Sample
Letters of Recommendation
Sample
letters of recommendation - provides several examples of effective letters
of recommendation and tips for using them
Sample letters
of recommendation can be quite helpful to someone who has to sit down and
write a letter himself. Often it is easier to edit someone else's content
than it is to start with a blank sheet of paper.
Different wording
can be traded in and out from several letters of recommendation using your
computer's copy and paste function to "slice and dice" a full letter together.
However, this
process often proves more troublesome and error-prone than most people first
realize. Here are some tips to help you avoid the biggest ditches: |
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Quick-Start Guide to
Letters of Recommendation |
- Use as
many examples as you can assemble. The more you have to choose from,
the easier it will be to find exactly what you are looking for.
- Try to
get at least a few samples that are the same type of letter you are
trying to write. For example, it is more difficult to edit a sample
letter of recommendation that is for school admission to derive a letter
that is for a job application.
- Try to
find samples that all use the same basic outline or flow. Different
people structure their letters differently, so organizing the letters
and getting the different pieces to "line up" correctly is often difficult.
(See Letter of Recommendation
Template)
- Likewise,
be careful of changes of tone. Combining the wording from a letter that
is kind of light and breezy with a more serious letter can be difficult.
When possible, use several letters that were written by the same person.
- Check
for grammar very carefully when you are done. The most common mistake
that occurs when people slice and dice letters together is that they
end up with sentences in which the subject and verb do not agree. They
should both be either plural or singular. Another common problem is
verb tense shifts; for the most part, all of your verbs need to stay
either in past or present tense.
- Finally,
(and this is probably most likely to expose your letter as a slice-and-dice
job) make sure you use the right gender throughout your letter. If you
are writing a letter for a female, be careful when blending in pieces
from a letter written for a male.
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In addtion
to advice, several examples are given on this website to highlight effective
letter-writing - including a collection of letter samples. You can pick up a lot of ideas
by reading through them.
Other examples
are available on the Internet, but you get what you pay for: much of it
is scattered, and slicing and dicing the pieces of letters that come from
different places and written using different structures is probably more
trouble than its worth.
You will
most likely do better on your own. Use examples for ideas, but start from
scratch with a clean sheet of paper, organize your thoughts, and go at
it.
However,
if that still seems a bit daunting, I can recommend the following resources
to help. They are not free, but some are very inexpensive, and all are
quite good.
- Letter-Machine.com - Out of all, this is the easiest and surest way to success. Letter-Machine.com
is a letter generator - or electronic form / template - for letter of
recommendation. You fill in the blanks, select the options you want,
and press a button; the software does the rest. Very cool. Click the
following link for more information: Letter
of Recommendation Forms
- Letter
of Recommendation Example Pack - Provides several examples of
the various types of letters people generally need: job application,
student admission, scholarships, personal, etc. All of the letters use
the "success formula" we discuss here (see Letter
of Recommendation Template), so they all have the same structure.
This makes it relatively easy to cut and paste different sections together
from several different letters to produce a coherent and professional
letter. The package is in Acrobat (PDF) format, which virtually all
computers these days can read (the reader is a free download anyway).
You will be able to copy and paste what you need, so there is no re-typing.
Click the following link for more information: Letter
of Recommendation Example Pack
Where to Next?
Instant Letter Robot
Fill in the form and the computer does the rest; impressive quality
Sample Letters of Recommendation
Complete letters you can mix and match to develop your own
Letter
of Recommendation Template
One
of the biggest challenges in writing is to organize your thoughts effectively;
this section will show you how
Letter
of Recommendation Forms
Fastest,
easiest, and surest way to professional results. Standard letter of
recommendation forms can serve as templates for writing effective letters
of recommendation quickly and easily; the most practical are software-driven
How
to Write a Letter of Recommendation
Getting started. Information, tips, & samples for
writing letters of recommendation - special tips and persuasive writing
techniques.
Specific
Types of Letters of Recommendation
We've
included a special section on some of the more common types of letters
of recommendation to discuss issues particular to each one
Letters
of Recommendation.org Index
Home page
of this web site.
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