When writing a letter of recommendation for someone it is important that it is clear, concise, sincere and, of course, positive. A good letter of recommendation will be properly headed and laid out to give a good initial impression. Your letter should be headed like any other professional business letter. Make sure that your name and position within the company is at the top of the page, followed by the company's address. You should write the date that you are sending the letter underneath the address so that the letter can be filed correctly. This information should be either centred or right aligned at the top of the page and the rest of the letter should then be left aligned. If you have office stationery that is already headed with your information, this will look even better.
Start your letter with the name and address of the person that you are sending the recommendation to. If you are writing a general letter of recommendation that your past employee can take with them then this part will not be necessary. If you have written an address, leave a line break between it and the beginning of your statement. For a general letter of recommendation 'Dear Sir/Madam' will be sufficient, if you know their names, enter them in here. You should begin the letter with a brief description of who you are, what your relationship is with the employee and how long you have known them. This immediately gives the new employer the impression that you have the ability to make an accurate judgement about the person. Choose two or three of the most notable skills that the employee possesses. They will have written and said a lot about themselves in their resume and any interviews, so focussing on a couple of points in context will sound better than repeating a list of qualifications. Say why you think the employer would make a good candidate for the new company and give an overall assessment of him or her. Emphasise that the employer may contact you for further details if necessary.
Start your letter with the name and address of the person that you are sending the recommendation to. If you are writing a general letter of recommendation that your past employee can take with them then this part will not be necessary. If you have written an address, leave a line break between it and the beginning of your statement. For a general letter of recommendation 'Dear Sir/Madam' will be sufficient, if you know their names, enter them in here. You should begin the letter with a brief description of who you are, what your relationship is with the employee and how long you have known them. This immediately gives the new employer the impression that you have the ability to make an accurate judgement about the person. Choose two or three of the most notable skills that the employee possesses. They will have written and said a lot about themselves in their resume and any interviews, so focussing on a couple of points in context will sound better than repeating a list of qualifications. Say why you think the employer would make a good candidate for the new company and give an overall assessment of him or her. Emphasise that the employer may contact you for further details if necessary.
