How to Write a Letter of Recommendation (Templates and Examples)
Someone you respect asked you to write them a letter of recommendation, and now you are staring at a blank page. The good news: a strong letter follows a predictable structure, and most of the work is recalling specific things the person actually did. Here is exactly what to include, how long it should be, and three templates you can copy and adapt.
What a letter of recommendation is for
A recommendation letter is a third-party vouch. The reader (a hiring manager, an admissions committee, a scholarship panel) has a resume and an application in front of them. Your job is to add the thing those documents cannot: a credible human saying "I worked with this person, here is what they are genuinely good at, and I would do it again."
That means the value of your letter is your specificity and your credibility, not your enthusiasm. Anyone can write "hardworking and dedicated." A letter that says "she rebuilt our onboarding flow and cut new-user drop-off from 40% to 22% in one quarter" carries weight because it could only have been written by someone who was there.
Who should write one
The best recommender is someone who supervised or collaborated with the person closely and recently. In order of typical strength:
- A direct manager. The gold standard for job applications. They saw the day-to-day work and can speak to growth over time.
- A professor who taught and advised the student. Best for academic and graduate-school applications, especially one who supervised research or a thesis.
- A senior peer or close collaborator. Useful when a manager is not available, or as a supplement that speaks to teamwork and craft from the trenches.
- A client or external stakeholder. Valuable for consultants, freelancers, and client-facing roles.
Seniority is overrated. A senior leader who barely knows the candidate writes a thin, generic letter. A direct manager who can tell three real stories writes a strong one. If you cannot speak to specifics, it is fair (and kind) to say so and decline, rather than write something hollow that quietly hurts the candidate.
What to include: the standard structure
Nearly every effective letter follows the same four-part shape. Use it as a checklist.
- Opening and relationship. State who you are, your title, and exactly how you know the candidate and for how long. This establishes your credibility to judge them. One short paragraph.
- The endorsement, stated early. Do not bury it. A single clear sentence near the top ("I recommend her without reservation") tells the reader how to weight everything that follows.
- The body with specific examples. Two or three concrete stories or accomplishments that show the qualities you are claiming. This is the heart of the letter and where most of your words go. Numbers, named projects, and before-and-after framing all help.
- Closing and offer to follow up. Restate the recommendation, summarize the fit for what they are applying to, and invite the reader to contact you. Include your contact details.
Length and tone
Aim for one page, roughly 300 to 500 words. Long enough to be substantive, short enough to be read in full. Graduate-school and research letters can stretch to a page and a half because committees expect depth.
Tone should be warm but professional, and above all specific. The most common failure mode is a wall of adjectives. Replace "she is a great communicator" with a moment: "when our biggest client threatened to churn, she ran the recovery call solo and turned a tense meeting into a renewed contract." Show, do not tell. Honesty also builds trust: a small, truthful caveat ("his first month was a steep ramp, but by quarter two he was mentoring others") reads as more credible than relentless praise.
Strong vs weak letters
- Weak: "John is a hardworking, dedicated, reliable employee who always gives 110%. I highly recommend him." This could describe anyone and tells the reader nothing.
- Strong: "John owned our payments migration, a six-month project touching every part of the codebase. He caught a rounding bug in the legacy system that had quietly cost us thousands, and he shipped the cutover with zero downtime over a holiday weekend."
The difference is not effort or affection. It is evidence. Before you write, jot down three things the person actually did. If you can fill that list, you can write a strong letter. If you cannot, that is a signal you may not be the right recommender.
Three templates you can copy
Template 1: Manager to employee (professional)
Use this for a job application or promotion. Replace the bracketed parts with real details.
Dear Hiring Manager,
I am writing to recommend [Name] for [the role / any role she pursues]. I was [Name]'s direct manager at [Company] for [duration], where she worked as a [title] on my team. I recommend her without reservation.
In that time, [Name] consistently delivered work above her level. The example I point to most often: [she led X project], which [delivered measurable result, with a number if you have one]. What stood out was not just the outcome but how she got there, [a specific behavior: navigating a tricky stakeholder, unblocking the team, owning a hard call]. On another occasion, [second short example that shows a different strength].
Beyond the results, [Name] is the kind of teammate who raises the standard around her. [One sentence on character, collaboration, or reliability, grounded in something real.] Whoever hires her will get someone who [closing summary of fit].
I would gladly work with [Name] again and am happy to answer any questions. You can reach me at [email] or [phone].
Sincerely,
[Your name], [Your title], [Company]
Template 2: Professor to student (academic / grad school)
Use this for graduate-school, scholarship, or research-program applications.
Dear Admissions Committee,
It is my pleasure to recommend [Name] for admission to [program] at [institution]. I am [title] in the Department of [field] at [university], where I taught [Name] in [course] and supervised [his/her/their] [research / thesis / project] over [duration]. Among the students I have taught in [number] years, [Name] ranks in the top [X%].
[Name]'s intellectual strengths showed clearly in [specific work]. For [his/her/their] [project/paper], [Name] [did something concrete and impressive: designed an original study, tackled a problem beyond the syllabus, produced publishable analysis]. The work demonstrated [the qualities the program cares about: rigor, independence, creativity], and [Name] handled [a specific challenge] with notable maturity.
Beyond coursework, [Name] [contributed to the lab / mentored peers / presented at a seminar], which speaks to [his/her/their] readiness for graduate-level work. I am confident [Name] will thrive in your program and contribute meaningfully to your community.
I recommend [Name] in the strongest possible terms and welcome any follow-up at [email].
Sincerely,
[Your name], [Title], [University]
Template 3: Colleague or peer
Use this when a manager is not available, or as a supporting letter that speaks to teamwork and craft.
To Whom It May Concern,
I am glad to recommend [Name], whom I worked alongside as a [your title] at [Company] for [duration]. We collaborated closely on [project or team], so I have seen [his/her/their] work up close rather than from a distance.
[Name] is the person I wanted in the room when things got hard. On [specific project], we [faced a concrete problem], and [Name] [did something specific that made the difference]. [He/She/They] also [a second example of a different quality, such as how they communicate, handle pressure, or lift the team].
I would jump at the chance to work with [Name] again, and I recommend [him/her/them] wholeheartedly. Feel free to reach me at [email] with any questions.
Best regards,
[Your name], [Your title]
If you were asked to write one about yourself
It happens more than people admit: a busy recommender says "draft something and I will sign it." If you are in that spot, write in their voice, not yours. Pick the examples they would actually have witnessed, keep the praise believable, and leave room for them to edit. A draft that sounds like a glowing press release is easy to spot and easy to ignore. A draft that sounds like one real person describing another, with one or two specific stories, is the one that gets signed and helps. Then let them make it their own.
Recommendation letters support the search, applications eat the time
A great letter helps at the margins. But the bulk of a job search is still the grind of filling out application after application, the same name, email, work history, and screener questions typed into yet another form. Each Workday, Greenhouse, or Lever form takes 5 to 10 minutes by hand, and across dozens of applications that adds up fast.
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