Let’s be real for a second. Most people treat a recommendation letter for student from employer like a chore. They open a blank Word doc, stare at the blinking cursor, and eventually Google "template for boss recommending intern." Then they copy-paste some generic fluff about being a "hard worker" and a "team player."
It’s boring. It’s transparent. And honestly? It’s doing that student a massive disservice.
If you’re the employer, you have a weirdly high amount of power over this person’s future. Whether they are applying for a Master's program at Stanford or trying to snag a competitive scholarship, your voice carries weight because you’ve seen them in the "real world." Academic advisors see how they study; you see how they handle a crisis when the server goes down at 4:00 PM on a Friday.
Why Your Recommendation Actually Matters
Graduate school admissions officers and scholarship committees are tired. They read thousands of these things. Most of them sound exactly the same. When you write a recommendation letter for student from employer, you aren’t just verifying that they showed up on time. You’re providing proof of character that a GPA simply cannot reflect.
Think about the "Distance Traveled" metric that Harvard and other top-tier institutions use. They want to see how far a student has come. A letter from a manager at a local coffee shop or a tech startup provides a window into their grit. Did they handle a difficult customer with grace? Did they automate a spreadsheet that saved the team five hours a week? That’s the gold.
If you just say "Sarah was a great intern," you’ve told them nothing. If you say "Sarah noticed our inventory system was lagging and voluntarily stayed late to reorganize the entire database," you’ve just gotten her an interview.
The Structure of a Recommendation Letter for Student From Employer
Don't overthink the layout. Seriously.
Start with the basics. Who are you? Why should the reader care what you think? Mention your job title and how long you supervised the student. "I’ve managed Mark for eighteen months at Peak Marketing" is plenty. You don't need a five-paragraph introduction about the company's mission statement. Keep it focused on the human being.
Then, pivot to the "The Win." This is the core of the recommendation letter for student from employer. Pick one specific moment where they actually impressed you. Maybe it wasn't a giant project. Maybe it was just the way they handled a high-pressure deadline.
I remember writing one for a former assistant who was applying to law school. Instead of talking about her "attention to detail," I wrote about the time she caught a $10,000 billing error in a contract that three senior partners had missed. That specific detail made her look like a hero. It’s hard to ignore a story like that.
Contextualizing Their Growth
Students are works in progress. Admissions committees know this. You don't have to pretend they were a perfect CEO-level employee from day one. In fact, it's often more powerful to describe their growth.
"When Leo started, he was quiet and hesitant to speak up in meetings. By the end of his summer residency, he was leading our weekly stand-ups and challenging our assumptions about user engagement." That shows a trajectory. It shows they are coachable. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), "coachability" is one of the top traits employers—and by extension, graduate schools—look for.
Words to Use (And Words to Delete Forever)
If you use the word "passionate," I’m going to need you to hit backspace.
Everyone is "passionate" in a recommendation letter. It’s a filler word. It’s the "um" of professional writing. Instead of saying they are passionate, show what that passion produced.
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Instead of:
- Hard-working: Try "Relentless in solving technical bugs."
- Reliable: Try "The person I trusted to handle the keys to the office."
- A leader: Try "Someone the rest of the staff naturally looked to for guidance."
The goal is to be descriptive, not just evaluative. You aren't a judge handing out a grade; you're a witness giving testimony. Be the witness that actually has a good story to tell.
Handling the Logistics
Keep it to one page. No one wants to read a three-page manifesto. Use a professional letterhead if you have one—it adds a layer of "this is official" that looks good on a digital application. Make sure your contact info is at the bottom. Sometimes, admissions officers actually call. It’s rare, but it happens, especially for high-stakes programs.
The Ethics of Saying "No"
Here is a tough truth: if you can’t write a great letter, don’t write one at all.
If a student was mediocre or just "fine," it’s better to tell them, "I don't think I'm the best person to speak to your strengths for this specific program." A lukewarm recommendation letter for student from employer is actually worse than no letter at all. A "meh" letter signals to the committee that the candidate is forgettable.
If you do agree to write it, ask the student for their "brag sheet" or a copy of their personal statement. It helps if your letter aligns with the narrative they are telling about themselves. If they are focusing on their leadership skills, you can tailor your anecdotes to support that theme.
Actionable Steps for a Better Letter
- Request the Resume: Ask the student for their current resume and the specific description of the program they are applying to. You need to know the target to hit the bullseye.
- Pick Two Traits: Don't try to cover everything. Pick two things they are great at. Maybe it's "analytical thinking" and "empathy." Focus your stories around those two pillars.
- The Comparison: Briefly compare them to other students or entry-level employees you’ve managed. "In my ten years of managing interns, Julian ranks in the top 2% for his ability to synthesize complex data." This gives the reader a benchmark.
- The "Call Me" Closer: End with a strong statement of endorsement. "I recommend them without reservation" is the standard, but you can be more personal. "I would re-hire them in a heartbeat if I could."
- Proofread for Bias: Research from the Journal of Applied Psychology suggests that letters for women often use "communal" words (kind, helpful) while letters for men use "agentic" words (ambitious, dominant). Try to use strong, action-oriented language regardless of the student's gender.
Writing a recommendation letter for student from employer is about humanizing a pile of data. You’re the one who gets to say, "Hey, this kid is the real deal." Take twenty minutes to make it sound like it came from a person, not a template. It makes a bigger difference than you think.
Once the draft is finished, save it as a PDF to preserve the formatting before sending it off. If the student is applying through a portal like Common App or LSAC, check your spam folder for the link—those automated emails get flagged all the time. Your job ends when the "Submission Confirmed" screen pops up. After that, it's in the hands of the admissions gods.