Writing Letters of Reference, Drafting them for your Referee

Often, your referee will ask you to draft the letter of reference which they will then edit.

1. Don't be too modest. If you are the best at something say it. The referee can always tone it down.
2. Be concrete and specific. For any qualities you claim are important, concrete specific examples will give weight to what is claimed.
3. Letters should be appropriate for their purpose. Hiring letters are very different than those for a fellowship or a grant. If you can address the particulars of the addressee's interests, so much the better. You should not be slavish about this, but if they are interested in technology and the arts, you surely want to claim the candidate's relevance to the topic.
4. There is likely to be a Personal Statement or letter of application. The referee should have that in hand, so that claims in the Personal Statement can be supported (or, sometimes, not supported).
5. If you are drafting letters for several referees, be sure each letter is unique, with no shared phrases in general. And, of course, errors of grammar, spelling, etc, have to be eliminated. Don't count on the referee to do the work.
6. Usually, letters indicate the status and appropriateness of the writer. This can be straightforward, with no bragging needed. And you indicate how you know the candidate, or if not, how you know the candidate's work. Letters may be from a non-arms-length writer, but then you need to indicate why they might well take your judgment as objective.
7. Be sure the first paragraph gives away the whole story, and the last one summarizes what you have said.
8. Detailed arguments with the candidate's work, if intellectually grounded, might well be appropriate, especially if you then give the candidate a strong reference.

More to be added

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