Letters of Recommendation

        Whenever you leave a job, get a letter of recommendation, also known as a letter of reference. You may never use it, but it has real worth for you. A strong letter of recommendation assures you that the person will say positive things about you. It also assures you that you can make positive statements about yourself, knowing that you can back up what you say with the letter.

        The letter of recommendation is especially important for the person who has been terminated. In such a case you are not seeking a flattering letter, but one which at least emphasizes your positive qualities and contributions. If you can get the person to say positive things in a letter, she is almost certain to say positive things when called by prospective employers.

        Feel free to suggest to the person the points or ideas you would like covered in the letter. You can begin by listing all of the points that you would like people to mention. Then ask each reference to cover some of those points. In that way your letters of recommendation are assured of covering your key points. These people are likely to appreciate your help because most people find letters of recommen­da­tion hard to write. Depending on the circumstances, you could even send a sample letter and suggest that the person adopt the portions they’re comfortable with, or just use it for ideas. People will often use a sample letter as it was presented, or make only minor modifications, and have it typed on their own letterhead.

        I rarely encourage people to enclose letters of recommendation with resumes. My research shows that it may be helpful for people in entry-level jobs and for those seeking office work, but most should save letters of recommen­dation for appropriate points during an interview. When I tested the effectiveness of letters of recommendation with engineers, the engineers were rated more highly when their resume was not accompanied by a letter of recommendation. Thus it seems that for professionals the inclusion of such letters with resumes is not appropriate.

        Don’t use a letter of recommendation unless it is glowing. Avoid using the typical letter which says, “Rosalyn worked for me for six years in such and such a capacity and she is an excellent employee. I can recommend her without reservation. Should you have any questions feel free to call me.” Such a letter is simply not strong enough. It appears to have been written with little heart in it. Such a letter will have no positive impact. Don’t get me wrong. Such a letter is not bad; after all, it does make some positive statements. When I say don’t use a letter of recommendation that is not glowing, I mean don’t go out of your way to hand it to someone. If someone asks for letters of recommendation you would not hesitate to use such a letter.

            The glowing letter points out some of your specific strengths and uses terms like excellent and outstanding. The letter may even mention a project where you worked above and beyond the call of duty. That type of letter can help, but even in such a case, use it only if it seems appropriate.