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TIPS AND TRICKS FOR WRITING SUCCESS - PART 4 of 7
This Free mini-course is sponsored by:
http://www.WritingHelpTools.com
http://www.WritingHelp-Central.com
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Hello there Affiliate,
Below you will find Part 4 of your mini-course on day-to-day
writing.
In the previous session we looked at writing effective business
letters. This lesson focuses on recommendation letters. Visitors
to my Writing Help Central Web site request information on
recommendation letters more than any other subject.
As you'll learn, the first point to clear up is, "exactly what
is a recommendation letter, anyway"?
To answer that question and more, here's Part 4 of your course...
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Recommendation Letters Demystified
Copyright © Shaun Fawcett
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There is a lot of confusion about recommendation letters.
Recommendation letters are often referred to in a number
of different ways including: letters of recommendation,
reference letters, letters of reference, commendation letters,
and sometimes even, performance evaluation letters.
This terminology can be quite confusing, especially when these
terms are often used interchangeably, sometimes to mean the
same thing, sometimes to mean something different.
Below are some definitions that should clear up any confusion,
followed by some tips and strategies on how best to deal with
recommendation letters.
LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION
EMPLOYMENT-RELATED
Also called a recommendation letter, it is an employment-
related letter that is specifically requested by the person
the letter is being written about. Such a letter is normally
positive in nature, and written by someone who knows the
subject well enough to comment on the skills, abilities,
and specific work attributes of that person.
Typically, an employment-related recommendation letter conveys
one person's view of the work performance and general workplace
demeanor of a person that has worked under their direct super-
vision. The requestor of the letter normally requires it when
applying for a promotion or a new job.
These letters are usually addressed to a specific person to
whom the requestor has been asked to submit the letter.
COLLEGE ADMISSION RELATED
Other situations where recommendation letters are a common
requirement is for initial entry into college, and for
acceptance into post-graduate programs at a college or
university. Graduate programs often require two or
more letters of recommendation as part of the program
admission requirements.
Normally these graduate program recommendation letters are
written at the request of the program applicant by individuals
who are familiar with their academic career to-date, and their
future education and career aspirations. These people could
include: school faculty members, administrators, academic
supervisors, and/or employers.
These letters are always addressed to a specific person and are
normally included as part of the program admission application.
LETTERS OF REFERENCE
These are more general letters that are often requested by
employees when they leave the employ of an organization.
Normally factual in nature, they are usually addressed, "to
whom it may concern" and provide basic information such as:
work history, dates of employment, positions held, educational
credentials, etc.
Reference letters sometimes contain a general statement (as long
as a positive one can be made), about the employee's work record
with the company that they are leaving. Employees often submit
these letters with job applications in the hope that the letter
will reflect favorably on their chances for the new position.
COMMENDATION LETTERS
These are unsolicited letters, which typically commend an
employee to their supervisor for something outstanding or
noteworthy that the employee has done. Normally, these are
written by co-workers, or managers from another area of the
organization who were suitably impressed while supervising
the person on a short-term project.
EVALUATION LETTERS
These are usually detailed assessments of an employee's work
performance as part of an organization's regular employee
review process. Typically, they are written by the employee's
supervisor and are attached to the individual's performance
appraisal and placed on their personnel file.
RECOMMENDATION LETTER TIPS AND STRATEGIES
The following tips apply primarily to the writing of
recommendation letters and reference letters as defined above.
(This list is summarized from "Instant Home Writing Kit").
1. WRITE IT ONLY IF YOU WANT TO
If you are asked by someone to write a letter of recommendation
about them, you don't have to say "yes" automatically. If it
is someone you respect for their work, and you have mostly
positive things to say about them, by all means write the
letter. There is no point saying "yes" and then writing a
letter that says nothing good about the person, or worse still,
concocting a misleading positive assessment of someone.
2. IF YOU MUST REFUSE, DO IT RIGHT UP FRONT
On the other hand, if someone asks you to write a letter of
reference for them, and you know you will be hard-pressed to
keep the overall letter positive, say "no" right up front. No
point in hesitating and leading them on to believe that the
answer might be "yes". A gentle but firm "no" will usually get
the message across to the person. Explain that you don't think
that you are the best (or most qualified) person to do it.
3. SUGGEST SOMEONE ELSE
If you feel you should refuse, for whatever reason, it may be
helpful for you to suggest someone else who you think might
have a more positive and/or accurate assessment of the person.
They may also be in a better position to do the assessment.
Usually there are a number of possible candidates, and you may
not in fact be the best person.
4. WRITE IT AS YOU SEE IT
Writing a less than honest recommendation letter does no one a
favor in the end. It is likely to backfire on you, the person
being recommended, and the new employer. Also, many employers
and head-hunting agencies check references. How would you like
to be called up and have to mislead people due to questionable
things you may have written in a reference letter?
5. BE HONEST, FAIR, AND BALANCED
Honesty is always the best policy when it comes to writing
recommendation letters. At the same time, try to be fair and
balanced in your approach. If in your estimation, a person has
five strengths and one glaring weakness, but that weakness
really bothers you, make sure you don't over-emphasize the
weak point in the letter, based on your personal bias. Just
mention it as a weakness and move on.
6. BALANCED IS BEST
An overall balanced approach is likely the best one for a letter
of recommendation. Even if your letter generally raves about
how excellent the person is, some balance on the other side of
the ledger will make it more credible. After all, nobody's
perfect. There must be some area where the person being
recommended needs to improve. A bit of constructive criticism
never hurts.
To see fully-formatted "real-life templates" of a
recommendation letter and reference letter, click on the
following two links:
http://www.writinghelp-central.com/recommendation-letter.html
http://www.writinghelp-central.com/reference-letter.html
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Affiliate, that's it for Part 4 of your mini-course.
By the way, are you aware of my best-selling eBook "Instant
Recommendation Letter Kit"?
This book has been researched and written as THE definitive
information source on ALL types of letters of recommendation.
The Kit contains tips, tricks, information, and "how to"
advice, as well as 67 fully-formatted real-life templates
that you can download into your word processor and work with.
If you need to know how to write ANY kind of recommendation
letter or reference letter, you MUST check out this Kit at
the following link:
http://www.InstantRecommendationLetterkit.com
ALSO, if you're someone who is thinking about going to college
or you're currently a student considering post-graduate
studies MAKE SURE you check out another best-seller "Instant
College Admission Essay Kit":
http://www.InstantCollegeAdmissionEssay.com
That Kit has the potential to save you hundreds of dollars
AND give you a quality admission essay or personal statement.
All the best,
Shaun Fawcett, M.B.A.
P.S.
An owner in Montana, U.S.A. had the following to say about
the reference letter templates in "Instant Recommendation
Letter Kit":
"The Kit's templates save time and jump-start the writing
process, and with the templates arranged around the reference
subject it became very useful to me. It gave me a quick way
to show my former boss and peers what a reasonable letter of
reference was like, and from more than one perspective."
--- John Baker, Montana, U.S.A.
http://www.InstantRecommendationLetterkit.com
STILL TO COME:
Part 5: Pro Tips For Writing A Winning Resume
Part 6: Writing Resume Cover Letters That Work
Part 7: Secrets For Beating Writer's Block
Your next course installment will arrive on Jul. 13, 2008.
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Copyright (c) Shaun R. Fawcett, All Rights Reserved.
mailto:shaun@writinghelp-central.com
http://www.WritingHelpTools.com
http://www.WritingHelp-Central.com
http://www.instantCollegeAdmissionEssay.com
http://www.instantRecommendationLetterkit.com
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