A troublesome letter of recommendation.

I have never been in the position where I have been asked to provide a letter of recommendation for a former employee, or anyone for that matter. So for this blog assignment I will have to reference my book.

Basically I’m supposed to write as though I’ve been asked to provide a letter of recommendation for an employee for years ago, I know that they did a great job, but no specific information is readily remembered. What would I do?

In my textbook, Business Communication Essentials: A Skills-Based Approach, by John Thill and Courtland Bovee, they touch on the subject in chapter 7.

One important pointer they have for writing recommendation letters is to “consider collaborating with the former employee so that the contents of the letter meet both of your needs.” The only problem with this is that you want to give a fair and honest recommendation and if you aren’t sure on some of the specifics you may not be able to do that, which they also caution could end with you or your company being sued.

Probably the best case scenario, if you are not able to find the specific information that you feel comfortable putting in a recommendation letter, but you do know that they were a wonderful employee and would be an asset to another company, would be to offer to instead be a personal reference for the employee.

While this may not be exactly what the former employee was hoping for, it beats them ending up with nothing, and you ending up on the receiving end of a lawsuit.