How to write recommendations sample. How to write a letter of recommendation for a company

The labor market, especially when it comes to certain professions, is often oversupplied with personnel. Competition is intense, job applicants go to great lengths to gain an advantage, and employers demand compliance. Recommendations from a previous place of work often help management make a choice in favor of a candidate, but they must be properly formatted and comply with restrictions.

When hiring, many employers require applicants for positions to have references from previous management. From a legal point of view, such a requirement is not justified - neither in Labor Code of the Russian Federation, this is not established in any other legal acts, but this is the practice.

A good letter of recommendation significantly increases your chances of getting a position, but not always. Not all employers make this requirement, and some do not consider recommendations at all, making their choice based on other factors.

A letter of recommendation is a document in which the previous employer indicates his work qualities, skills, level of fulfillment of obligations, and so on. It can be drawn up directly by the head of the company, the person’s boss, or another employee who can give it (for example, the head of the human resources department).

The purpose of such a document is to characterize the citizen as an employee (can also be issued to students or during the period of advanced training). An employee needs recommendations to ensure the possibility of obtaining a new position, and a potential employer needs to obtain preliminary information about the employee - his personal qualities, professional skills, and so on.

There is no special form for a letter of recommendation. The employer adheres to general rules business letters, otherwise he has the right to act as he sees fit. It is recommended that registration be done on letterhead employer.

The letter must not contain illegal elements, that is, all information provided in it must comply with legal standards.

When writing a letter, the employer fulfills the following requirements:

• Business style is required. The use of colloquial expressions and scientific terms is not allowed if they are not necessary to analyze a citizen, his practical skills, and so on.
• Contacting an employee must be carried out taking into account the rules of etiquette. For example, you can use such address as colleague, employee, and also address you as “you”. Addressing in a friendly manner is not acceptable.
• It is not recommended to use artistic expressions, excessive phrases and introductory words. The text should be as simple and concise as possible. Literary expressions will only complicate understanding important information regarding the employee's skills.
• The document must be signed by the head of the organization or a person authorized to perform such actions.
• If the letter is written by one person and signed by another, both employees are indicated in the final version. In practice, the requirement is often not observed and the manager simply signs documents without studying it; it is difficult to monitor compliance with the unspoken requirement.

The rest of the form is free. It is advisable to indicate the actions that the employee performed, how he dealt with them, his communication skills with the team, and so on, that is, those points that may be useful in his future position.

Any letter of recommendation will consist of three parts:

1. Details of the parties - as the organization in which a particular citizen worked (or Individual Entrepreneur, for whom he worked) and the employee in respect of whom such a letter of recommendation is drawn up.
2. The company, its field of activity, the employee’s position, and his direct responsibilities are described. It is indicated how well he coped with them, as well as other additional points that can characterize him as an employee and specialist.
3. The growth of the employee during work is described, that is, the change in his professional skills, achievements, awards, bonuses, and projected prospects. The boss’s impressions of working with the employee are important.

As a result, you can indicate specific personal qualities of the employee, for example, write that he showed himself to be a good, responsive colleague who meets halfway and easily finds mutual language or on its other characteristics that may be important in subsequent professional activities.

A letter of recommendation may be more strict and contain only professional qualities, but it will be more effective if it shows the dynamics of the person, his ability to find a common language with colleagues, personal data, and so on. But at the same time, the main emphasis should still be on professional qualities and activities as a specialist.

Decor

When filling out, no forms or forms are required. A letter of recommendation, in principle, is not mandatory, so its form has not been developed; there are no GOST or even state recommendations.

The document is drawn up on plain paper, but it would be better to print it on the organization’s letterhead, if available. At the end, the signature of the manager or employee who compiled the document must be placed. Can be stamped.

In some cases, the previous manager is left with contact information so that the potential employer can clarify the accuracy of the information provided. However, in practice, not everyone wants to communicate with the future managers of previous employees.

Typical mistakes when drafting a document

If the employer decides to write a letter of recommendation, it means that the relationship with the employee is at least normal. He is not obliged to do this, but it is still worth adhering to certain unspoken rules so that the document really helps with subsequent employment.

The most common errors encountered when composing letters are:

• The letter is not written in a business style, but is based, to a greater extent, on a personal attitude towards the employee.
• The document contains only professional skills and does not describe relationships with the team and opinions about the employee. Undoubtedly, listing personal qualities is not necessary, but it is advisable to compile more full picture regarding the citizen.
• The document is drawn up by a person who has not had direct contact with the employee and cannot characterize him properly. It is recommended that the person’s immediate supervisor, for example, a foreman, head of a department, and so on, draw up the paper.
• Vague formulations are used, on the basis of which it is difficult to draw a conclusion about actual result cooperation with the employee. For example, the text of the recommendation is large, but there is little really important information in it; it does not reveal the most important qualities person as a specialist in their field.

The letter should be simple, clear and understandable, not lengthy and confusing. Otherwise, there are no strict rules.

The manager making the recommendation must be aware that it may be different for each employee. Depending on the position, different skills are required, the level of communication with clients, with colleagues, and so on. For example, the head of the HR department requires more developed skills in communicating with people than an accountant who works mainly with documents and numbers, accordingly, the recommendation needs to focus on the really important points.

• The level of mastering the necessary information, studying changes in legislation, mobility at work. The accountant needs to respond quickly to practical dynamics.
• Ability to quickly adapt to changes that are introduced regularly.
• Compliance with deadlines, absence (or small number) of violations.
• The absence of critical errors that would entail serious economic consequences.

Other positions are required to have slightly different skills. For example, in a letter of recommendation from an administrator it would be more useful to write:

• Possessing communication skills with clients and colleagues. This is an initial skill, without which the administrator cannot perform his functions.
• Level of organizational work, capabilities for personnel management, property management.
• Possession of other management and related skills.

There cannot be a general template for a letter of recommendation, since each profession needs to highlight some of its own characteristics. But the Internet is full of variations that can be used as a basis, changing the specific content.

If the employee subsequently plans to move abroad to work there labor activity, the letter of recommendation must meet other requirements. It is compiled in exactly the same way - the skills, functions, and advantages of the citizen are indicated, but foreign companies may emphasize other points, so it is worth clarifying the requirements in advance.

Another point is the language of the document. If an organization cannot immediately write recommendations in the language of a foreign country, then it is recommended to make a notarized translation. The cost will be low. The English version is most often accepted, even in countries where state language is different.

A recommendation is an optional document for the employer and he may not give it at all. If an employee receives a paper that does not characterize him the best side, then you may simply not use it. Of course, he will lose his competitive advantage, but this is better than having recommendations characterizing a citizen as a bad employee.

The employer can independently request recommendations from the previous manager. In this case, there is a chance of a bad transmission, especially if labor Relations were terminated “with a scandal.” It will not be possible to avoid the transfer of characteristics, so in this case we can only hope for the prudence of the previous management.

A letter of recommendation is a voluntary recommendation from a previous employer that characterizes the employee as a specialist and member of the team. It affects the professional qualities of a person, his personal data, abilities directly and indirectly related to the performance of labor functions. Special shape such a letter is not provided for by law, but there are practically established rules requiring conciseness and adherence to business style.

Letter of recommendation to employee- this is an assessment professional qualities, skills and abilities of the employee on his part former boss or colleagues. This document is usually used when searching new job and is attached to the . Having good recommendations makes a resume more attractive and increases the applicant's chances of getting hired.

Its writing begins by indicating the title of the document.

Then there is an appeal to a specific employer (if necessary).

After this, the period, place of work of the applicant and who he was with the recommender are indicated. For example: “Anastasia Igorevna Serova worked at Veres LLC under my leadership from September 10, 2010 to August 30, 2013,” “I collaborated with Anastasia Igorevna Serova from September 10, 2010 to August 30, 2013.” and so on.

Next, the position of the applicant is indicated, his functional responsibilities, work skills, abilities, professional achievements and successes, strengths. You can also indicate the reason for leaving the company here.

The main text of a letter of recommendation to an employee ends with the recommendations and wishes of the recommender. For example: “The professionalism of Anastasia Igorevna Serova allows us to recommend her for work in a similar position in another company. I wish her creative success, further development and prosperity."

Nowadays, not everyone is interested in a sample letter of recommendation for an employee, since such information is not key about the applicant. Moreover, the presence of such a document demonstrates positive sides employee.
If written correctly, the letter will be a great addition to your resume, increasing your likelihood of landing a good position.

About letters

In our country, a letter of recommendation from work is not widespread for certain reasons:
. Availability work book- a document, mandatory for everyone, which indicates the reasons for dismissal from previous jobs. If this happened for reasons negative for the employee, the letter is unlikely to improve the situation.
. A letter of recommendation does not affect the authority of the person or company on whose behalf it is written. This makes it possible to provide any letter the applicant needs, which may not always correspond to reality.

Most often, international companies, where such practices are common, are asked to provide this type of description.

The Labor Code states that the applicant has no right to require documents other than established by law. And this list does not include a sample letter of recommendation for an employee. At the same time, the employer may well ask for a reference, resume or other documents.

If this happens, there is no need to take the request with hostility: such a strange reaction will allow the recruiter to assume that the applicant is incompetent. About half of modern companies pay attention to the presence of a letter of recommendation, and about 40 percent of HR employees consider it a strong argument in favor of one of the candidates under consideration.

Presenting a resume at an interview has become a common practice, since in this way the “headhunter” can quickly weed out those who are obviously unsuitable for the applied position.

And in order to select the best candidate from relatively equal ones, a letter of recommendation may be required. This complements the summary of the resume by describing the candidate's strengths and giving insight into his or her personality.

Who is compiling

The receiving party prefers that the letter be drafted by a person occupying the highest possible position. This means that getting a document signed by the head of the department is better than getting a document signed by a colleague, but worse than getting a document signed by the director.

It’s even better to have as many previous managers as possible give the former employee letters of recommendation.

What must be specified

A sample letter of recommendation for an employee usually provides only general recommendations, leaving the person responsible for writing the one that is suitable for the specific case. However, it must include:

Personal qualities of the employee.
. Successes and personal achievements.
. Description of experience gained and existing skills.
. Length of work in this company and projects in which he took part.

There are no style or minimum length requirements for writing. However, it is not advisable to adhere to a strictly business style or to use artistic expressions, slang words or vernacular words.

Often those who are competent to write such documents suggest that the employee compose a letter for himself, citing lack of time. They offer to provide a sample letter of recommendation for an employee or help with advice, but nothing more.

This is an irresponsible and unprincipled request, illuminating the “responsible” person from the best side. In addition, not every person is ready to praise himself. However, if there is no choice, you will have to do it.

Document structure

In the upper right corner you should indicate either the details of the company to which the applicant is sent, or leave a note such as “to the interested organization”, “present at the place of request” and others. This line does not affect the meaning or effectiveness of the letter.

Below in the center is the title of the document. To understand how to write a letter of recommendation, you should know about the structure of its body. It is divided into conditional parts:

Introduction. It must contain the information of the recommender, indicating not only the full name, but also the position, career attitude to the recommended one (mentor, colleague, manager). Be sure to indicate how long it lasts Team work with an employee.

Main part. First of all, it is necessary to indicate the professional qualities of the applicant. After this, they write down his position, responsibilities, tasks performed, projects in which he participated, awards received and successes achieved. A bonus for the employee is an indication of the place his personal professionalism occupies in the overall success of the enterprise. It is equally important to characterize moral qualities employee. This may include a responsible attitude to business, initiative, skill and desire teamwork, communication skills, aptitude for leadership, stress resistance. Although this assessment is subjective, it allows the representative of the future employer to decide whether the applicant can fit into the existing team at the enterprise.

Conclusion. This part should summarize what has been said, reflecting your opinion on the reasons why you consider the candidate suitable for a particular position. There is no need to indicate the reason why the employee left the company - if necessary, he himself will tell the employer about it.

A sample of this document is easy to find. You can download it and leave it in the instructions for the future or search for it every time new sample, getting relatively varied options. It is worth remembering the “grading” of persons certifying documents: a letter of recommendation to a seller can be written by a merchandiser, store director, supervisor, etc., while, for example, a branch manager should turn to the director of the chain for recommendations.

Sample

Phrases that are most often used in such documents will help make writing a letter easier.

During the period of work in the organization Ivanov I.I. showed himself to be a _________ worker. In place of the space you can specify the following characteristics:
. pedantic;
. punctual;
. conscientious;
. executive;
. responsible;
. proactive;
. hardworking;
. successful;
. independent;
. sociable, etc.

Worker:
. Enjoys well-deserved respect from colleagues and authority.
. Proficient in sales techniques.
. Knows the consumer market very well.
. Knows how to negotiate.
. Managed to increase sales.
. He has a long experience in this position.
. Has excellent organizational skills.
. Managed to implement new technology.
. Successfully completed assigned projects.

The employee, without outside assistance, performed his duties completely independently on time and in accordance with the requirements. The high-quality performance of his duties enabled Ivanov I.I. get new position in __ years.

Bottom line

A correctly and competently written letter to a job seeker helps to find a job faster, increasing his competitiveness.

At the same time, for the employer it is a kind of guarantee of the “quality” of the applicant, confirming his value as a specialist capable of bringing the greatest benefit to the company.

Every person has to look for a job at least once in their life, and modern world you have to do this more than once. Find Good work not easy, since employers are demanding and selective, and competitors are not asleep. In such circumstances, it is necessary to use all possible tools that can persuade the employer to accept your candidacy. One of these tools is a letter of recommendation.

What is a letter of recommendation and how can it help with employment?

Letters of recommendation came to Russia from Europe, where they were in use several centuries ago. At that time, a letter of recommendation was actually used as a resume, and without this document there was no way to get a more or less decent job, not only in a government or commercial enterprise, but even a maid or cook needed recommendations to work in good home and with a decent salary. IN Soviet time The tradition of providing recommendations when applying for a job has changed. Recommendations have been replaced by characteristics that, in principle, can be considered identical to letters of recommendation in their purpose. In recent decades in Russia, the tradition of providing recommendations for employment has been revived. Having references (oral or written) allows the candidate to confirm to a potential employer that, firstly, his resume is truthful and, secondly, his past workplace was abandoned not due to conflict or dishonest performance of duties.

• to the bank when applying for a loan or mortgage;
• to higher education educational institution to consider the possibility of providing a grant for study;
• V government agencies to apply for benefits.

Recommendations can be requested verbally or in writing. The recruiter can receive oral recommendations from the person specified by the applicant via telephone conversation or in a personal meeting. Most often, the applicant himself should be tasked with preparing written recommendations in a timely manner. Most often, the applicant himself draws up this letter, and the manager only reads the already completed document, and then confirms with his signature that he agrees with everything stated.

My experience shows that in some companies the writing letters of recommendation They even entrust it to PR specialists. In this case, the employee should not leave everything to chance and hope that a kind PR person will write “as needed.” It is better to take the initiative and prepare at least a template of a text about yourself, even if you are deprived of the gift of writing. The PR specialist will correct punctuation and grammatical errors in a letter, the essence of which will convey what you need.

As such, there are no formal requirements for the preparation of letters of recommendation; however, there is a set of basic principles, the observance of which will facilitate the creation of the document and its subsequent use. A letter of recommendation should traditionally be issued on company letterhead. In a free business style, it tells about the employee and those qualities that he would like to highlight. At the conclusion of the letter, the signature of the person composing it, his surname and initials are placed. It is also necessary to indicate the position of the compiler and contact information (telephone and email address). It is also important to indicate the date of writing in the letter. Letters from ten years ago are unlikely to serve as a convincing argument for employment. The company seal may not be placed on such a letter if the seal does not exist in principle.

The letter must begin with a title, namely the words “Letter of Recommendation.” Further in the text you can reflect, for example, the following points:

• confirm the fact that the submitter of the letter actually worked in the designated company during such and such a period of time together with the person who is now making the recommendation;
• describe job responsibilities the employee, the nature of the work he performed, and his success in this matter;
• characterize the employee’s professional qualities, achievements, promotions, thanks;
• identify reasons for leaving;
• formulate your recommendations and express your opinion about the person, his talents, skills and prospects for further professional development.

The letter is drawn up in free form

How to write a letter of recommendation in English and when it may be required

When writing a letter of recommendation in English, you must adhere to the rules of business English correspondence. If the letter of recommendation is drawn up in paper form, in the header of the document it is necessary to indicate the contact information of the originator, as well as the date of preparation. The document itself can be printed on a printer, but the signature at the bottom of the page must be written by hand.

If the document is sent by email, you do not need to include a header, but in the subject line of the letter, be sure to indicate the full name of the candidate, the position for which he is applying, as well as the purpose of your letter. Contact information can be indicated at the end of the letter itself after the signature.

Otherwise, the requirements for the content of an English-language letter of recommendation are identical to the requirements for a letter written in Russian. The ideal length of a letter of recommendation does not exceed one page.

I had to prepare letters of recommendation in English for admission to a foreign university. To write my letter, I first looked at several examples of letters from the Internet, and then composed my own version. If your skill level English language is far from perfect, it is better to seek help from more knowledgeable friends and colleagues. In the future, when studying, flaws in colloquial speech You will be forgiven as a foreigner, but errors in the text of the letter of recommendation will not work in your favor at all.

As a rule, the letter of recommendation must be certified and signed by the manager on whose behalf the document is being drawn up. This can be the head of a department or branch, or himself CEO. Students may obtain a signature from the dean of the faculty or the head of the department for their letters of recommendation.

Strictly speaking, there are no specific requirements and rules for writing letters of recommendation, so it is difficult to make a mistake when writing such a letter. However, if we take into account that the purpose of the letter is to help a former employee find a job, following certain canons when drawing up a document, this goal can be either delayed or brought closer. Thus, a letter based only on personal impressions of the employee, but not affecting the professional qualities and relationships of the person with the team, is unlikely to help in getting a job offer. The recruiter cannot take into account a letter written by a person who has not had experience of direct interaction with the applicant. Thus, a human resources manager cannot provide an adequate description of an advertising specialist. In order for the document to influence the recruiter’s decision, it must be drawn up by the employee’s immediate supervisor. Recommendations in vaguely formulaic formulations will also be of little help to the HR manager of a future employer when making a hiring decision. A good letter should be short and to the point.

Having recommendations from former employers is not a guarantee of successful employment, but modern conditions When looking for your dream job, you don’t have to shy away from any auxiliary tools. It is quite possible that well-written recommendations will be the decisive straw that will tip the scales in your favor when making the final hiring decision.

“This is a fairly common practice when a specialist himself prepares a version of a letter of recommendation and then gives it to the recommender. The latter makes changes, if he considers it necessary, and signs, he believes Andrey Mesechko, PR director of the recruiting company Pride Consulting Group. - When composing a letter, you must take into account that it must contain the following elements:

1. personal data (full name) of the candidate, the position in which he worked, duration of work (full name worked in the company... in the position... in the period from... to...);
2. brief description of job responsibilities;
3. description of significant achievements (during his work, the full name has proven himself to be... for example, a highly qualified specialist. Among his main achievements are... for example, increasing revenue, establishing..., launching..., launching... etc. );
4. a brief personal description (full name distinguishes... for example, sociability, friendliness, ability to build effective relationships, integrity, etc.);
5. indicating the reasons for leaving the company (optional), expressing regret about this (optional), expressing confidence in a further productive career and development of a specialist in a new place.

• personal and contact information of the recommender (full name, company name, position, phone number, email address);
• personal data of the specialist, his position in the company and the period of cooperation with the recommender;
• the range of issues for which the specialist was responsible within the framework of cooperation;
• his professional achievements within the framework of cooperation, characteristics as a person;
• the traditional final paragraph with regret that the specialist is leaving and wishes for further success.”

When applying for a signature or agreeing to provide contact phone number, talk to the recommender about what he will answer if a representative of the company you want to work for calls. This is not a conspiracy, but a completely normal discussion, since at the time of such a call a person may not be ready for a conversation, is busy with work, business and, accordingly, forget to mention something important. “The legislation does not oblige employers to provide recommendations for resigning employees,” recalls Andrei Mesechko. - Moreover, if the specialist had a strained relationship with one of his colleagues or managers, they may refuse to provide this document. It is unlikely that it will be possible to quickly establish relationships that were not built over a long period of time working in the company, so it is better to turn to those who can speak positively about the professional and personal qualities of the specialist.”

Ace in the hole

But just getting a recommendation is not enough - you need to use it on time. After all, if you talk about it prematurely, the picture may look like the applicant is trying to hide something, and if you delay, the right opportunity may not present itself.

“I would not recommend sending a letter of recommendation along with your resume - this may raise questions and doubts among recruiters and create the feeling that the candidate is making excuses in advance and is looking for outside support,” warns Natalya Valdaeva, head of the banking practice of the recruiting company MarksMan. “It is better to send a letter upon request or at an advanced stage of negotiations.” “Of course, it is useful to have an electronic copy of the letter, but sending it along with your resume is premature,” agrees Andrey Mesechko. - It is enough to emphasize the readiness to provide recommendations in one form or another at the request of a potential employer.

It is also important to have the contact information of references and obtain their consent to provide it to the future employer. For example, if confirmation of the authenticity of a letter of recommendation is required or additional questions arise. When employing a foreign company, it is important to study and comply with the regulations of the country to which the company belongs.”

Letters of recommendation are not the main component of employment, but this does not mean that such a document will not be useful to you. When you start your search, you may not even suspect what kind of offer you will receive from employers. Therefore, it is worth stocking up in advance good recommendations to fully meet your career prospects.