Evidence, Not Adjectives
"Hardworking team player with excellent communication skills" describes everyone, so it recommends no one. The letters that move a hiring manager or admissions officer are built from proof: the project they led, the number they moved, the night they fixed the outage. Before you write a word, collect two or three specific things the person actually did and what changed because of them. If you cannot name specifics, you should probably decline to write the letter — a lukewarm, vague recommendation does the candidate more harm than no letter at all.
The Structure That Works
Every strong recommendation letter has the same skeleton. Opening: who you are, your relationship to the candidate, and how long you have known them — this is what gives the letter its weight. Middle: two or three paragraphs, each anchored on one piece of evidence — what they did, what changed because of it, what it revealed about them. Closing: a clear, unambiguous recommendation ("I recommend her without reservation") and an offer to provide more detail. Formal letters get a date line and a "Re: Recommendation for [Name]" subject; LinkedIn recommendations skip the letterhead entirely.
Match the Type to the Ask
Job recommendations live on results: projects delivered, problems solved, impact on the team or business — about one page. Academic recommendations live on intellectual qualities: how they think, a paper or project that showed it, why they fit the program. LinkedIn recommendations are a different animal: 100 to 150 words, first person, warm and direct, two strengths with one concrete detail each. A one-page formal letter pasted onto LinkedIn reads like it wandered in from the wrong room.
Comparisons Are Earned, Not Decorative
"One of the strongest engineers I have managed" is a powerful sentence — but only if your relationship and tenure make it credible. Ranking claims like "top 5%" need a real basis; invented superlatives make experienced readers discount everything else you wrote. When in doubt, let the evidence do the ranking: the story of the fix at 3 a.m. says "exceptional" more convincingly than the word "exceptional" ever will.
What to Give Your Recommender
If you are the candidate, make your recommender's job easy: send them your bullet points — achievements with numbers, stories, the role you are applying for, the deadline, and where to send it. Busy people say yes to recommendation requests and then write them at midnight; the draft you supply becomes the letter. And yes, drafting your own letter for them to edit and sign is standard practice — just keep every fact true, because it goes out under their name.
What to Avoid
- Adjectives without evidence — "hardworking," "passionate," "team player" with nothing behind them
- Inflated superlatives you cannot back up — "the best I have ever seen"
- Faint praise — "she was always on time" reads as "I have nothing good to say"
- Writing when you do not know their work well — decline instead of writing a weak letter
- Letting it run past one page — tight and specific beats long and vague
Draft It in Minutes With the Free Tool
Our AI letter of recommendation writer turns your bullet points into a polished letter in the right mode — job, academic, or LinkedIn — built around your evidence instead of adjectives. If you are writing the application side too, our AI cover letter generator handles that half, and the cover letter guide walks through the full playbook.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who should write my letter of recommendation?
Someone who directly observed the work being recommended — a manager, a professor. Specific beats famous.
What is the format of a recommendation letter?
Opening (who you are, the relationship), middle (two or three pieces of evidence), closing (unambiguous recommendation).
How long should a recommendation letter be?
One page — 300 to 400 words — for job and academic letters; 100 to 150 words for LinkedIn recommendations.
Is it okay to write my own recommendation letter?
Drafting one for a recommender to edit and sign is common practice — just keep every fact true.