Did anyone ever approach you requesting a reference letter and you had to say no, as you didn’t know what to write?  If you don’t know how to write a letter, here is some help for you that may avoid you saying ‘no’ next time.

Usually reference letter is written to help someone who wants to get some employment. Similarly, they are also used to apply for college. More often, employers want this letter from their employers and consider it as a character reference. It is quite important to learn how to write an impressive reference letter because most of the time, the purpose for which a reference letter is intended is huge.

In almost every case, only those people can request this letter from you who know you well. However, it’s not difficult at all to learn how to write a reference letter. If you are familiar with the person you are writing about, it becomes quite easier for you to write a reference letter and if you don’t know the person, you may not even find where to take a start. It is better to decline the request instead of writing for such a person whom you don’t know. This kind of letter can be helpful only if you know about the person you are going to recommend.

A good reference letter is one that is not wordy or long enough. You just have to explain how do you know or relate to this person. Is s/he your   neighbor, co-worker, student or a business acquaintance? You have to mention how long you have known this person. It would help to determine how well you know the person. If you know or familiar with a person only for two days and write a letter of recommendation for him/her, your letter of recommendation for such a person wouldn’t be considered credible.

Besides explaining how long you have known the person, you also need to mention your shared experiences with the person. It would help the recipient to judge how trustworthy and credible your claims are.

Majority of people can’t write a reference letter, as they don’t know what to write and how to write.  Usually you mention three traits of the person whom you are writing about and these are honesty, dependability and skills.

You must think a lot about the things you are going to say before start writing your letter. Try to make a draft if necessary. If an anecdote can work, don’t hesitate to add it.

You would find phrasing the words and sentences (to help the person get the result for which your letter is proposed) quite easier if you have learnt writing a reference letter.

Reference letters serves as a major component in a successful job search. So, if you really want to help some known one with your reference, you must have to develop a good skill of writing reference letters.