Letters of Recommendation

A letter of recommendation is an official written document that is considered to be an “expert testimony” of an individual's ability to perform a task. Letters of recommendation may also contain information regarding an individual's work ethic, overall character, and accomplishments or professional experiences. The purpose of these letters is to provide an informed evaluation and possible recommendation to those requesting the letter.

Letters of recommendation are most commonly used for academic selection purposes. Universities and other academic institutions often request multiple letters of recommendation from the professors or academic advisors of students who are applying for admittance. Businesses also utilize letters of recommendations or reference letters to make selection decisions. Organizations, including military branches, will typically request letters of recommendation when making hiring, promotion, and/or tenure decisions. Individuals applying for grants and awards may also need to provide letters of recommendation to ensure that they possess the needed knowledge, skills, and abilities to appropriately utilize a grant or award. In general, when any person or organization is tasked with making an important selection decision, a letter of recommendation may be requested.

Letters of recommendation, like most official documents, are susceptible to unethical activity, such as falsifying information or using information intended to deceive. Letters of recommendation are also susceptible to deception because of their purpose of being a selection tool. Individuals who deceive on letters of recommendation often do so to increase their chances of a favorable outcome, such as acceptance or promotion. Letters of recommendation and standardized reference forms are used because they are able to predict future performance, and applicants who understand this wish to portray the ideal candidate. Applicants who do not feel adequate may be inclined to engage in unethical activity to represent the ideal.

Other motives for using deception in letters may be to cover poor performance or fear of rejection from either the writer of the letter or the establishment making the decision based on the letter. Individuals who engage in social comparison may lie on their letters to make themselves seem more socially desirable. Letters may be forged completely because of the lack of available writers or because the applicants want to gain an edge on the competition and believe they are able to write the letter better than others.

When asked to write a letter of recommendation the writer has two options: to accept or decline the applicant's request. When approached by an [Page 592]applicant, writers often accept the applicant's request when sometimes the more appropriate option would have been to decline. When writing a letter of recommendation, the writer may intentionally or unintentionally deceive the reader by exaggerating or omitting information. Deception in letters of recommendation is caused by a number of reasons, from legal and ethical concerns to a feeling of obligation to the applicant.

Applicants ask individuals they feel will provide them with the best professional and positive letters of recommendation. The writer often takes this request as an obligation to make the applicant sound exceptional. The pressure of obligation also causes writers to write letters for applicants who they may not know as well as they should in order to provide the readers with an accurate description of the applicant. Discrimination among applicants becomes impossible because every applicant is described by the writer as the best candidate. Research shows high percentages of highly rated applicants and very few average or below-average applicants. Out of 6,854 applicants in one study, only 0.23 percent, or 16 applicants, were found to be below average while 60.27 percent were rated as excellent and 35.94 percent were rated above average. Additionally, research shows that there are more similarities displayed in letters across candidates from one letter writer than there are between candidates with multiple letter writers. In other words, a letter of recommendation is often more of a representation of the writer than of the actual candidate.

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