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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:
- 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.
- 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 full example
recommendation letter for personal use. 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.
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