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 ...

For some jobs, especially in academia and high-profile positions, employers sometimes request that top candidates submit letters of recommendation as part of the decision-making process. In some ...

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 ...

If you’re active in the workforce then you don’t operate in isolation: you’ll have undoubtedly gained advantages from colleagues, bosses and mentors in the past, and you can pay that forward for ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. As the CEO of Command Education, I write about emotionally intelligent leadership and education. Summer internships provide ...

Reference letters come in many different shapes and forms, so don’t think that one size fits all. I’ve written in the past about how to request reference letters in different situations, be it from ...

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 ...

I’ve been teaching high school for 22 years, and even though requests wax and wane throughout the years, I write, on average, about 15 recommendation letters per year. That’s 330 letters at about ...