Writing a letter of recommendation for a friend can feel like an honor and a responsibility. It’s an opportunity to support someone you care about while helping them advance in their career, education ...

Here is a common scene: A supervisor agrees to write your letter of recommendation with one condition—you draft it. Shocker. We, too, were surprised the first time this happened to us. We assumed ...

Confirm you’re comfortable writing it. Politely declining is perfectly OK if you don’t feel you can write a strong or meaningful recommendation. It’s better to be honest than to provide a lukewarm ...

A character reference letter can make or break an applicant’s chances. Here’s how to write a great one. A character reference letter can make or break an applicant’s chances Before the days of ...

A compelling reference letter can be a decisive factor in the hiring process. The value of a strong recommendation cannot be overstated in today’s competitive job market. I’ve seen how a well-crafted ...

Personal recommendations are an important request and require special attention to make them suitable. If you’ve been asked to write a personal letter of recommendation for a friend, you may have ...

Academic reference letters are an essential aspect of academic life. Nearly every educator will be asked to write a range of reference letters during their career. In my long experience of doing so, I ...

Johnny C. Taylor Jr. tackles your human resources questions as part of a series for USA TODAY. Taylor is president and CEO of the Society for Human Resource Management, the world's largest HR ...

Johnny C. Taylor Jr. tackles your human resources questions as part of a series for USA TODAY. Taylor is president and CEO of the Society for Human Resource Management, the world's largest HR ...

If you’ve been asked to write a letter of recommendation and need guidance, here’s what you need to know to provide a properly structured letter.