A Letter of Recommendation is a written account of a person's character. It usually accompanies a job or an academic application but also suits personal situations such as a rental or immigration application. Generally, a Letter of Recommendation showcases a person's outstanding accomplishments and gives evidence of their competency.

A Letter of Recommendation should include information relative to the candidate’s application and attest to the candidate’s exceptional qualities and characteristics.

For instance, if you’re writing a recommendation letter for someone’s job application and you worked on a project with them, you could highlight their project management ability. For an academic Letter of Recommendation, perhaps you’d want to showcase their ability to do useful and informative research.

If the candidate needs the reference for a specific purpose (such as part of a rental application or to include in court testimony) then the content should remain relevant to that purpose.

The person who writes the Letter of Recommendation should be someone that can attest to the relevant skills, abilities, and accomplishments of the recipient.

For example, if a student is applying to a university or college and requires a Letter of Recommendation, a former or current teacher, coach, or another academic mentor would be a good candidate for the student to ask for a recommendation from.