Writing a Letter of Recommendation
Addendum to
Making the Right Moves:
A Practical Guide to Scientific Management for Postdocs and New Faculty second edition
Burroughs Wellcome Fund Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Making the Right Moves: A Practical Guide to Scientific Management for Postdocs and New Faculty, second edition © 2006 by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Burroughs Wellcome Fund All rights reserved. “Writing a Letter of Recommendation”: Electronic addendum published 2009 Writer: Laura Bonetta, Ph.D. Production: Martine Bernard Design Permission to use, copy, and distribute this publication or excerpts is granted provided that (1) the copyright notice above appears in all reproductions; (2) use is for
…show more content…
Reasons to Turn Someone Down
You should write a letter of recommendation only if you can honestly write a supportive letter for someone for a given position. After all, a letter of recommendation is supposed to be a tool for helping people obtain what they are after. If you don’t know the candidate well enough to write a good letter, let the person know. He or she will probably ask someone else. If you do know the candidate well but have some reservations, let the person know about your concerns, and leave it up to him or her to decide whether you should still write the letter.
PREPARATION
Read Some Sample Letters
If you have never written a letter of recommendation before, read a stack of reference letters to see what works and what doesn’t. Most faculty have access to graduate student applications and the letters submitted. Junior faculty can also ask their more experienced colleagues to share “sample” letters they have written or have received from applicants (blocking out names and other personal information). The resource section of this chapter provides links to sample letters.
Collect Information
Once you know what a letter of recommendation looks like, make sure you find out as much as possible about the candidate for whom you are writing. One of the worst things you can do is to write a letter that is too generic. Ask for the following information:
T i p : When reading a sample
I'm applying for a couple of CDC internships for this summer and I wanted to to find out if you could write me a recommendation. There are two internships I'm applying to, but the same letter can be used for both and the letter would be due on January 20th when the earlier of the two applications are due. I understand this is a short window for a letter to be written so it is understandable if you are unable to do so. However, if you wouldn't mind writing one for me I would greatly appreciate it! Just let me know and I'll send you more information if you want to write
It is with great honor that I write this letter of recommendation for Treniya Bronaugh. I have watched Treniya grow from a toddler to a high school student. Not only has this observation been one of her physical growth, but one of character development. She is like family, as both our families shared the same last name and we grew up calling each other cousins.
It is my great pleasure to write this letter of recommendation for Deedrian Taylor. I have had the privilege of knowing Deedrian for ten years. During the 2005-2006 school year, Deedrian volunteered in my second grade classroom, at Riviera Elementary School. In recent years, Deedrian has been a substitute teacher not just for my fifth grade class but several other classes at Riviera. Deedrian developed a positive rapport with my students from the first day, bringing much to our classroom with her creativity and enthusiasm. She has many strengths that will make her as asset to your institution.
It with great pleasure that I recommend Robert for admission into National Honor Society. As his Boy Scout Community Service Advisor for over 7 years, it has always been clear to me that he has a strong desire to serve his community. Robert has been a very active volunteer in his community since he was in fifth grade and the lessons and skills that he has learned from these experiences are reflected in his character, which is very rare among youth his age. He knows that, even though he is still a minor, he can make a large impact in his community by sacrificing a few hours of his time to helping others.
I consider it an honor to write a letter of recommendation for Gale Lewis. I have worked closely with Gale for almost 17 years. Gale and I were first-grade teachers teaching in the Buckingham County School System. It was quite a surprise when we were both hired to teach in the Prince Edward County School almost 13 years ago.
I am Elizabeth Benitez and I work for NAU-Yuma and the PACTO-program. The reason that I am contacting you is because we have a student, Benjamin Suarez, who is applying to the Teacher Education Program for Spring 2017. The student have worked with you in the past, and we would like you to please send us a recommendation form for Benjamin Suarez. Attached is the form that I will like you to fill out and send it back to me.
First of all, I haven't sent in my application yet but one of my professors, that I requested a letter of recommendation from, already sent hers in via email. Her name is Professor Barbara Wolff and I was wondering if you received it and if it was possible for you to save this file.
It is with great pleasure that I write this letter of recommendation for Victoria Williams.
The plaintiff claims that Mr. Faden is guilty of copyright infringement, from the mash up of numerous disney productions for the use of educational purposes of copyright and how the law works. I'm here today to defend Professor Faden, because i can prove that he is in fact innocent.
There will always be prejudice. Why? Because if you refuse to see the individual, you will never see “me”.
While democracy has a simple definition, “power for the people”, the interpretations and means of executing that right by centers of power can vastly differ. In the ancient Roman republic, optimates and populares had vastly different political attitudes on who should play an active role in the government. In the name of democracy, leaders from both sides executed their power in different ways. However, optimates best represented the ideals of modern democracy through their attempts to prioritize efficiency and reduced conflict with qualified officials and have the people’s best interests at heart, with famous optimates such as Cato often standing up for the citizens against some populares’ attempts to abuse their power.
I am writing this letter of recommendation for the Graduate Student Teaching Assistant Award to recognize my CHM 256 T.A. Haitham Kalil. I've only known him for about 4 weeks, and he has already shown the utmost respect and concern for his students since the first day of class. He is very aware of his responsibilities as an instructor and is understanding towards certain situations as well as give his full attention to his students to help succeed in the class. As a second year student my experience with college professors and instructors are limited but during my attendance at Cleveland State University I can distinguish the instructors that want the best for their students. As the engaged learning experience in Cleveland state represents
It’s with great privilege to write this letter of recommendation on behalf of Machayla Longfoot, a Senior FFA member at Judson High School. Machayla is an outstanding student and a valuable part of her FFA chapter. Over the past three years she has developed into one of the strongest leaders in her chapter. Machayla is someone her fellow FFA members look up to and seek guidance from. She can be counted on and is a good organizer when something needs to be accomplished.
It excites me to write this letter for my daughter because all the other colleges ask for thoughts said by her teachers and guidance counselors. Finally, the one person who has known her, her whole life and has seen her grow into the incredible young women she is today. (I’m not saying that because I’m her mother, I’m saying that because she always accomplishes something new and keeps surprises everyone) I get to pour my heart into a letter of recommendation in the hopes of the admission into your college.
Also when you ask somebody to write a reference you cannot write it yourself and expect someone to put their name on it. The person who sign the letter does not want to put their name on something they did not write themselves.