A prospective student, employee or member of a committee may request that you write a recommendation letter because he feels that your recommendation will enhance his application. When writing the letter, put yourself in the position of the reader and ask yourself what you would want to know. The person asking for the recommendation might write a draft of the letter and ask you to sign it.
End the recommendation letter with a couple sentences at most. They should clearly summarize the information that was provided in the assessment part of the letter.
Begin the final one or two sentences by saying "in summary," "in closing," or "accordingly." Follow this by a comma and close as concisely as possible. These words, and the beginning statements, stand out from the rest.
Write as many positive thoughts as you can. Recommendation letters are usually positive, although not always.
Write something like "In closing, I highly recommend [name] for the position," or "Based on the foregoing information, I cannot honestly recommend [name] for the spot on the board of trustees."
Write something like "sincerely" at the end, followed by a comma, and write your name below that.
Note that you may be challenged to write a positive letter of recommendation, if your credibility is on the line.
