How would you go about writing your own letter of referral?

Question

I do security work and I work for a company that contracts out.

The new contract that I’m on is government and they really like letters of referral.

The last contract that I was on, the guy said I could write my own letter and he'd just sign it.

I have no idea how to write such a thing and make it look like I didn't do it.

He doesn't have time, but I can't pass up this opportunity, it could help me get promoted faster.

Answer 1

With all the postings here of the difficulties in obtaining employment with a criminal record, it does not seem possible this is actually a serious question with so much support. I doubt there is a single government entity that does not have some prohibitions against fraud by deception. Martha Stewart did not serve time for insider trading. It was for perjury.

There are many things the government will negotiate, but lying does not seem to be one of them. Good Luck.  

Answer 2

Assuming this is coming "not from you": begin stating how you know the person, what the assignment was, describe the job briefly,  Then state what the person's role was and how well he did it....use the words excellent, on time, delivered x*x for the project on time, was dependable, whatever.....just write it.  I used to ask my employees to write their own yearly evaluations...it made them think and actually were less positive about themselves than I would have been, so I rewrote them.  Don't be shy about stating what you did and how well you did it.  Good luck!  (retired IBM exec mgr)

Answer 3

try looking at yourself from the point of view of what you would say if you were writing the letter for someone else. points to note would be how long the person had been working at the job, the level of performance, whether you can be trusted to be left alone to work by yourself and how well that worked... maybe mention something about how you will be missed, but are supportive of this move forward... or something relatively close to that... I'm wondering if there is a place on the net where one can go where there are reference letters already written and then you could just choose one... maybe modify it some to suit your purposes... good luck.

Answer 4

To whom it may concern,

I have professionally known__________________ for _____ years in the context that he is_____________.

In the entire time that I have known him I have found him to (pick what applies) diligent, punctual, thorough, team player, trustworthy and has demonstrated leadership qualities. (here is a good place to include a or some specific examples)

Based on my _____ years in the (Security) _________ business I can say that he would make an excellent (candidate, vendor, sub-contractor) for you Organization/Division/Department.

Feel free to contact me directly if you need further information.

Sincerely,