How to Write Successful Letters of Recommendation

Book excerpt: Letters of recommendation are a part of every standard school or job application. As an employer, professor, colleague, peer, or friend, chances are that at one point or another, you will be asked to put a person on paper and every word counts. How to Write Successful Letters of Recommendation is your one-stop source for painting the perfect picture in just one short letter. You will learn everything you need to know about writing the perfect letter of recommendation that will get your friend, colleague, or student accepted or hired. The most effective letters of recommendation are accurate, succinct, descriptive, and powerful, and include realistic evaluations of performance and capability. With ideas about how to start your letter and topics to include, this complete guide will teach you how to do just that, as you construct the perfect letter from start to finish. Outlined in ten easy steps, this complete guide gives you the tools you need to write reference letters that your employees, colleagues, students, and friends will appreciate. This book is filled with tips and tricks for personalizing the letter and making your friend, student, employee, or coworker shine. With a word bank of powerful phrases and descriptive words, you ll have everything you need to make your letter stand out at your fingertips. Sample letters of recommendation are also included, along with explanations of why each one is effective and tips for replicating these letters in just minutes. You will learn about the different types of recommendation letters, from employment to academic to volunteer, and how to direct your letter to the appropriate audience. You ll even learn what to do if someone you haven t worked with closely asks you to be a reference, or how to deal with being asked for hundreds of recommendations at once. This exhaustively researched book will even teach you how to politely avoid writing letters for those people you aren t quite comfortable recommending. The Companion CD-ROM is filled with templates, examples, word banks, and worksheets, so that you can easily learn to verify experience, confirm competence, build credibility, and bolster confidence with just a simple letter. A recommendation is more than just a letter; it s often make-or-break in a candidate s application for school, volunteering, or employment. With the step-by-step instructions and writing guidelines in this book, you will learn how to write introductions; opening statements; the body, including a well-written, vivid assessment of character and work ethic; and a strong conclusion. This new book will also teach you how to appropriately sign your letter, and will provide you with tips of re-reading and editing it to make sure you gave an effective recommendation. We spent hundreds of hours interviewing high school teachers, college professors, employers, and more who have nailed the art of composing effective communications. With How to Write Successful Letters of Recommendation, your employees, colleagues, students, and friends will see you as their go-to source to helping them succeed in their next big venture.