FREE 7+ Sample Reference Letters in MS Word | PDF

Creating a letter of reference or requesting for one can be a tricky task. Unlike resumes, a reference letter takes a more detailed and formal approach toward providing an employee’s information, his set of skills, and varying achievements that come from an outsider’s perspective.

Reference letters may be needed when applying for schools, universities, and jobs. Employers or supervisors are usually the ones who provide these types of letters, but colleagues can also be requested to make one. Below are Sample Reference Letters for job applications, academic references, and personal references that you can use.

Example Character Reference Letter

Example Professional Reference Letter

Example Reference Letter for Student

Example Reference Letter for Employee

Character Reference

A character reference is usually drafted by someone who can attest to your real personality. These types of reference letters are typically given by friends or family members – people who are well aware of the real you. Character references may also be used to give additional support to weak employer reference letters.

What’s in a Reference Letter?

Purpose

Like other letters, a Reference Letter should typically indicate its purpose. An example of a portion of the letter that states the purpose of the Reference Letter would be:
“I am writing this letter as a means of character reference for John Smith in support of his employment application.”

Indicate Connections and Time Duration

Since a Letter of Reference is usually used to verify the information that an applicant has stated in an application, the title, the connection, and the length of time that the person was connected with the organization should also be stated. For example,

“I have known John since 2010 when he first started as Media Distributions Specialist for our Marketing Department. John has also been working under me as my Assistant Publicist since June of 2012.”

Also see:

Reference Letter Samples

Example Reference Letter for Immigration

Example Reference Letter for Adoption

Example Reference Letter for Teacher

Example of Reference Letter for Job

Specifying Personal Abilities

This portion of a Character Reference Letter is where an individual’s skills and abilities are shared or elaborated further by mentioning specific situations to support them. For example,

“John works with passion and dedication. He always arrives to work on time and makes sure he finishes his tasks and responsibilities before leaving work. John has inspired his colleagues to work diligently and to provide quality results. Because of his dedication to his work, he was able to cover the publicity and exposure of our clients in LA and in Michigan that our sales increased by 18% in 2015 and by 25% in 2016.”

Contact Details

Make sure to provide your contact details at the last portion of the letter in case the recipient wants to connect with you for follow-up questions.

Also see:

Sample Character Reference Letters