20 Letter Of Recommendation Templates And Tips To Write An Outstanding One!

When applying for college or job, sometimes people need for a letter of recommendation as an additional weight of character merit in the application. There’s no exact guidance in writing this letter, but there are several conditions you should meet. But you have to put your contact information and your job title along with how you know the applicant. Also, you have to explain the applicant personal trait and character before stating your recommendation.

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Tips in Writing Letter of Recommendation

There are three main purposes in writing letter of recommendation, first is for a college application. The teacher writes the letter for the person study-attitude. The second one is for employment, where the supervisor writes a recommendation for the subordinate. And lastly, for a character reference for adding some character beneficial in the resume. For that reason, the list below is about some tips to write the recommendation letter:

1. One Page is Ideal, Two Pages is Maximum Stretch

You have to make sure that the letter you write has a minimum page as possible. Elaborate your recommendation optimally without utilizing too many words. Ideally, this letter is only one page long, but if you have too much to say, you shouldn’t go for more than two pages.

2. Keep the Font Size at 12 with Basic Font Styles

Because you couldn’t always know who you’re writing in person, keep using 12 for font-size for your letter. And aside from that, try to stay loyal with the basic font styles like Arial, Times New Roman, Garamond, or Helvetica. It’s to ensure the recipient of your letter could read it in comfort and will bring positive result.

3. Avoid too Narrow Margins

Ideally, for legal or A4 sized paper is using 1 – 1.5-inch margins. Because using margins in that range would make the visual look better in human eyes. That way, try not to write an excessive explanation. Thus, try to trim the paragraphs if you have many things to say in the letter.

4. Keep Tidy with Left and/of Justify Alignment

Make sure your recommendation has a good look at a glance. That way, you should keep your letter look tidy. Left and justify alignments often used, since the Roman alphabet written from the left side. Thus, the letter of recommendation printable you submitted wouldn’t make people bored from the start.

5. Ask for the Personal Reference

Although personally you know the applicant you’re writing the recommendation for, you should still ask for the personal reference. Ask for the personal documents such as resume, cover letter, or for safety measure the copy document for the application. That way, you will be in the right corridor in writing the recommendation.

6. Give Your Judgment

Even if you know the applicant personally, and have the resume, it’s best still to conduct personal character research. Because what you have are from your point of view and the applicant point of view. So, you need another point of view to make better judgment and sound as neutral as possible in your recommendation.

7. The Recommendation Purpose

Lastly, you should know what the purpose that you’re writing the recommendation. Whether it for academic, employment, or for character merit, you should know. That way you can write the letter according to what needed. Thus, the letter you write wouldn’t get any false impression about the purpose. And also, it will give benefit to the applicant if you give the recommendation purposely.

Letter of Recommendation Templates

Remember you have to be polite in your letter since it will reflect on the applicant if you’re not. Some applications have a specific form for the recommendation, but mostly, they don’t. Thus, it’s up to you on how and what to write in your letter. And if you have difficulty in composing, you can download a letter of recommendation PDF and use it as a template.