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In addition to standard letter-writing dos and don’ts, there are a number of basic guidelines that apply to most situations related to the writing of letters of recommendation specifically. These are usually more “situational” than “how to” in nature.

These recommendation letter guidelines are important to both note and apply, since writing letters of recommendation is always a somewhat tricky and delicate matter. That’s because they almost always affect the reputation and future of another person.

The following is an adapted excerpt from my best selling ebook/book Instant Recommendation Letter Kit.

THE STRATEGIES
The following strategies apply primarily to the writing of letters of recommendation in their various forms (i.e. recommendation letters, reference letters, commendation letters, performance evaluation letters).

1. Write It Only If You Want To
If you are asked by someone to write a recommendation or reference letter about them, you don’t have to say “yes” automatically. If it’s someone you respect for their work, and you have mostly positive things to say, by all means write the letter.

There is no point saying “yes” and then writing a letter that says nothing good about the person, or worse still, concocting a misleading positive assessment of someone.

So, whatever you do, don’t get sucked into writing a recommendation inappropriately out of feelings of guilt or obligation.

2. If You Must Refuse, Do It Right Up Front
On the other hand, if someone asks you to write a recommendation letter for them, and you know you’ll be hard-pressed to keep it positive, say “no” right away.

There is no point in hesitating and leading the person on to believe that the answer might eventually be “yes”.

A gentle but firm “no” will usually get the message across to the person. Explain that you don’t think that you are the best (or most qualified) person to do it.

3. Suggest Someone Else
If you feel you should refuse, for whatever reason, it may be helpful for you to suggest someone else who you think might have a more positive and/or accurate assessment of the person.

That other person may be in a better position to do the assessment. Usually there are a number of possible candidates, and you may not actually be the best one.

In fact, I have seen a number of cases over the years in which people requesting recommendation letters have not requested the letter from the obvious or logical choice. This usually happens when the requestor doesn’t like the person who is the obvious choice, and/or they are worried about what that person will say about them.

4. Write It As You See It
Writing a less than honest recommendation letter does no one a favor in the end. It is likely to backfire on you, the person being recommended, and the new employer.

Also, many employers and head-hunting agencies check references these days.

How would you like to be called up and have to mislead people due to questionable things you may have written in a reference letter?

5. Be Honest, Fair, and Balanced
Honesty is always the best policy when it comes to writing recommendation letters. At the same time, try to be fair and balanced in your approach.

If in your estimation, a person has five strengths and one glaring weakness, but that weakness really bothers you, make sure you don’t over-emphasize the weak point in the letter based on your personal bias. Just mention it in passing as a weakness and then move on.

6. Balanced Is Best
An overall balanced approach is the best one for a letter of recommendation. Even if your letter generally raves about how excellent the person is, some balance on the other side of the ledger will make it more credible. After all, nobody’s perfect.

There must be some area where the person being recommended needs to improve. A bit of constructive criticism never hurts and it will make your letter more objective in nature.

BOTTOM LINE
The most important point to take from the above is that it is your choice as to whether, and how, you will write a recommendation or reference letter.

It’s an important type of letter that will have a definite impact on the future of the person about which it is being written, so don’t agree to write one unless you are willing to give it your utmost attention and effort.

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The following article is an adaptation from a chapter in the Revised Edition of my best-selling book/ebook “Instant Recommendation Letter Kit – Revised Edition”.

The new version can be seen at the Web site:
http://InstantRecommendationLetterKit.com

While writing and editing literally hundreds of recommendation and reference letters over the years, I have noticed certain common elements and approaches that are applicable to almost all such letters. And, ever since I published my best-seller of a couple of years ago “Instant Recommendation Letter Kit”, I have been meaning to write down these common elements/approaches.

Finally, I did manage to jot it all down in a brand new chapter while I was drafting the Revised Edition of Instant Recommendation Letter Kit. That new chapter is simply titled, “Recommendation Power Phrases”.

If you look closely at many recommendation and reference letters you will notice that there are certain “types” of phrases that recur over and over again throughout the various letters. These statement types can be grouped into three major categories: opening statements, assessment statements, and closing statements. These statements are the three key components of any recommendation or reference letter. If you formulate these phrases well you are guaranteed to have an excellent letter.

1. OPENING STATEMENTS

The opening statement in a letter of recommendation should state the name of the person being recommended. It can also explain why you are the person writing the letter. The opening statement should normally be one short sentence and should never exceed two sentences.

Following are three (3) generic typical opening statements for inclusion in recommendation letters or reference letters:

• I am writing this letter at the request of [name of requestor].
• This is in response to your recent request for a letter of recommendation for [name].
• I am pleased to be able to write this letter of recommendation for [name].

The Revised Edition of Instant Recommendation Letter Kit contains OVER 50 opening statements for the various types of letter of recommendation.

2. ASSESSMENT STATEMENTS

Assessment statements in a letter of recommendation are those sentences and phrases that contain the recommender’s specific assessment of the performance, characteristics, and attributes of the person being recommended.

Normally an assessment statement will be followed up by one or two specific performance-related examples backing up the statement just made.

Following are three (3) generic typical assessment statements for inclusion in recommendation letters or reference letters:

• In my opinion, [name] is a hard-working self-starter who invariably understands exactly what a project is all about.
• [name] consistently produces high quality work in a timely fashion.
• The only area of weakness that I ever noted in [name]’s performance was…

The Revised Edition of Instant Recommendation Letter Kit contains OVER 50 such assessment statements for the various types of recommendation letters.

3. CLOSING STATEMENTS

The closing statement in a letter of recommendation should be one or two sentences at most, and it should make a clear statement of recommendation that flows logically from the points made in the assessment part of the letter. They will often begin with transition phrases such as: “In summary…”, “In Closing,…”, “Based on the foregoing,…”, “Accordingly,…”, etc.

Closing statements in recommendation letters are generally positive, but in some circumstances they may be qualified, or even completely negative.

Following are three (3) generic typical closing statements for inclusion in recommendation letters and reference letters:

• I am therefore very pleased to be able to recommend [name] for…
• Based on my time working with [name], I recommend her very highly for…
• I respect [name] as a colleague, but I must say that in all honesty, I cannot recommend him for your committee.

The Revised Edition of Instant Recommendation Letter Kit contains OVER 40 such closing statements for the various types of recommendation letters.

In summary, mastering these three types of “recommendation power phrases” is the key to writing all types of letters of recommendation. As such, knowledge of how to write typical opening, assessment, and closing statements used in recommendation and reference letters, as illustrated above, will make writing these letters a lot easier.

Accordingly, to help people quickly formulate their own recommendation letters, I have included more than 150 generic “Recommendation Letter Power Phrases” in the latest Revised Edition of Instant Recommendation Letter Kit:

Although, it’s unlikely that anyone who owns the Kit will ever have to actually write a recommendation letter from scratch. These recommendation power phrases are provided here simply for information purposes, since Instant Recommendation Letter Kit includes 89 fully-formatted real-life recommendation letter templates with the power phrases already built-in. These templates can can be downloaded into a word processor and quickly and easily adapted to fit just about any situation.

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Based on my experience over the years writing literally thousands of letters covering just about every situation imaginable, I would have to say that among the most difficult of all letters to write is the “letter of recommendation”.

I’m referring here to the letter of recommendation in all of its various forms: recommendation letter, letter of recommendation, reference letter, letter of reference, commendation letter, letter of commendation, and performance evaluation letter.

Of course, it gets extra tricky when you realize that letters of recommendation are needed for a number of different life situations and purposes including: employment, college/university, business, institutional, government, and community service.

So, what I have done here is put together this central “letter of recommendation resource page” containing links to the various recommendation letter writing resources that are hidden away in various places on my Writing Help Central Web site.

For each resource link, I’ll briefly describe what you will find there, followed by the link.
LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION RESOURCES

Letters of Recommendation Explained
This article tries to reduce some of the confusion surrounding the whole subject of “letters of recommendation”. From an overall perspective, it defines the different “types” of recommendation letters and explains their purpose.
http://writingprompts.com/article-letters-of-recommendation.html

Recommendation Letter Writing Strategies
Letters of recommendation are very situational by their very nature. This page contains a number of guidelines to follow when considering whether you will write a recommendation letter, and what your approach might be.
http://writingprompts.com/recommendation-strategies.html

Recommendation Power Phrases
All letters of recommendation are comprised of three key components: opening statements, assessment statements, and closing statements. This article explains those components and provides examples.
http://writingprompts.com/recommendation-power-phrases.html

Letter of Recommendation Examples
This page focuses on true “recommendation letters” and defines exactly what makes them different from “reference letters”. Links to three typical “letter of recommendation” examples are also provided.
http://writingprompts.com/recommendation-letter-definition.html

Reference Letter Samples
This page focuses on true “reference letters” and defines exactly what makes them different from “recommendation letters”. Links to three typical “letter of reference” samples are also provided.
http://writingprompts.com/reference-letter-definition.html

The information at the above links should give you a pretty clear idea of the specific type of letter of recommendation you are dealing with, and what are the main considerations.

Of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the Number One letter of recommendation writing resource on the planet (that’s right!). Here it is: