Professional Reference Letter Templates for Any Role

Workplace advice writers such as Alison Green of Ask a Manager have noted that a reference letter is often where a candidate's reputation gets tested honestly, and that vague, unspecific letters are usually the clearest warning sign. [...] HR professionals like former Fortune 500 HR executive Liz Ryan have long argued that a specific story and a calibrated comparison do more hiring work than a letter full of superlatives, which often forces the reader to call the writer just to find out what they actually meant. [...] Organizational psychologists who study hiring, including Wharton's Adam Grant, have observed that reference letters naming specific projects, results, and contact information tend to be taken more seriously than letters built mainly on adjectives.