Tips for Writing a Letter of Recommendation
1. Include your affiliation/relationship with the person for whom you are writing the letter. Are you a professor, advisor, supervisor, etc.? How long have you known him or her? What types of assignments, projects, work, or other experiences have you shared?
2. Honestly evaluate and comment on the candidate. When approached to write a recommendation, ask yourself if you honestly know the person's qualities and skills and if you can comment on his or her performance. It would be better to decline to write a recommendation than to write a vague or irrelevant one.
3. Refer to the candidate's resume when writing the letter. Reading the person's resume can help you gain a more accurate picture of the individual. It might surprise you to see how much the person has done outside of your contact with him or her. Furthermore, referring to the candidate's resume will help you to tailor your recommendation letter to the position that the person is seeking.
4. Concentrate on several different aspects of the person. Specifically identify his or her skills, attitudes, personal attributes and growth , as well as his or her contributions to and performance within your organization or class. Give concrete examples if possible and relate them to his or her prospective field of work or study.
5. Don't reference characteristics that can be the basis for discrimination. These include but are not limited to references to race, color, nationality, gender, religion, age, appearance, any disability, marital or parental status, or political point of view.
6. Please type your recommendation letter neatly and send it by the deadline. The appearance and timeliness of letter is a reflection on both you and the candidate, and it can also determine whether or not it will be read.
The following is a list of attributes upon which employers/schools often base their final selection of a candidate. These are excellent points to address in your letter:
Twillingness to accept responsibility T honesty and integrity
Tinterpersonal skills & sociability Tsincerity, genuine
Tcritical thinking & logic skills Tself-esteem & self-confidence
Tproblem-solving abilities Toral communication & verbal skills
Tdecision making skills Tflexibility & adaptability to new circumstances
Tinitiative Tleadership
Tdirection, motivation to achieve Tdedication
Timagination, creative thinking Tintelligence