Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Mark C. Perna is a generational expert who covers education & careers.

It is an honor to be asked to be someone’s character reference. But even if you are enthused about helping a friend or colleague out, you might feel a little intimidated by the prospect of putting the ...

Before you start writing a letter of recommendation for a friend, clarify the purpose of the letter itself. Is it for a job, graduate school, a volunteer position, or something else? Understanding the ...

In today’s job search climate, applicants are looking for ways to stand out from the crowd more than ever. Because hiring managers can use the internet to research candidates and wade through their ...

You’ve been asked to write a character assessment letter and are probably wondering why is a character assessment letter needed and what’s the best way to write one? Here’s why employers want ...

Here is a common scene: A supervisor agrees to write your letter of recommendation with one condition—you draft it. Shocker. We, too, were surprised the first time this happened to us. We assumed ...

If you are in any leadership position, you will likely have to write a letter of recommendation for an employee, coworker, student or intern. Being asked to write a letter of recommendation means the ...

Johnny C. Taylor Jr. tackles your human resources questions as part of a series for USA TODAY. Taylor is president and CEO of the Society for Human Resource Management, the world's largest HR ...

Writing a counselor recommendation letter for a student applying to college is a meaningful responsibility. You're not just offering support — you're adding valuable context that college admissions ...

Letters of recommendations are strange in that we all know what they are, but save for the people who are actually using them to evaluate a candidate, what happens with the letter is shrouded in ...

Jeff Tompkins is a writer and teacher of English as a Second Language living in New York City. He was born in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1967 and was educated at Brown University and University College ...