Sample Reference Letter Basics

Sample Reference Letter

At some point in your career, it's likely that you'll request a letter of reference or recommendation from someone of importance, or it's possible that you may be asked to write a letter of reference or recommendation for someone else.

If you have any questions or concerns about the reference letter you've drafted, ask co-workers or friends to give the draft a once over. There might be things about the person you've overlooked that they can point out, too. A second set of eyes on a reference letter can really help, especially if the eyes belong to a person who knows the job candidate, as well.

Here are a few practical letter writing tips and strategies to help you when writing that next letter.

* Talk in detail about the applicant positive qualities and how you believe this person will be beneficial to the new employer. Provide specific examples of what leadership traits you've witnessed of the applicant.
* State how long have you have known or worked with the person.
* Keep It Short And To The Point
* When you agree to write the letter, make sure that you know when the letter needs to be ready, how many versions of the letter the person would like, where the letters need to be mailed, and so forth.


Another Sample Reference Letter

The first paragraph is usually a summary of the duties you performed while working at your former job, along with a statement of the relationship your previous employer had with you, and how long you have known each other. This gives your potential employer an idea of how much of an asset you were in your previous workforce.

Body

The body of the letter should provide specific information about the candidate such as personal characteristics or traits, special abilities, strengths, or experience. You may also want to include future potential, career or educational goals, and so forth.

Be sure to qualify your descriptions with concrete examples and meaningful, relevant anecdotes.

Summary

This section of the reference letter template contains a brief summary of why are you are recommending the person. State that you highly recommend the person or you recommend without reservation or something similar.

Conclusion

The concluding paragraph of the reference letter template contains an offer to provide more information. Include a phone number within the paragraph, include the phone number and email address in the return address section of your letter, or in your signature.

Sincerely,

Writer Name
Title

Sample Reference Letter