Free resource
Recommendation Letter Template
A professional recommendation letter structure for referees to use when supporting your European job applications.
Letterhead and Date
- ✓ [Referee Name]
- ✓ [Job Title] at [Company]
- ✓ [Company Address]
- ✓ [Email] | [Phone]
- ✓ Date: [Day Month Year]
Recipient Information
- ✓ Hiring Manager
- ✓ [Company Name]
- ✓ [Company Address]
Subject Line
- ✓ Subject: Letter of Recommendation for [Candidate Name]
Opening — Relationship and Context
- ✓ Explain how the referee knows the candidate, for how long, and in what capacity
- ✓ Example: 'I had the pleasure of working with [Candidate Name] for three years at [Company], where I served as their direct manager in the Platform Engineering team. During this time, I witnessed their exceptional technical skills, leadership abilities and dedication to delivering high-quality infrastructure solutions.'
- ✓ Be specific about the relationship — direct manager, team lead, client, professor
Body — Technical Skills and Contributions
- ✓ Describe the candidate's key contributions with specific examples
- ✓ Example: '[Candidate Name] led the migration of our legacy monolith to a microservices architecture on Kubernetes, reducing deployment time from two weeks to four hours. They designed the system architecture, mentored junior engineers, and coordinated with stakeholders across three departments to ensure a smooth transition. Their work directly improved our team's delivery velocity by 60%.'
- ✓ Include measurable outcomes (%, time saved, revenue, scale) and specific technologies used
Body — Professional Qualities
- ✓ Describe soft skills, cultural fit and interpersonal abilities
- ✓ Example: 'Beyond technical capability, [Candidate Name] is an exceptional communicator and team player. They regularly presented complex technical decisions to non-technical stakeholders, mentored new team members, and fostered a culture of documentation and knowledge sharing. In a cross-cultural team spanning four countries, they were consistently the person who bridged communication gaps and kept projects on track.'
- ✓ Highlight qualities relevant to international work: adaptability, cross-cultural communication, language skills, remote collaboration
Closing — Recommendation
- ✓ Explicitly recommend the candidate and offer further contact
- ✓ Example: 'I recommend [Candidate Name] without reservation for the [Target Role] position. They would be an asset to any team fortunate enough to have them. Please feel free to contact me at [email] or [phone] if you need any additional information about their work and contributions.'
- ✓ Include a clear statement of recommendation — lukewarm endorsements can hurt the candidate
Signature Block
- ✓ Sincerely,
- ✓
- ✓ [Referee Signature]
- ✓ [Referee Printed Name]
- ✓ [Job Title]
- ✓ [Company]
- ✓ [Email] | [Phone]