Writing a recommendation is a massive chore. Most people dread it because it feels like there is this invisible rulebook you’re supposed to follow, but nobody ever actually gives you the pages. You sit there, staring at a blinking cursor, wondering if "hardworking" sounds too generic or if "visionary" sounds like you’re overcompensating for something. Honestly, most people just go to Google, type in sample of a letter of recommendation, and copy-paste the first thing they see. That is a huge mistake.
Why? Because recruiters and admissions officers at places like Harvard or Goldman Sachs see thousands of these. They can smell a template from a mile away. It’s boring. It’s stale. It lacks the "soul" of the person you’re actually trying to help. If you want to write something that actually moves the needle, you have to stop thinking about it as a formal document and start thinking about it as a high-stakes pitch.
What a Sample of a Letter of Recommendation Often Gets Wrong
Most templates you find online are too polite. They use words like "punctual," "organized," and "a team player." Let’s be real: those aren't strengths; those are the bare minimum requirements for having a job. If the best thing you can say about someone is that they show up on time, you're actually subtly telling the reader that the candidate is mediocre.
A real, effective sample of a letter of recommendation needs to focus on "delta"—the change that person created. Did they save the company $50,000? Did they fix a broken culture in the marketing department? Did they handle a crisis that would have made anyone else quit? That’s what people want to read. They want the drama.
The Problem with Adjectives
Adjectives are cheap. Anyone can say a student is "brilliant." It’s much harder to describe the specific time that student stayed after class for three weeks to master a complex fluid dynamics problem that wasn't even on the syllabus. Show, don't tell. It's a cliché for a reason. If you use a sample of a letter of recommendation as a skeleton, you must flesh it out with actual stories. Without the stories, you’re just handing over a list of compliments that nobody believes.
The Structural "Secret Sauce"
You don’t need a five-page manifesto. Keep it tight.
Start with the relationship. How do you know this person? If you’ve managed them for four years, say that. If you only worked with them on one project but they blew your mind, lead with that. The reader needs to know why your opinion even matters.
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Next, hit them with the "Big Win." Pick one specific thing. This is where most people mess up because they try to list every single thing the person did since 2019. Don't do that. Pick the one achievement that aligns most with where they are going next. If they are applying for a leadership role, talk about their leadership. If it’s a technical role, talk about their code.
Why Comparisons Matter
One of the most powerful things you can do—and you’ll rarely see this in a generic sample of a letter of recommendation—is to rank the person against their peers. Use a sentence like, "In my fifteen years of teaching at the University of Michigan, Sarah ranks in the top 2% of students I’ve ever encountered." That gives the reader an immediate benchmark. It’s objective. It’s quantifiable. It carries weight.
A Realistic Sample of a Letter of Recommendation (The "Pro" Version)
Let’s look at how this actually looks in practice. Imagine you’re writing for a former marketing manager named Alex who is applying for a Director role.
To the Hiring Committee,
I’ve been in the SaaS industry for nearly two decades, and I’ve managed over 50 direct reports. Usually, when someone asks for a recommendation, I have to dig for things to say. With Alex, I have the opposite problem. I have too much.
Alex joined my team at TechFlow during a period of absolute chaos. Our churn rate was spiking, and morale was in the gutter. Most people would have just followed orders and waited for the ship to sink. Alex didn't. Within three months, he’d independently audited our entire customer success workflow and identified a bottleneck in our onboarding process that was costing us thousands. He didn't just point it out; he built the solution.
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By the time he left, our retention had improved by 22%. That’s a real number that hit our bottom line. He’s the kind of guy who doesn't wait for permission to be great.
I’d hire him again in a heartbeat. If you have the chance to bring him on, do it before someone else realizes what they’re missing.
Best,
Jordan Miller, CMO
Addressing the "Weakness" Question
Sometimes, a sample of a letter of recommendation will suggest mentioning a "growth area." This feels risky, right? You don't want to tank their chances. But here is the thing: a letter that is 100% sunshine and rainbows feels fake.
If you mention a small, honest area for growth—like "Alex sometimes gets so deep into the data that I have to remind him to look at the big picture"—it actually makes the rest of your praise more believable. It shows you’re a credible witness, not just a friend doing a favor. Just make sure the "weakness" is something that can be viewed as a byproduct of a strength.
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Making It Mobile-Friendly and Scannable
Recruiters are reading these on their phones while grabbing coffee. They are skimming.
- Use Bold Text: Highlight the most important sentence in each paragraph.
- Short Paragraphs: Keep them to three or four sentences max.
- Clear Subject Lines: If you’re emailing it, make the subject line "Recommendation for [Name] - [Your Title]."
The Legal and Ethical Side
We have to talk about the boring stuff for a second. In some countries and industries, there are strict rules about what you can and can't say. Some HR departments have "neutral reference" policies where they only confirm dates of employment and job titles. If you’re at a big corporation, check with HR before you go rogue and write a glowing three-page letter. You don't want to get in trouble for trying to be a nice person.
Also, be honest. If you didn't actually like working with the person, don't write the letter. A lukewarm recommendation is often worse than no recommendation at all. It’s okay to say, "I don't think I'm the best person to write this for you." It feels awkward for ten seconds, but it saves everyone a lot of trouble in the long run.
Final Practical Steps
If you are the one asking for the letter, don't just send a link to a sample of a letter of recommendation. That’s lazy. Instead, send your recommender a "Cheat Sheet."
- Remind them of the dates you worked together.
- List three specific achievements you’d love for them to mention.
- Include the job description or the program details so they can tailor the tone.
- Offer to write a first draft for them.
Most busy executives will thank you for providing a draft. They will edit it to sound like them, but you’ve done the heavy lifting of remembering the details. This ensures the final product is a high-quality sample of a letter of recommendation that actually represents your best work.
Actionable Takeaways for the Writer
- Ditch the Templates: Use them for structure, but delete every "stock" sentence.
- Focus on Impact: Use numbers, percentages, and "before vs. after" scenarios.
- Be Specific: Mention a project by name. Mention a specific crisis handled.
- Keep it Brief: One page is the gold standard. Anything longer is rarely read in full.
- Proofread: A recommendation letter with typos tells the recruiter that neither you nor the candidate cares about quality.
If you follow these steps, you aren't just checking a box. You are providing a genuine competitive advantage for someone’s career. That’s worth the extra twenty minutes of effort.
To get started, look back at the last major project you did with the person. Write down three words that describe their contribution, then find one specific story that proves each word. That is your outline. Forget the "corporate-speak" and just tell the truth about why they are good at what they do. That is the only sample of a letter of recommendation that actually works in the real world.