18 Recommendation Letter Templates

Opening: I am pleased to recommend [Name] for [opportunity]. I have known/worked with [Name] for [context], giving me direct experience with [relevant areas].

Evidence paragraph: [Name] demonstrated [quality] when [specific situation]. [Action/result]. This is relevant to [opportunity] because [connection].

Growth paragraph: One example of [growth/resilience] was [specific change over time].

Closing: Based on [basis], I [strongly/recommend] [Name] for [opportunity]. I would be glad to provide additional context about [areas you can actually assess].

Evidence paragraph: [Candidate] demonstrated [quality] when [specific situation]. They [action], resulting in [outcome]. This matters for [target opportunity] because [prediction].

Misconception correction audit for Recommendation Letter: shortcut or assumption → [ ]; why it fails here → [ ]; corrective move → [ ]; principle that must remain true → [ ]; goal-based next skill → [ ].

Failure-mode and reader-intent audit for Recommendation Letter: visible symptom → [ ]; likely underlying problem → [ ]; reader need → [ ]; competing technique considered → [ ]; correction → [ ]; evidence/genre/format constraint → [ ]; final verification → [ ].

Boundary-and-tool-choice audit for Recommendation Letter: reader objection → [ ]; actual writing job → [ ]; evidence/genre/format boundary → [ ]; tempting alternative → [ ]; why it is the wrong tool here → [ ]; correct adjustment → [ ]; final verification → [ ].

Evidence/support and mastery ladder for Recommendation Letter: minimum acceptable → [ ]; strong → [ ]; expert → [ ]; audience/genre constraint → [ ]; evidence or story support → [ ]; boundary that would require a different technique → [ ].

Certainty and expert-exception audit for Recommendation Letter: statement or choice → [ ]; evidence/canon/authority supporting it → [ ]; confidence level → [ ]; uncertainty that must be named → [ ]; expert exception → [ ]; nearest alternative technique → [ ]; why the final choice fits better → [ ].

Purpose-and-verification decision audit for Recommendation Letter: real writing job → [ ]; plausible choice A → [ ]; plausible choice B → [ ]; downstream consequence of each → [ ]; facts/evidence/canon to verify → [ ]; reader or genre boundary → [ ]; final purpose-fit reason → [ ].

Publication-readiness audit for Recommendation Letter: claim/advice/example → [ ]; strongest available source tier → [ ]; important disagreement or uncertainty → [ ]; what would change the conclusion → [ ]; publish now / qualify / revise / hold → [ ]; final verifier or source of truth → [ ].

Provenance and classification audit for Recommendation Letter: draft statement/example → [ ]; classify as fact / interpretation / recommendation / convention / original example → [ ]; source or internal provenance → [ ]; source date / version / checked date → [ ]; attribution needed → [ ]; recency risk → [ ]; final publishable wording → [ ].

Source-record and update audit for Recommendation Letter: statement / example → [ ]; external fact, project fact, interpretation, recommendation, convention, or original example → [ ]; controlling first-party / primary source → [ ]; secondary source if used → [ ]; source record / locator → [ ]; date or version checked → [ ]; update trigger → [ ]; publish / qualify / revise / hold → [ ].

Source-ledger and revision-history audit for Recommendation Letter: claim / recommendation / example → [ ]; source or project record ID → [ ]; source status active / superseded / corrected / retracted / retired → [ ]; claim-level last verified date/version → [ ]; event that triggered recheck → [ ]; correction / withdrawal action → [ ]; reader-facing disclosure needed? → [ ]; what changed and why → [ ]; prior wording/version retained at → [ ].

Claim/source status audit: Item [claim/source/example] | Status [active / review due / stale / corrected / retracted / superseded] | Controlling source/version [x] | Last verified [date/version] | Stale trigger [x] | Correction severity [0–3] | Reader disclosure [none / note / correction / withdrawal] | Changelog entry [what changed + why].

Dependency and propagation audit: Claim / example / recommendation [x] | Controlling source / project record [x] | Dependency strength [direct / shared / advisory / independent] | Review trigger / reason code [x] | Needs-review scope [local / direct dependents / cluster] | Replacement source requirements [x] | Carry-forward decision [x] | Propagation targets [x] | Reader disclosure / changelog action [x].

Persistent editorial registry audit: Topic slug → [ ]; claim UID/key → [ ]; source UID/key → [ ]; dependency UID + strength → [ ]; source status/version → [ ]; open review UID/reason/priority → [ ]; replacement source if any → [ ]; reviewer + resolution → [ ].