To open the gates for many people to enter the job / Institute of their choice, a recommendation letter can act as a key to that door for them. Although not every institution asks for a recommendation letter from the previous employer as they rather prefer to call/ email them to enquire about the candidature of the applying individual. But in today’s scenario, people have a lot of work and it becomes difficult for them to step forward and contact personally. Hence, a recommendation letter comes into the notice.
A letter of recommendation can be attached along with your application and resume and shared. This letter can be in a general format or could be made specific depending upon the requirement of some specific job as asked by the applicant. If you are asked to write a letter of recommendation in reference to some specific job profile, it is always good to keep an individual’s qualifications and specific skill sets which suit the profile in the letter. This would add merits to his/ her account and might open the gate for him.
Here are a few tips to frame one recommendation letter:
- Collection of the required information
A letter of recommendation by you meant for your experiences and understandings with the referred individual. Hence, it is essential that you know pretty much of him/ her. You have all the rights to ask for an updated thorough CV to check out qualifications in brief.
- Type of letter you are writing
Get to know if the requirement is for a specific letter of recommendation or the individual needs a general letter. As mentioned above it is very essential to use appropriate format depending upon the requirement.
A specific recommendation letter for a particular job profile shall contain skill sets and job responsibilities that individual handled while being at previous work.
Note: If you find that the candidature is not appropriate or deserving, you can deny writing a recommendation letter.
- Right format matters
A format is a strict pattern that professionalism follows. On the basis of the information, recommendation letter can be referred by writing the Name of the authority [Mainly in specific letters] or you can use phrases like “to whom it may concern” [Mainly in general letter of recommendation].
It is always appreciable if you can sign the letter of recommendation with ink, instead of typing. It shows that you cared for the individual and mad efforts while writing it.
- Content of the letter
Use of right adjectives is an art and right uses enhance the quality of your writing. Hence, as recommendation letter is going to be in serious hands of an organization, it is always suggested to keep the content nice and crisp.
It shall contain information like skills, qualifications, candidature and other assets of the individual you are recommending. Mention about the strengths of the individual that you would like to convey. To make your letter look more credible, compose sentences with utmost assertions. Sometimes you can mention a few instances where you observed the skills of the applicant and you found appreciable to be mentioned.
Citing accomplishments that added value to your organization and the strengths of individual that enabled those results could be very compelling.
- Closing statement impact factor
Your closing statement would make a lasting impact on the mind of hiring authority and hence it has a high factor. Mentions like “you would like to hire the individual again if they want to” would be very effective. Your personal belief like the applying individual would be an outstanding addition to their organization.
- Share your personal contact details
As finishing, you can share your personal details [telephone number and email address] along with your steadiness that you are ready to share more perspective towards the candidature. This would make it easier for the hiring side to communicate with you if required, or to make a follow-up.
- Last but very important, use company/institution letterhead stationery
To make the recommendation letter more genuine and valuable, it is always recommended to write on official stationery. This letter [mainly general letter of recommendation] can be kept and use for later uses as well. Therefore, official stationery for a letter of recommendations is highly suggested. Also, dates need to be mentioned for the time period you have known the candidate while writing it down. We always suggest use calendar to our readers for the right mentions. This could be crucial sometimes.
If you go by, more samples are available for your convenience. Those samples can give you an idea to frame one nice recommendation letter.