Letter of Recommendation length

[The Purple Smurf]

I just got my first letter of recommendation from one of my clinical instructors are it's pretty short, only 1 paragraph. Should I be concerned that this will look bad and seek another person to write one? It says a lot in that 1 paragraph, I'm just concerned since I've seen much longer ones, such as when I applied to nursing school. Is it okay to submit one that short if it says "all the right stuff"? By the way what do they want to see in these?? I've heard it's not necessarily what they say, buy what they don't say. What is it that's sometimes not said that should be a red flag?

FYI: this is for a new grad RN position

[sbyramRN]

Just be glad it is not a generic check off list. Some students received these from my instructors when they asked for letters of rec. The instructors wrote really nice ones for some, then a generic check list for others...

[caliotter3]

Personally, I would not be too concerned, unless you don't get the letters that were promised to you or the letters are of obvious poor quality. Most people are troubled by being promised letters and the deadline approaches, with no letter in sight. That is why you should always seek a backup letter.

[hypocaffeinemia, BSN, RN]

My instructor just yesterday told me to write it myself and she'll sign it. We'll see how that goes.

[caliotter3]

My instructor just yesterday told me to write it myself and she'll sign it. We'll see how that goes.

In my BSN program, one class assignment at the end of the program was for us to write a generic letter of reference for signature of one of our instructors. This letter received a grade for the class, and when it was acceptable, was to be typed up by us, signed by the instructor, to be placed in our school file. They told us that the biggest reason for this is because there were so many students over the years, that they would be forgotten soon; and the instructors didn't have time to be composing these letters for each student individually. This actually is a good idea. The instructors critiqued the letters before the final version and provided input if needed.