Writing Effective Recommendation Letters Nancy Levinger and Mary Swanson Colorado State University Professional Development Institute 2017

Common Problems Recommenders Face You may: Not know a candidate well Feel unqualified to recommend a student for a particular program, award, or job Be uncertain how to address problematic aspects of a candidate’s academic or work history Lack time to do a good job Already recommended another candidate Lack confidence in writing ability

Applicant’s Job Do NOT ask applicant/nominee to write their own letter Ask well in advance Provide ALL the information a recommender needs to do a good job, including: Description of scholarship/job/graduate application Qualifications for the position/scholarship/award Description of future goals CV/resume Do NOT ask applicant/nominee to write their own letter

Recommender’s Job Recommender/applicant relationship How long do you know the applicant? In what capacity do you know the applicant? How have you interacted with the applicant? Provide context for applicant’s achievements Direct comparison may be appropriate Support applicant’s vision for future Applicant’s qualifications Applicant’s potential Focus letter toward the scholarship/job/school

Activity 1: Knowing when (and how) to say “No” 5 Scenarios Jordan White Drew Johnson Bailey Smith Peyton Brown Taylor Baker

Now that you have agreed to write… Structure of the letter Opening paragraph Body of the letter Final paragraph Consider what you would want to know

Opening paragraph Introduction Who does the letter support? For what are they applying? What is your relationship to the applicant? In what context do you know the applicant? For how long have you known the applicant? Why are you qualified to Recommend this candidate? Recommend for this job? What do you know that others do not? What special knowledge do you have? What are you qualified to say?

Letter of recommendation Body Applicant activities and accomplishments Not just a summary! Why is this applicant great? First hand knowledge Other relevant information, e.g., from other people

Letter of recommendation Final paragraph Restatement of who and what Places the recommendation in the context of the program Shows why and how applicant matches the call

Words matter! Words convey how and what you know about the candidate Use words that can data can support List of words from actual letters of recommendation

Activity 2 From the list of positive adjectives used for recommendation letters… Which adjectives are easiest to support with evidence? Which adjectives are strongest? Which adjectives are vague? In your group, discuss which words provide the most information about the applicant and why Develop a list of words your group would highlight in a letter

Language we use Gender and racial bias Studies show that we all have bias Language used to describe white men overshadows that for… Women Underrepresented minorities (e.g., African-American, Latino, etc.) Careful monitoring can mitigate bias in recommendations Test your bias at Project Implicit: https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html Test your letter at: http://www.tomforth.co.uk/genderbias/ Schmader, et al., Sex Roles, 2007, 57, 509–514; Moss-Racusin, et al., PNAS, 2012, 109, 16474–16479.

Words matter! Descriptors should fit the recommendation Words differ depending on application

Activity 3 Brainstorm about adjectives you would use to describe an applicant for: A scholarship recommendation A job recommendation Discuss in your group Report the adjectives your group chose

Activity 4 Write an introductory, body or final paragraph about… One of our student descriptions OR A person you know for whom you are writing or are likely to write …a letter of recommendation

Thanks for your participation! Please fill out an evaluation survey Mary.Swanson@Colostate.edu Nancy.Levinger@Colostate.edu Thanks to TILT for organizing the PDI!