Before you start writing a letter of recommendation for a friend, clarify the purpose of the letter itself. Is it for a job, graduate school, a volunteer position, or something else? Understanding the ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 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 ...

Everyone in healthcare has had an opportunity to require or to write a letter of recommendation. They are a mandatory part of the application for most new positions, almost regardless of the entry ...

Shortly after becoming a full professor, I asked a colleague who had held that rank for years to name the greatest challenge she had faced in this ultimate chapter of faculty life. Her instant reply: ...

If you are in any leadership position, you will likely have to write a letter of recommendation for an employee, coworker, student or intern. Being asked to write a letter of recommendation means the ...

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 ...