Say who you are recommending and for what, how you know them, and two or three things you saw them do. Hemmingway builds the letter from those: who you are to them, each example with what it shows, and a plain statement that you recommend them. It comes out at under a page.
Only your examples go in. It does not add praise you did not give, a ranking against other people, or an achievement that sounds likely. A letter of recommendation carries your name, so every line has to be one you would repeat on the phone.
What makes it work
- Examples, not adjectives. "Reliable" is a claim. "Covered nights for a month and never missed a handover" is evidence, and the reader can picture it.
- Say how you know them and for how long. Three years as their manager counts for more than one shared project.
- Match the examples to what they are going for. Ask for the job advert or the course description, and pick the things you saw that answer it.
An example
Asked for a recommendation for Tobias Brandt for a place on a nursing degree, from the manager who supervised him for three years as a care assistant at a residential home, with two examples, that he noticed a resident's swallowing had changed and got the speech therapist in before anyone else raised it, and that he covered nights for a month when the home was short and never missed a handover, to be read by an admissions tutor, a letter along these lines is what to expect:
Dear Admissions Tutor,
I am writing to recommend Tobias Brandt for a place on your nursing degree. I managed him for three years while he worked as a care assistant at a residential home.
Tobias notices things. He saw that a resident's swallowing had changed and got the speech therapist in before anyone else had raised it.
He is also dependable when it is hard to be. When we were short, he covered nights for a month and never missed a handover.
I recommend him without reservation and am happy to be contacted about him.
Yours sincerely,
Reference letter or recommendation letter
The form writes both. A reference confirms facts: the dates, the job, how they did it. A recommendation argues for one person for one thing. Say which you want in the first box. Some employers let only HR confirm employment, so check before you write on company paper. How to write a recommendation letter sets out each part.
Common questions
Is the recommendation letter generator free?
Yes. Hemmingway has a free trial with no card needed, and this tool opens it with your answers filled in. You sign up once, and the letter is written in the chat.
Can I use it to draft my own recommendation letter for someone else to sign?
Yes, if they asked you to. Fill it in with things they saw you do, and send them the draft to change before they sign. For your own side of an application there is the cover letter generator.
What if I cannot honestly recommend the person?
Then it is kinder to say no than to write a weak letter. The decline message generator writes a short, polite no.
Will it sound like AI?
It is built not to. Hemmingway-1, the model behind it, came first on sounding like a person in our own blind test, Human-Likeness. It still helps to read it aloud and change any word you would not use.