Letter Advice

[razorback]

So, I have a guy who works for me and came up to me on Thursday (I had Friday off for my niece's graduation).
He asked if I could write a referral letter. He said that he was arrested about 10 years ago (I didn't ask details and didn't need know), the only time he has been, and there is a chance the judge will remove it from his record as he has never gotten in trouble before or since, not even a ticket.

I imagine that it begins as a 'To whom it may concern:' and need to contain this info -
Who I am.
What our relationship is.
How long we have known each other and what we do.
How I view said employee – Work ethic, personal opinion.
Contact info and sign.

I didn't think it was a big deal to write but I'm stymied on when it actually came time to write this.

Any letter writing advice would be appreciated as I've never written one of these types of letters and it's been a long time since I was in a language arts class.

[qechua]

I haven't got one I've written handy, but assuming it's a professional reference letter (i.e. one used to either get a new job etc), then you've got the basics covered. I'm guessing if he is asking for it, it's a general reference to give to a prospective employer, as opposed to an employer asking you for one (where you can tailor it much more to the job he has applied for)

Mine usually follow a pattern of

Dear Sir/Madam [To Whom... works as well, but I prefer Sir/Madam],

My name is [your name], and I understand you are requested a reference with regards to [referee]. During my time of knowing [referee] as his [relationship], I have seen him demonstrate a great committment to his work, and in addition to the expected punctuality and professional behaviour, he has proven himself more than capable of [pick a work ethic 'skill', such as effective team working or willingness to work extra hours when required, such as a deadline or disaster]. He is [personal qualities, such as approachability, friendliness and willingness to help], and has gotten on well with the rest of the staff within his team, as well as other members of the organisation [and customers/suppliers etc, if his job was customer/supplier facing].

[At this point, it gets more personal than I can make generic. Try to highlight his achievements (only the 1 or 2 which made the biggest impact) in depth, so if he changed the process/organisation to better it, mention that. If he worked very hard on a particular project, mention that. As an entirely fictional example, see the next paragraph]

In addition to his general conduct, [referee]'s efforts saved our company countless hours when he found inefficiencies in our stock location system. He approached me with his concerns, as well as some ideas, and with my blessing he produced a report outlining some fairly simple changes to be made. When asked to enact the changes, he spearheaded the implemention, as well as taking a leading role in training the staff to use the new system. Feedback from our staff has noted the new system is both easier to use and faster, and despite a couple of teething problems, the organisation has no plans to reverse the changes.

[Since we have the special case of the conviction, we'd better address that]

When he approached me to write this letter, [referee] noted that he does hold a conviction from nearly a decade ago. While I am not enamoured that he withheld this information from me, I can understand his reasons, and in all the time I have worked alongside him, I have had no reason to suspect such a conviction was true. He has clearly changed his behaviour since that moment, as evidenced both by his work over the last [years] and that he is likely to have the conviction removed from his record.

[And now back to generic]

I trust that this letter has answered any question you may have had with regards to [referee]'s time at [company name], however if you do have anything else you wish to address, feel free to contact me using the details above [because you have formatted this like a proper letter, haven't you :D]

[Sign off, add postnominals if you want to look important]

Hope that helps!

[razorback]

Appreciate it.
Your timing in great as I just packed for a trip and fired up the computer to write the letter a few minutes ago.