Letter of Recommendation Generator and Templates

Describe the person and what they did well. Get a specific, credible recommendation letter instead of a generic one.

Letter of Recommendation

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Guide

How do you write a letter of recommendation?

Someone has asked you to vouch for them, and you want to do it properly. The good news is that recommendation letters are one of the most formulaic documents in professional life. The structure barely changes between a job application, a graduate program, and a scholarship, so once you know the shape you can write one in twenty minutes.

Five paragraphs, in this order:

Who you are
Your title, the organisation, the length of the relationship, and in what capacity. This establishes why your opinion counts.
A first strength
A first strength with a real example behind it. Name the situation, what they did, and what happened as a result.
A second strength
A second strength, same treatment. Two well evidenced strengths beat six asserted ones.
Their character
Something about their character or how they work with people. This is what a reader cannot get from a resume, and it is often the paragraph that is remembered.
Your closing recommendation
A clear closing recommendation, an offer to answer questions, and your contact details.

Keep it to one page. Readers who assess applications are working through a stack of these, and a second page almost never earns its place.

What should a recommendation letter include?

Six details do nearly all the work, and a letter missing any of them looks thin:

Your relationship to the candidate and how long it has lasted.
The specific role, program, or scholarship they are applying for, named exactly.
Two or three strengths that are relevant to that specific application.
A concrete example supporting each strength, ideally with a result attached.
An observation about character, judgement, or how they behave under pressure.
An explicit recommendation and a way to reach you.

Evidence beats adjectives

The single biggest difference between a letter that helps and a letter that does nothing is evidence. "She is a hard worker and a great communicator" tells a reader nothing, because every letter in the pile says it. "When our supplier pulled out three days before launch, she found a replacement and we shipped on time" tells them everything, and it does so in fewer words.

If you are short of examples, go back to the candidate and ask. Most people are happy to send you a short list of things they worked on, and it is a normal part of the process rather than an imposition.

Who should you ask for a letter of recommendation?

If you are on the other side of this, the person being recommended, the instinct is to ask the most senior person who knows your name. That is usually the wrong choice. A specific letter from a direct manager beats a vague one from a vice president every time, because the vice president can only write what everyone can already see on your resume.

Ask someone who supervised your actual work, who saw you handle something difficult, and who is likely to say yes with enthusiasm. Then make it easy for them: give them your resume, the job posting or program description, the deadline, the submission method, and three or four things you would like them to mention. Ask at least three weeks out, and send one polite reminder about a week before the deadline.

Watch for hesitation

Someone who says "let me see if I have time" is often telling you they cannot write a strong letter. Take the exit graciously and ask somebody else, because a lukewarm letter is worse than one fewer letter.

Letter of recommendation templates

Three templates cover most requests. Use the generator above if you want one written around your own notes about the person, or take a template below and replace the bracketed parts with real detail. Do replace them. The brackets are where the credibility lives.

Template for an employee

Dear [Recipient Name], I am writing to recommend [First Name] for the position of [Job Title] at [Company Name]. I was [First Name]'s manager at [Your Company] for [two years], where they worked as [Their Job Title] on my team of [number]. [First Name] is the person I gave our hardest problems to. When [describe a specific situation, for example our largest account threatened to leave over a billing error], they [describe what they actually did], and the result was [describe the outcome, with a number if you have one]. They did it without escalating it to me first, which is the part I want the reader to notice. They are also an unusually clear communicator. [First Name] rewrote [document or process] after watching new team members struggle with it, and [describe the effect]. Colleagues outside our team asked for their help precisely because they explain things without making anyone feel slow. More than any of that, [First Name] is someone the rest of the team wanted to work with. They take feedback without defensiveness, they say when they are stuck, and they are honest about what they do not know. I recommend [First Name] without reservation, and I would hire them again immediately. Please contact me at [phone or email] if it would help to talk. Sincerely, [Your Name] [Your Title, Your Company]

Written by a manager for someone applying to another job. Evidence of results is what carries this one.

Template for a student

Dear Admissions Committee, It is a pleasure to recommend [First Name] for admission to [Program Name] at [University]. I taught [First Name] in [Course Name] during [semester and year] and later supervised their [research project or thesis], so I have seen their work both in a class of [number] students and one to one. [First Name] was among the strongest students in that course, but the grade is not the reason I am writing. Their [final paper or project] on [topic] took a position I disagreed with and defended it well enough that I changed how I teach that unit. They had gone past the assigned reading to [describe what they did], which is not common at the undergraduate level. That instinct carried into their research. When [describe a difficulty, for example their initial data set turned out to be unusable], [First Name] [describe how they responded] rather than waiting to be rescued. The work that came out of it was [describe the outcome]. [First Name] also contributes generously in a seminar room. They ask the question everyone else is too cautious to ask, and they listen to the answer. I recommend [First Name] warmly and without qualification, and I am glad to answer any questions at [email]. Sincerely, [Your Name] [Your Title, Department, University]

Written by a professor for a graduate program or scholarship. Intellectual habits matter more here than grades.

Template for a colleague

Dear [Recipient Name], I am writing in support of [First Name]'s application for [Job Title or Program]. We worked together at [Company Name] for [length of time], where I was [Your Job Title] and [First Name] was [Their Job Title]. We were peers rather than manager and report, which means what I can tell you is what they are actually like to work beside every day. [First Name] is the colleague who makes a project run. On [name the project], we [describe the shared work], and [First Name] [describe their specific contribution and its effect]. I have watched them do the unglamorous part, the part nobody gets credit for, without being asked. They are also straightforward in a way that saves everyone time. When [describe a disagreement or difficult moment], [First Name] said so directly, proposed an alternative, and moved on when the decision went the other way. That is rarer than it should be. I would work with [First Name] again in any role, and I recommend them to you sincerely. Feel free to reach me at [phone or email]. Sincerely, [Your Name] [Your Title, Your Company]

Written by a peer rather than a supervisor. Say so early: a peer letter is credible for different reasons.

What makes a recommendation letter weak?

Weak letters fail in predictable ways, and all of them are avoidable in a final read through.

The most common failure is adjectives with nothing underneath them. A letter that says the candidate is dedicated, passionate, and reliable, without a single instance of any of it, reads as a favour rather than an assessment. The second is generic praise that could describe anyone, which tells the reader you do not know the person well. The third is hedging: phrases such as "generally reliable" or "usually met expectations" land far more negatively than the writer intends, because readers of these letters are trained to notice qualifiers.

Two more worth avoiding

Do not mention anything about age, health, family status, religion, or national origin, which is both irrelevant and, in a hiring context, legally fraught. And do not simply restate the resume: the reader already has it, and the letter is your chance to say what the document cannot.

Once the letter is written, put it away for an hour and read it as a stranger. If you cannot point to at least two specific things the candidate actually did, add them before you send it. If you are writing this letter alongside your own career decisions, our free career quiz maps strengths against real occupations in about ten minutes.

Recommendation letter questions

What is the proper way to write a letter of recommendation?

State who you are and how you know the candidate, recommend them explicitly for the specific role or program, then spend the middle of the letter on two or three concrete examples of their work. Close by recommending them without reservation and offering to answer questions. One page, on letterhead if you have it, signed with your name and title.

What are the details that should be included in a letter of recommendation?

Six things do most of the work: your relationship to the candidate and how long you have known them, the specific role or program they are applying for, two or three strengths, at least one concrete example for each strength, something about their character or working style, and your contact details. Anything else is optional.

How long should a letter of recommendation be?

One page, roughly 300 to 400 words across four or five paragraphs. Admissions readers and recruiters read many of these in one sitting, and a second page rarely adds anything the first did not. Length is not a signal of enthusiasm. Specific detail is.

Can you say no when someone asks you for a recommendation?

Yes, and you should if you cannot write a strong one. A lukewarm letter does more damage than no letter, because the reader notices the absence of examples immediately. Decline kindly and early, saying you do not think you are the right person to make the strongest case, so the candidate has time to ask somebody else.

Should the candidate write their own recommendation letter?

It is a common request and it is worth resisting. Better middle ground: ask them for their resume, the job posting or program description, and a short list of things they are proud of. That gives you the raw material, and the letter still sounds like you rather than like the applicant.

Is this letter of recommendation generator free?

Yes. No account, no email capture, and no payment. We limit how many letters one device can generate in a day so the tool stays fast for everyone, which is more than enough to draft a letter and try a different tone.

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Letter of Recommendation Generator and Templates