a thank you note or a small token of appreciation, especially one in the interest of the writer.

If You’re Writing a Letter of Recommendation

Accentuate the Positive

As it is in life, so it is in letters of recommendation: look for the positive attributes. If you really think about it, you can probably select the three top strengths/qualities/contributions of an individual and write those up in an attractive way.

The structure should be:

• How you know the person, for how long and in what capacity.
• Identify the qualities that make them right for the situation.
• Recap the recommendation based on applicable qualifications/strengths to the situation.

If you don’t feel you can write the letter well but would still like to help, have the person draft up an example and review it with them. Once the two of you reach an agreement, sign it and keep a copy in case you’re called.

If you really can’t provide a letter of recommendation for someone because the negative outweighs the positive, find a tactful way to say no, express regret and offer a suggestion as to who else might be a better alternative.

Make the Facts Sound Good, Not Unbelievable

Get a good understanding from the applicant about what they’re applying for, what they hope to gain and how they intend to accomplish X or Y, then help them express that directly.

Being verbose and exaggerating a person’s qualities will not help. Once you’ve identified the most positive aspects of a person, sell them in a way that would catch your attention as a prospective employer, professor, evaluator or what have you. If you can see through the glitter, the actual letter recipient will as well.