Archaeology

Dear Sir/Madame

I am writing this letter to give my highest possible recommendation for Mr. Smith. I know Mr. Smith through his work in my office. Mr. Smith first approached me two years ago about the possibility of an internship in our company for the summer. At our first meeting I described the general outline of the project the he might work on. He asked good questions and appeared intelligent. He then went to the library and found many papers on the subject and read them carefully. He did this independently - I did not ask him to do this. I learned that he had done this at our second meeting, and I was quite impressed at his motivation and independence. During that summer, Mr. Smith demonstrated the ability to work independently with great creativity and enthusiasm. He also put in many long hours. He worked as hard as our best employees. I teamed Mr. Smith with another student to work on a project involving calculating the risk posed by driving under the influence of alcohol and coming up with reliable statistical data. The project included researching the net, talking to police officers and insurers, and surveying people who had recently been in such accidents. Mr. Smith excelled in each one of these areas. His interpersonal skills were excellent. He was usually the first one in the office in the morning and the last to leave in the evening. The other employees working with Mr. Smith commented favorably about working with him. They said the Mr. Smith got along well with everyone, pulled his own weight on the project, and had the ability to compromise with other team members.

I was especially taken by Mr. Smith creative mind and independent work ethic. He continued to read the literature independently and generate interesting hypotheses. We met about every other week, and at several meetings he presented papers and information that was new to me. Mr. Smith also showed remarkable problem solving ability. Even though I hope he returns again this summer, I think he would be an outstanding asset to your program. I give him my highest recommendation.