How To Write A Recommendation Letter For Employee By Manager (5 tips)

recommendation letter Apr 6, 2022

If you need to provide a recommendation letter for an employee and don't know where to start, this blog post is for you! From knowing what to include in the letter, to the tone you should adopt in the letter, we've got it all covered.

What is a recommendation letter?

A recommendation letter is a letter of reference written by a professional that the individual seeking the job applies to. It is written in the style of an essay and typically has three parts: what they know of the applicant, what makes him or her suitable for the position, and why he or she should be hired.

Tips to write a good recommendation letter

A recommendation letter should be written as a personal note to someone who has been an integral part of your team.
It should be specific and sincere, with a focus on the person's strengths and not just their duties.
The tone of the letter will depend on the relationship with the person being recommended.

Common mistakes while writing a recommendation letter

Common mistakes while writing a recommendation letter are that the letter is too short, too detailed, and has personal information. The length should be proportional to the position someone is applying for. The letter should only include details that would have an impact on their performance. It is not appropriate to include personal information such as salary.

Business reasons to provide endorsement letters

Employee recommendation letters are a business necessity. They serve as an endorsement from one candidate to another and help employers make hiring decisions. They demonstrate that the employee will be a good fit for the position and also show that they have been successful in their current role. Giving this type of letter is not just good advice, it's a best practice as well.

Tip 1: Provide details about the position and the role of the person

The first thing you want to do is explain what the person does. You can include information about their role, responsibilities, and accomplishments. You also want to mention the position they currently hold. The second tip is to list their performance skills.

Some of the thing you can mention in order to list all the accomplishments of the person that you are writing a recommendation letter to can be found below:

The person is accountable and takes the initiative to get tasks completed
The person is an excellent communicator, both verbally and in writing
The person has strong interpersonal skills and is able to build trust with those they work with
I have seen the person learn a difficult new skill and quickly master it
Mention any other skills that might be relevant to the position

Tip 3: Provide your contact details for additional information about your recommendation

For this section, it's a good idea to include your name and contact information so that the new employer has someone to reach out to for further questions. If you are not comfortable putting this information on an electronic document, you can always provide it in person when presenting your letter of recommendation (if that's the case)

In addition mention that you are happy to provide additional information or answer any questions by email or phone. This is something that the person you recommend will appreciate since you are helping him by being confident about the person and open to help during the process

Give a little more information about the role of the person you are recommending. Are they someone who is creative and innovative? Are they someone who can deal well with stress? Be sure to include at least one or two examples in your letter to back up your points.

If the position is very technical or has very specific details (technical terms, deep tech technologies) try to mention them but not go too deep. Don't forget that tis recommendation letter for the employee helps ensuring that the employee is trustworthy and makes sense for the new employer to hire him. Most of the times providing too technical details is not required (since those details will be checked during an interview with the employee).

So overall, when providing a recommendation letter for an employee focus mostly on the soft skills, the attitude and the strong characteristics of the person you are recommending instead of going too deep into technical terms or acronyms.

Tip 5: Ask if there are any other people internally that they provided recommendation letters for other employees

Check in your company if there are any other people
It may seem like a strange question but if the person you are recommending has worked with others before, ask them if they have any letters from other employees. It will be great to have another recommendation letter in case the one you provide is not enough.

Final notes

If you are looking for an easy way to write a recommendation letter, Jotform’s Professional Letter of Recommendation template can help you create a simple and clean recommendation letter.