recommendation letter template and advice

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Recommendation Letter Template and Advice

Written by Nathan Parcellson May 11, 2010

Getting Started

At the end of every internship program, there will come a time when one of yourformer

interns will ask you to commit to the following question:

Would you be able to write me a letter of Recommendation?

Remember, writing a meaningful letter of recommendation requires time and

thoughtfulness, an understanding of the target readership, and most importantly,

knowledge of the intern for whom you are writing. To be sure, the contentof the letter is just

as important as the person or organization that is writing it.

So where do you begin?

Aletter of recommendation is an opportunity to describe how an interns

accomplishments at your organization reflect any unique professional, academic andcharacter qualities or aptitud eand how these would s eparate him or her from other

candidates.

Click below to download our free Letter of Recommendation Template for your interns!

The following quick tips may save you some time when structuring and writing the letter:

Talk to your intern about the letters requirements.Find out what the letter is for and

why the intern needs one. Ask the intern about deadlines and submission instructions.

Discuss specific projects which could be highlighted in the letter.

Take Time to Reflect on the Interns Work.You may want to refer back to performance

evaluations or f inished products c ompleted by the intern. Observations or interactions

related to the interns work ethic and professionalism are key.

Keep the letter to 1-2 pages.The letter should be written in first person and on your

organizations letterhead. Absent specific instructions stating otherwise, the letter should

be single-spaced.

Your opening paragraph should explain your relationship to the applicant.Include

the name of the intern for whom the letter is b eing written and the length of time and in

what capacity you know the intern.

Describe the intern in 3-5 paragraphs.These paragraphs should be specific and

detailed. Show, not tell.

Include specific examples or s tories.Highlight what projects or accomplishments

demonstrate the interns potential for success and his or her ability to contribute in his or

her field professionally, academically, or otherwise. Point out something distinctive in

the interns work.

Use comparative language to differentiate the intern from potential candidates. An

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example would be, definitely one of our most analytical interns or Has written one of

our top ten policy papers by interns for our organization.

Highlight a special interest or a particular motivation for the interns career path.

Are there particular interests that the intern has in his or her chosen field? If this is a letter

of recommendation for a summer internship, can being devoted to a role full-time over

summer be directly linked to these interests?

Identify any observations related to the interns character, integrity, or emotional

maturity.Mention any distinguishing qualities. For instance, you may want to touch

upon how the intern operates in a team and any leadership, analytical, or comm unication

skills essential to making a contribution in the profession or t he academic institution.

If you have any familiarity to the reader of the recommendation, you can

additionally point it out.A great letter of recommendation presents and explains why

your intern is a promising candidate to the school, program, or scholarship to which the

intern is now applying for. Your letter should make that connection and tie it back t o this

theme. It will eliminate the template or plain feel of other letters and the reader will

appreciate this extra step in making such connection.

In your final paragraph, summarize and include an overall evaluation:Have an

unequivocal statement of your overall evaluation of the intern. If you are writing a

strong letter of recommendation, then you may want to state that in you are strongly

recom mending this applicant.

In your final paragraph, conclude with an appropriate closing:Include your contact

information/where you can be best reached.

As always, make a rough and final draft; eliminate grammar mistakes, check for

spelling errors, and edit for stylistic flow.

EXAMPLE - Letter of Recommendation

Dear [specific contact],

I gladly write this letter of recommendation for Anna Roesing and her numerous

accomplishments as a Marketing Intern for LearnSomething during the summer of 2009. As

the Director of Marketing for LearnSomething I had the distinct pleasure of working with

and overseeing Anna on a variety of marketing initiatives for the four months she interned at

our organizaton.. When Anna joined us, she did not have any first-hand experience in

communications, but she quickly exceeded our expectations by completing new andchallenging projects at a professional level. As a nonprofit that depends on a strong

marketing strategy, Annas work left a lasting impact on our organization and places her in

our top five outstanding interns we have had in the past 10 years.

Annas passion for understanding marketing principals and public relations is evident in her

work. She helped develop a marketing strategy for our 2010 Community Campaign by

conducting relevant research on constituent bases and crafting effective on-message

materials for our donors. She went above and beyond by volunteering to streamline our

donor database and used her resourcefulness to find an advanced technical solution to

transfer this large batch of data into our new CRM system. This new database will facilitate

our outreach efforts for years to come. Anna is unique in that she not only has a great

marketing sense and the technical know-how to contribute on a variety of campaigns, but

she also learned quickly how to integrate these ideas with our larger organizational

objectives and this made it easy for us to trust her with high-level projects.

Additionally, Anna demonstrated professionalism and respec t by timely submitting her

projects and communicating clearly in staff meetings. Our team was impressed by her final

internship presentation, entitled nonprofit marketing best practices, which reflected her

growth as a promising expert in marketing. Further, the constituents and members who

attended comm ented on her energy and analytical insight. Currently, Anna is finishing her

degree in Communications but occasionally attends our community workshops which we

developed because of her help. A graduate degree at your school will formalize her training

and give her a specialization in marketing that nonprofits desperately need.

I therefore strongly recommend Anna as a graduate student of Marketing at your University.

As the head of our m arketing team, I have no doubt in my mind that Annas diverse

background has prepared her for graduate studies. Her passion for marketing in the

nonprofit sector will make her as valuable in the classroom as she was in our organization. I

am confident she will be a strong asset to your program.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at [ Your Number]to discuss her

candidacy for your program.

Sincerely,

Name


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