You might come across a situation where you know a friend or colleague who is job-seeking and could use a little “push” or extra help in their search. Potentially, this friend may actually be interested in working at a place you have worked before or where you have connections. If you are comfortable with it, you can help your friend by writing a brief recommendation note to your contacts, once you’ve talked with your friend and know for sure that he or she is applying.
But what to say? Here’s a brief template you can adapt to help your colleague:
Dear Ms. Employer,
How are you? I hope all is well. I know your organization is currently recruiting for a position of . I don’t know if you are open to referrals for this position, but in case you are, I would like to put in a good word for a <friend/former colleague/classmate/friend’s kid/etc.> of mine, .
I’ve known for the last # years, and in my experience, he is (reliable, trustworthy, hard-working, collegial etc.). We worked together on XYZ project, and he was one of the best contributors to the team. Our challenge was (XYZ) and he helped solve the problem by . He also has a proven commitment to the field of as shown by his years of experience/volunteering in the field. Last but not least, he is very dedicated to your cause and he told me this would be a dream job for him.
I would be glad to answer any questions you may have about . Thanks for your consideration, and have a great day. Best,
Good Friend
Need help navigating the job search process, or leveraging your network to land you more interviews? Contact me to ask about how my career coaching services can help.
Heather Krasna, PhD & Associates 
thanx for this nice information. i really want this badly
need job get job
sharing the attached recommendation letter, mostly appreciated and million thanks. i really could get the advantage from it. thanks alot.
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Thank you so much! Could you tell where is the best place for contacts’ email and/or phone number in this example?
Thank you for sharing this recommendation letter! This is a very useful template and provided a jump start on drafting mine for recommending a friend. Keep up the good work!