Letter of Recommendation Writing Guide: Tips and Template

Letter of Recommendation Meaning: Understanding The Concept

If you are switching companies, entering a new college, or have applied for a job or a scholarship, what makes you stand out? A letter of recommendation (LOR). Conducting yourself in the best possible way says a lot about you, but what if another person addresses your capabilities? Someone you have worked with, a professor who taught your lectures, your team leads, or even your mentor.

Don’t you think that if someone who has closely examined you writes a letter that says you are good at what you do, it is convincing enough? There is more weight when someone else claims your skills.

Simple Definition: Letter of recommendation (LOR) is a formal letter written by your professor, manager, team lead, teacher, or mentor, mentioning the skills that you possess, your strength, work experience, and personality, to display you as the right fit for a job, college, new company, or any other opportunity.

What Is The Primary Goal of LOR: 

It adds Credibility

If an influencer recommends a product, you tend to be skeptical about that product. What if your friend recommends the same product, saying, “I have used it for a year, and it's great”? You are automatically drawn to buying the product. A letter of recommendation has the same force of convention.

Going Beyond Numbers

Two students have scored 90%; what sets them apart? An LOR can actually make a difference. But how? A professor or teacher can write about how one student used to take part in extra co-curricular activities, led a project, is a team player, and helps classmates.

Standing Out

When there are many applicants for a single job, or you want to gain admission to a college. A LOR can stand you out.

​How to Write a Letter of Recommendation

What Is The Standard Structure For Letter of Recommendation? 

Header

Name of the person who is writing the LOR. What job position are they currently serving in? Name of the company/organization/school/college. Their address. Don’t forget to mention the date. Who is the LOR going to? Their name and address. In case you don’t know the names of who you are sending to, you can either write greetings such as "Dear Sir/Madam" or "To Whom It May Concern."

​Opening Paragraph

Introduction of the person who is recommending someone along with a mention of who they are suggesting. An explanation should be made of how someone knows the applicant/candidate. Also, there should be a mention of how someone knows a candidate, and why they are choosing to recommend them. Furthermore, strengths of an applicant can be highlighted briefly.

​Body Paragraphs

This is the bigger chunk in which what skills a person has, their biggest strength that sets them apart, what their work habits are, and achievements should be mentioned. The best thing is to use a real-life example and present a candidate’s ability. How they handled work and solved problems, worked in teams, or performed on the responsibilities they were given; all these things will add weightage. It is advised not to repeat information already mentioned in their resumes.

​Concluding Paragraph

Why are you recommending a person? The reason should be clearly stated. A short explanation of why you think someone is suitable for the job, college, or program. Also, provide your phone number or email address. What if the reader may want to contact you for more information?  

​Sign-off

Sincerely and Best Regards are some of the closings that should be added at the end. In addition, adding your signature, full name, and job position at the end makes the letter look even more authorized, and complete.

How to Format a Letter of Recommendation

• Length: It is advised to write a Letter of recommendation (LOR), covering all the requirements in one page. Unless a university, company, or an organization demands an LOR beyond just 1 page. 
• Spacing: Use single spacing. It is better if you put a space/one blank after every paragraph so that different sections look distinct. 
• Font: Use the usual font that is used professionally, which are: Times New Roman
• Arial, and Calibri. Keep the font size between 10 and 12 points.
• Margins: Keep a 1-inch margin on all four sides of the page (top, bottom, left, and right).
• Alignment: Keep all the text aligned to the left side of the page instead of spreading it evenly from left to right.

LOR Template With Example

Now let’s check out the template of of letter of recommendation (LOR):

Now lets understand how it will actually look through an example. Let’s take a real life example. 

LOR: Best Practices & What to Avoid

Be Specific

It is recommended to stay away from using generic terms such as “she is so hardworking.” It is better if you explain the abilities of a person with real life examples. Explain things like how the person was efficient in managing the deadline, clearly communicate everything, and managed the stress of doing work with multiple responsibilities

Make Multiple Recommendation Letters Different

 In case multiple LOR’s are being prepared, all should highlight different strengths, qualities, and skills of persons. Each letter of recommendation should talk something new about an applicant to the reader. 

Don't Just Repeat the Resume

In a resume everything is mentioned but not in a detailed way. Make sure you don’t write in the same way in LOR. Just maintaining work experience, skills, and degrees, will make the letter of recommendation look vague. 

Keep It Short and Clear

It is advisable to write a LOR of 400-500 words and keep the letter within one page. If any organization, company or university requests for a lengthy or more than one page LOR, then only proceed with longer LORs. 

Respect Deadlines

It is better if you give enough time to the recommender to finish your letter of recommendation. Last minute delays.

Is It Okay to Use AI to Write a Letter of Recommendation?

Well AI can create a Letter of recommendation (LOR) in less time than humans, but will it be able to write as a human in terms of recommending a person explaining their strengths, and skills? 

Pros To Get It Done From AI

AI is an advanced technology that can write text by listening to audio, and a well-written prompt. Therefore, a LOR can be created by AI. Since professors, teachers, and even managers have a hectic schedule, AI can be of great help. AI can also be used to correct grammatical errors, and correct spellings. 

If someone wants recommendations on drafting a letter of recommendation (LOR), AI can help to create an outline, suggest which words will be the best fit, organize achievements, and improve sentences. 

Cons To Get It Done From AI

AI can write a Letter of Recommendation (LOR), but it can form the same type of sentences every time, the generic ones. What if AI praises a candidate and there is no actual proof for it. An LOR should also include real life experience of an applicant along with the praises. AI can create a letter in less time than humans, but the way a human will write will be different from someone else. AI can create LOR, written in the same way for everyone.

Conclusion

A resume gives a brief description about a candidate or an applicant. But when it comes to a letter of recommendation (LOR), it is actually a different person describing a candidate. A different person means someone who has closely examined them, knows them. Imagine your professor heaped praises on you by highlighting the strength that you have, the skills that you possess, and  qualities that you have. It will definitely make you stand out. 

FAQ’s

1. The most famous AI tool, ChatGPT, can it be used to write an LOR?

To write a LOR, ChatGPT can be a miss or a hit. Hit in the sense it is real quick in creating an outline, fixing grammar, and correcting spellings. However, it can also generate LOR forming generic sentences. Overly praise a candidate without proof. 

2. Can some write their own LOR?

An applicant can write a LOR themselves. They can include skills, achievements, projects, and strengths to give an idea of what needs to be included in the letter. However, the draft should be reviewed by the recommender. A recommender should make changes wherever necessary and make sure it reflects the real experience of the candidate, and that the opinions are also genuine, before signing or approving it.

3. Did you know there are 11 impactful words that should be added in an LOR? What are those?

​Dedicated, diligent, adaptable, proactive, resourceful, collaborative, analytical, innovative, resilient, meticulous, and dependable fall under the impactful words commonly used in a Letter of Recommendation.

4. What should not be said in a LOR?

It is better if you don’t use achievements that do not exist in real life. Overpraise someone without any proof. It is also advisable not to write any kind of negative comments or personal details. While framing sentences, make sure they do not sound basic. Personal observation adds weight to a LOR, so it is a must to add, along with a real-life example.