Draft a request for a professional reference

A reference request message for you to send, with an easy way to decline.

Choose one of two approaches. The steps for that option appear below.

Choose an option above. On a phone, swipe the tabs left or right to see all options →

ChatGPT: builds the fact sheet and drafts the message

ChatGPT builds the fact sheet, drafts the request and checks it. You choose the fixes and the version.

  1. You

    Write down the facts

  2. ChatGPT

    Draft and check

  3. You

    Choose the fixes

  4. ChatGPT

    Apply the fixes

  5. You

    Choose and finish

  1. Write down the facts

    Use: You

    Have ready: how you know the referee and for how long, the kind of opportunity, what a reference would involve, any deadline and how you prefer them to reply. Rough notes are fine.

    Check

    Check every fact is true and no praise they did not give you is included.

  2. Build the fact sheet, draft and check

    Use: ChatGPT

    Ask for a fact sheet listing only your facts, one short message draft, and a check of both against your facts.

    Details

    What to paste into the tool

    Task: First turn my rough facts into a short fact sheet, then write one short, polite message asking [referee] whether they would be comfortable being my reference. Fact sheet: list only my supplied facts; where something is not given, write 'not given'. Message: explain the opportunity and what a reference involves using only the fact sheet. Say clearly that saying no is fine and give an easy way to decline. Do not say they are already listed as a reference. Do not add shared work, praise or facts not given. Do not send anything. My rough facts: [paste your facts]. Task: Check my fact sheet and my draft against my rough facts. List only: lines that state or imply anything not in my facts, lines that assume the person has agreed or is already listed as a reference, and lines that make declining awkward. Do not rewrite the message; list the issues only. Fact sheet: [paste the fact sheet]. Draft: [paste the draft]. My rough facts: [paste your facts].

  3. Choose the fixes you accept

    Use: You

    Compare the fact sheet and each flagged line with your own facts and choose the fixes you accept.

    Check

    The fact sheet must hold only what you supplied; delete anything not in your facts.

  4. Apply the accepted fixes

    Use: ChatGPT

    Ask for corrected full and chat-length versions applying only the fixes you accept.

    Details

    What to paste into the tool

    Task: Two corrected versions. Apply only the fixes I accept from the flag list below; ignore flags I do not list. Return the full message and a shorter version of about three sentences for a chat message. Both keep the question, the opportunity, what a reference involves and the way to decline. Do not add facts. Message: [paste the draft]. Accepted fixes: [paste the flags you accept, or write none].

  5. Choose a version and finish

    Use: You

    Choose the version you will send and compare it once more with your facts.

    Check

    Check it asks without assuming yes and declining is easy. Nothing is sent; you decide when and how to send.

Before you paste into any AI tool, remove any confidential information. Put it back at the end.

Tools in this workflow

Deciding between ChatGPT and Claude for this? See the comparison.

Final check

Every assistant step is followed by your check of the output against your own notes.

Nothing is sent, signed, paid, published or deployed by the assistant. You decide and send yourself.

Check the result against your original inputs. Approve it before sharing or acting.

What still needs checking
  • How the assistant stores or uses pasted text was not checked.
  • Whether the assistant obeys each rule in the prompts is not yet checked. Each tool step is followed by your check for this reason.
  • The assistant evidence E1 comes from Google's overview page (gemini.google), not the catalogue root URL gemini.google.com, which returned no readable text when fetched.

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