Is a Professional LOR for academic and job purposes the same?

No, a professional LOR for academic or admission purposes is not the same as one for job purposes. Both have a different set of requirements in terms of content to be discussed in the document. While a professional reference letter for academic or admission purposes talks about your learning rigour, the same letter provided by the same source of reference plays a different role in job hunting, by talking about your professional maturity.

How to use a Professional LOR for university admission?

A professional LOR should talk about your professional traits that show your strengths and perseverance in performing in a diverse environment when studying abroad. To use this document for university admissions, make sure to get the LOR written and signed by a supervisor from your latest organisation, who worked as your mentor in your professional tenure. Then upload the document to the online admission portal, complete the rest of the application, and wait for the university's decision.

Can I write my own Professional LOR?

You can write your own professional LOR, given that you get it checked and signed by your supervisor, along with providing their official contact details. Make sure that you cover all the essential components of an LOR, from your professional association to experience and aspirations. The recommender must agree with whatever you are discussing in your letter.

How long should a Professional LOR be?

The length of a professional LOR is the same as that of an academic LOR, that is, 380-400 words or one page of an A4-size document. The structure is also pretty much the same, with details of professional background instead of academic ones, both pointing towards your learning abilities. This LOR must reflect your analytical skills and leadership qualities, especially for an MBA application.

Do universities prefer Academic or Professional LORs for MBA applications?

For MBA applications, both academic and professional LORs play a huge role in the admission decision. If you have professional experience, you ought to get both professional and academic LORs, one of each to support your academic rigour and professional competencies. In either case, you must check the kinds of LORs the university has asked for and meet the requirements.

LOR from Employer: Sample, Format, Template, Guidelines

A Professional LOR is a letter of recommendation or reference letter written by your direct supervisor or reporting manager from one of your most recent employers or professional organisations. This document highlights your professional rigour and skills, which make you an ideal fit for the demanding coursework, particularly in graduate programmes.

In this letter, the recommender focuses on discussing how you implement the practical knowledge or understanding of a subject in real life. Your supervisor or manager is supposed to discuss their observations on your acquisition of specific job-related skills, such as efficient and accurate execution of tasks to meet the demands and standards of a project or organisation.

Some universities may refer to a Professional LOR as an LOR from Supervisor or LOR from Employer. This reference letter needs to come from your direct supervisor at your latest organisation. Let us dive into how to write this document and how to use it in your study abroad application with the help of effective guidelines, a sample, format, and template.

How to Write a Professional LOR?

A Professional LOR (LOR from Employer) for university admission must talk about your learning and problem-solving skills that would prove to be useful in challenging coursework. It needs to come from the recommender, so ensure that your recommender writes it as an observer and the storyteller. Follow these simple steps to get your letter ready for a university application:

Step 1: Pick the major projects of your professional tenure that contributed to a greater cause in the organisation.

Step 2: Discuss the project details and specify your role in the project. Speak of your contributions and abilities in the, along with your learnings and strengths that you depicted.

Step 3: Connect with your supervisor or your direct reporting manager. Discuss your reasons for applying for the chosen course and explain to them your ideas for the letter.

Step 4: Recall the project details and timelines. Enclose information on the project objectives and outcomes in the letter and get them cross-checked by the manager.

Step 5: Write the letter from your recommender’s perspective as an observer of your work. Get it edited and thoroughly checked by the recommender.

Step 6: Get the final draft added to the letterhead and properly signed by the recommender, along with their contact details. Use it in the application.

Professional LOR from Employer: Format & Template

The template or format of a Professional LOR is similar to the Academic LOR. It also has the following six components that need to be addressed differently from the academic ones:

Introduction: Introduce yourself and the candidate. Write how you know the candidate, give the full name and location of the organisation, and the time duration of your professional association.
Technical Skillset: Discuss the technical skillset of the student that directly relates to their field of study, such as an example of business acumen for an MBA aspirant.
Social Skillset I: Discuss the social skillset for the candidate to show their problem-solving, analytical, critical thinking, leadership, communication skills, etc.
Social Skillset II: Add another social skill that helps the university see how this aspirant can be a suitable fit to thrive in a multicultural environment.
Conclusion: Close by showing how much you trust the aspirant with work, wish them well for the future, and thank the reader for their time and consideration.
Recommender’s Contact Details: Include the full name and official contact information of the recommender (with their consent).

Note: Each skill must be supported with examples of different projects. Share the timelines of each project and include the traits that the recommender witnessed about the candidate while they worked on the said projects.

Professional LOR from Employer: Guidelines & Common Mistakes

Let us discuss the guidelines and common mistakes to avoid in a Professional LOR from employer.

Professional LOR from Employer Guidelines

Your Professional LOR from employer should have the following length and font:
With an ideal word count of 380-400 words, your professional LOR must be wrapped within one A4-sized page.
Use font size 12 in font style ‘Times New Roman’ for consistency.
Ensure to cover all the essential components within a proper structure and suitable examples.

Common Mistakes in Professional LOR from Employer

The common mistakes to avoid in your Professional LOR from employer are listed below:

Exceeding Word Count: If you exceed the limit of 400 words because of lengthy essential details of projects and their impact, ensure to reduce the font size if needed to wrap it up within an A4-sized page.
Writing in First Person: An LOR is in no way like an SOP or a Statement of Purpose. It must not sound like you have written it for yourself. It should appear as if your recommender has written it for you.
Too Much Praising: Make the LOR sound as direct as possible. Include the necessary details without beating around the bush or praising the candidate too much.
Unprofessional Tone: Your association with your employee (aspirant) must sound absolutely professional.
Vague Information: All the events and projects must be supported with essential details. No questions should be left unanswered.
Misleading Recommendation: Talk only about the events or projects where the recommender and the candidate directly worked together and had an impact on the organisation. Do not include false claims like ‘the candidate helped in increasing the revenue’. Speak of the details of the project and describe how the candidate’s contribution worked in favour of the entire team, thereby achieving targets and increasing revenue.

Sample Professional LOR from Employer

Given below is a sample Professional LOR from Employer from an old candidate who received a place in a reputed Canadian business school:

“Letter of Recommendation

As her direct reporting manager and the Head of the Department of Marketing and Communications of PQRS Digital Solutions, Bengaluru, I have known <Aspirant's Name> as a reliable subordinate working on the profile of Lead Marketer from July 2022 to May 2025. During her tenure of three years, she portrayed sincerity and commitment towards learning while working.

Given her PG Diploma in Marketing from ABC Institute, Mumbai and four years of experience at XYZ Digital Agency, Mumbai, <Aspirant's Name> was specifically hired as Lead Marketer for our new digital product launch of the grocery app named ‘GroSSery’ in the major cities around Bengaluru. When asked to come up with marketing ideas, she showed tremendous research skills and proposed a foolproof roadmap for the next six months. We overachieved our targets by an average of 5-10% every month.

Adding to it, <Aspirant's Name> consistently came up with more such suggestions that contributed to bringing in more sales. Her ideas around creating meaningful combos and giving frequent discounts, especially around festivals, proved to be very effective, boosting sales up to 15% per month for the following six months. Then, she collated the data of our one-year sales records and planned for the next year, which further boosted the sales up to 20-25%, resulting in an overachievement of our targets for two consecutive years.

Not only this, <Aspirant's Name> trained a team of five junior marketing executives, two interns, and three senior executives. She coordinated day in and day out with the team of designers and assisted in product inventory research to add more products to the database. Besides, she conducted brainstorming sessions with the product and technology teams to keep the product up-to-date, to ensure hassle-free operations and user experience.

I have no reservations in recommending <Aspirant's Name> for your rigorous graduate programme. Wishing her the best for her future endeavours, I want to add that she will be an asset to your business school.

Sincerely,

<Full Name of the Recommender>
Designation: HOD, Department of Marketing
Institution: PQRS Digital Solutions, Bengaluru
Contact: +91-XXXXXXXX, [email protected]”

Caution: This sample Professional LOR from Employer is for reference purposes only. Please do not use any samples from the internet, including this one, to draft your Professional LOR.

This LOR is a little less than the set limit of 380-400 words, which is considered appropriate. It is essential to note that you do not need to add more information just to meet a defined word count, unless a university has specified. What’s important is that you discuss at least one skill with an example for the middle three paragraphs, as done above.

Ready to draft your Professional LOR from Employer? Reach out to our team of professional admission editors who hold years of experience in not only drafting compelling admission documents but also getting proven results. Register at AECC Global and book a 1:1 consultation call today.

Professional LOR: Sample, Format, Tips & Guidelines