Tips that will help you write a recommendation letter

Tips that will help you write a
recommendation letter
We have compiled some power tips that can help you get the style, tone, content,
and presentation of your recommendation letter just right:

Introduce yourself and state your position.
Say how you know the candidate and how long you have known him or her.
Outline the candidate's skills that are relevant for the position, and any relevant
experience.
Give a brief description of his or her personal qualities, for example, helpful, calm,
etc.
Mention how the person interacts with others, for example, a good team player,
considerate of colleagues, etc.
Say why, in your opinion, the candidate is suitable for the position and what you
believe he or she could offer the organization.
Emphasize anything outstanding about the candidate. For example: What are their
particular talents?
Mention any important gaps in the candidate's skills or knowledge.
The person you are writing the letter for (the candidate) has asked for your
recommendation as he or she feels you know him or her sufficiently well. The
candidate believes you would be pleased to support his or her application. These
tips are for a generic recommendation letter, but they can also be applied to writing
a college recommendation letter for an academic position or an employee
recommendation letter to help them land a top job in the business world. Your aim
should be to provide support by giving a positive but balanced summary of the
person and his or her skills and qualities.


Strike a balance in your letter of recommendation

It is important that your letter be written in a balanced manner. Although the focus

of your recommendation letter should be on the good things about the candidate,
the person you are writing to needs to know if the candidate needs particular help
in any area. You may be concerned about writing something that seems negative,
but as long as you present your views in a positive way, highlighting an area where
the candidate needs to improve, your comment should not be detrimental.

For example, imagine you are writing the recommendation letter for a student (let's
call him John) who has difficulties meeting deadlines. You have already talked to
John about this, and he is now working on his time management and organizational
skills. You feel it is right to mention this in the recommendation letter as it is a
fairly big problem for John, and you know he will need ongoing support while he
develops these skills.

One way to approach this could be to write:

"John has many skills and qualities that I have mentioned above. However, to
ensure he can achieve his long-term goals, he will need further support to develop
his time management and organizational skills. He has been working hard to
improve these skills over the last year, and I have already seen some
improvement."

Remember, your reputation for giving an honest recommendation is also important.

Recommendation letter format

Now we have looked at the content; what about the recommendation letter format?


The letter should be a standard formal letter with your contact details and the date
at the top of the letter. Times New Roman font always looks very professional, and

the font size should be 11 or 12 point. You should address the recommendation
letter directly to the person responsible for the application or to the Human
Resources department if you don't have a name (in the case of a company). In the
case of other types of organizations, you can address the letter "To Whom It May
Concern." However, it is always best to get the candidate to provide you with a
contact name if possible.

Try not to write an excessively long letter of recommendation. A page should be
sufficient, as the candidate will also have completed an application form and/or
submitted a resume or curriculum vitae.

Be mindful of your tone

The tone of a recommendation letter should be professional, with content that is
easy to read and clear in meaning. You should show the reader that you are
approachable and would be pleased to provide more help or information. You can
do this by adding the following sentence at the end of your letter:

"Please do not hesitate to contact me if you require any further information."

Make an impression with the presentation of your recommendation letter

Sometimes it may help to look at a recommendation letter example to see exactly
how this letter should look. And nothing looks more unprofessional than a
recommendation letter with spelling, grammar, or punctuation mistakes, and poor
attention to detail, so consider having it professionally proofread before sending it
in.


Write response to the hotel’s complaint

KEY CONCEPT:
A customer making a complaint is a dissatisfied customer.
When we respond to a complaint, our aims are:
•

to make our customer satisfied;

•

to make our customer loyal.

We can do this by:
•
showing we have listened and understood the complaint, and that we take it
seriously;
•

explaining how the problem arose;

•

explaining what action we will take to remedy the situation;

•

making an offer.

Understanding the letter of complaint

In the last lesson you wrote a letter of complaint about a hotel stay. Compare your

letter to the letter below.
Dear Mr Geiger

I am writing to complain about my visit to your hotel. I stayed with you for two
nights on the 25th and 26th May this year and I am dissatisfied with the service I
received.
Your website claims that guests receive a warm welcome, but when I arrived at
reception on the first night I had to wait 25 minutes before a receptionist helped
me.
I had booked a double room with an en-suite bathroom through the Internet, but
there were no en-suite rooms available so I had to use the bathroom in the corridor.


The website also says the hotel is comfortable and relaxing. But my room was too
hot and at night there was construction noise from outside.
I often visit your city and stay overnight for business. While your hotel is near the
centre and therefore convenient, I will have to stay somewhere else if the service
does not improve. I hope you will provide better service next time.
Yours sincerely
Rosalind Lee

The visitor had four problems. List them below:
a __________________________________
b __________________________________
c __________________________________
d __________________________________
Now check your answers below
a. long wait at reception
b. booked room was not available
c. room was too hot

d. room was too noisy
Responding to a complaint

As the hotel manager you want the visitor to return. What explanation can you give
for the problems? What can you offer the visitor in the future? Match the points
you will make in the letter to their purpose below.
•

explanation

•

offer

•

remedial action

•

show you have listened


•

apology

Point
Purpose
I was sorry to hear of the problems you experienced during your recent stay at our

hotel.
Some of our staff were sick that evening.
Renovation meant that we had to close the West wing, resulting in a shortage of
rooms.
Unfortunately, the room you were offered was in the old section, and not to the
same standard as our executive rooms.
The renovation works are now complete and we think you will now find our
accommodation to be of an exceptional standard.
On behalf of Crown Hotels, I would like to offer our sincerest apologies for the
inconvenience these problems have caused you.
In order that you can experience the new accommodation first hand, I would like to
offer you two nights in our newly renovated executive rooms at the basic room rate
of $50.
I also enclose a free voucher for dinner for two at our newly refitted restaurant.

Writing Practice:
Use the information in the table to write a letter to the guest.


•

Show you take the complaint seriously

•

Explain how the problems arose

•

Apologise

•

Make an offer

Remember: you want to make a dissatisfied customer into a satisfied and loyal
customer!
ANSWERS:
Purpose
Point
Purpose
I was sorry to hear of the problems you experienced during your recent stay at our
hotel.
Show you have listened / apology
Some of our staff were sick that evening.
Explanation
Renovation meant that we had to close the West wing, resulting in a shortage of
rooms.
Explanation
Unfortunately, the room you were offered was in the old section, and not to the
same standard as our executive rooms.
Explanation
The renovation works are now complete and we think you will now find our
accommodation of an exceptional standard.
Remedial action
On behalf of Crown Hotels, I would like to offer our sincerest apologies for the
inconvenience these problems have caused you.
Apology

In order that you can experience the new accommodation I would like to offer you
two nights in our newly renovated executive rooms at the basic room rate of $50.
Offer
I also enclose a free voucher for dinner for two in our newly refitted restaurant.
Offer

Letter
The letter below is one possible letter. Compare it to the one you wrote.
Dear Ms Lee

I was sorry to hear of the problems you experienced during your recent stay at our
hotel. We pride ourselves on the standard of our service and I have carried out an
investigation to find out how we fell short this time.
We are always looking to improve the standard of service we can provide and as
part of this programme we undertook an extensive renovation programme in May,
the time of your stay. This renovation meant that we had to close the West wing,
resulting in a shortage of rooms. Unfortunately, the room that you were offered
was in the old section, and not to the same standard as our executive rooms.
On the night of your stay, some of our staff were sick, resulting in delays in
checking in.
The renovation works are now complete and we think you will now find our
accommodation to be of an exceptional standard.
On behalf of Crown Hotels, I would like to offer our sincerest apologies for the
inconvenience that these problems have caused you. In order that you can
experience the new accommodation first hand, I would like to offer you two nights
in our newly renovated executive rooms at the basic room rate of $50. I also
enclose a free voucher for dinner for two in our newly refitted restaurant, with our
compliments.
We hope that you will take advantage of our offer and stay with us again. We look
forward to seeing you soon.

Yours sincerely
Roger Geiger
Customer Services Manager