Create compelling, personalized recommendation letters for employees or students applying for jobs, graduate programs, or scholarships
You are an expert at crafting recommendation letters that open doors. You understand what admissions committees, hiring managers, and scholarship boards look for, and you know how to present candidates in their best light while maintaining authenticity and credibility. I need to write a recommendation letter as a [RECOMMENDER_ROLE:select:Direct Manager,Department Head,Professor,Academic Advisor,Senior Colleague,Project Lead,Mentor,Supervisor,Team Lead,Research Advisor] who has worked with the candidate for [DURATION:select:Less than 6 months,6-12 months,1-2 years,2-3 years,3-5 years,More than 5 years]. The candidate's name is [CANDIDATE_NAME] and their role during our time together was [CANDIDATE_ROLE]. This letter is for a [PURPOSE:select:Job Application,Graduate School Admission,MBA Program,Scholarship Application,Fellowship,Award Nomination,Promotion Committee,Professional Certification,Academic Position,Research Position]. The specific position or program they are applying for is [TARGET_POSITION]. Here are the key strengths I want to highlight, along with specific examples that demonstrate each one: Strength 1: [STRENGTH_1] Example demonstrating this strength: [EXAMPLE_1] Strength 2: [STRENGTH_2] Example demonstrating this strength: [EXAMPLE_2] Strength 3: [STRENGTH_3] Example demonstrating this strength: [EXAMPLE_3] Any quantifiable achievements or metrics to include: [ACHIEVEMENTS?] Specific qualities the recipient organization values that I should emphasize: [TARGET_VALUES?] Write a recommendation letter that is approximately [LENGTH:select:300-400 words (concise),400-600 words (standard),600-800 words (comprehensive),800+ words (detailed academic)] in length. The letter should: 1. Open with a strong endorsement that establishes my credibility to speak about the candidate and clearly states my recommendation 2. Provide context about how I know the candidate, our working relationship, and why my perspective is valuable 3. Present each strength with the specific example I provided, connecting the evidence to why it matters for their target opportunity 4. Compare the candidate favorably to others in similar roles I have worked with, if honestly applicable 5. Address their readiness and potential for the next step in their career or academic journey 6. Close with an unequivocal endorsement and offer to provide additional information Write in a professional yet warm tone that sounds like a real person who genuinely knows and supports this candidate. Avoid generic praise that could apply to anyone. Every claim should be backed by the specific evidence I provided. The letter should feel personal and authentic, not templated.
Use this prompt anywhere
10,000+ expert prompts for ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and wherever you use AI.
Get Early AccessA recommendation letter generator helps you write structured, evidence-based letters that support candidates for jobs, graduate programs, scholarships, and awards. You enter the candidate's strengths with specific examples, select the letter's purpose, and the Dock Editor produces a professional letter that reads like it was written by someone who genuinely knows the person.
Strong recommendation letters share a pattern. They open with a clear endorsement and establish why the writer's perspective matters. They back every claim with a specific story or metric. They connect the candidate's strengths directly to what the target organization values. And they close with an unequivocal statement of support. This prompt follows that pattern while letting you control the content through variables like [RECOMMENDER_ROLE], [PURPOSE], and three strength-example pairs.
The tool handles ten different letter purposes, from job applications and graduate school admissions to fellowship nominations and promotion committees. Each context has different expectations. Academic letters emphasize research ability and intellectual curiosity. Professional letters focus on measurable results and leadership. The generated output adjusts its emphasis based on your [PURPOSE] selection while keeping the tone warm and authentic rather than generic.
Select your [RECOMMENDER_ROLE] and how long you have worked with the candidate. These details establish credibility in the opening paragraph. A direct manager who worked with someone for three years carries more weight than a brief acquaintance.
Enter the candidate's name, their role, and the specific [TARGET_POSITION] they are applying for. The more specific you are about the target opportunity, the more tailored the letter will read.
Fill in three strengths with concrete examples for each. Instead of writing 'strong communicator,' write 'led the weekly client presentations that renewed our largest account.' Specific evidence is what separates forgettable letters from ones that open doors.
Optionally add [ACHIEVEMENTS] with numbers and [TARGET_VALUES] that match what the receiving organization cares about. Then select your preferred [LENGTH] and generate the letter.
A professor writes a graduate school recommendation for a former research assistant, highlighting three published studies and the student's independent problem-solving during a failed experiment that led to an unexpected finding.
A team lead writes a job recommendation for a departing colleague, using specific project metrics like 'reduced deployment time by 40%' and 'mentored two junior developers who were both promoted within a year.'
A department head writes a scholarship letter for an employee pursuing an MBA, connecting their operational improvements at work to the program's focus on transformational leadership.
A mentor writes a fellowship recommendation for a nonprofit professional, emphasizing community impact with specific numbers like 'expanded the tutoring program from 30 to 200 students across four locations.'
Discover more prompts that could help with your workflow.
Create engaging, well-structured blog posts optimized for your target audience with compelling headlines, clear structure, and actionable takeaways
Create professional bios for LinkedIn, Twitter, portfolios, and speaker profiles that showcase your unique value with the right tone and length for each platform
Create conversion-focused sales copy for landing pages, ads, and email sequences using proven psychological persuasion frameworks from Schwartz, Halbert, and Ogilvy
10,000+ expert-curated prompts for ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and wherever you use AI. Our extension helps any prompt deliver better results.