Today we’re going to talk about something a little old fashioned in the world of job search: The letter of recommendation. While these artifacts of an earlier era might seem quaint now that employers can simply Google their candidates, personal endorsements carry a great deal of power.

If you’ve ever wondered how some people seem to have a letter from every job they’ve ever worked at, the answer is that they probably asked for them — and the good news is, you can too.

The real question is whom to ask and how to do it.

As a general rule, it’s good to have letters from superiors or anyone who has directed some part of your work. Letters from peers and clients can also carry weight. Just don’t ask subordinates or others who need to stay in your favor, such as vendors. This wouldn’t pass the smell test, as it could look like something you coerced rather than earned.

For people who’ve been laid off, getting letters of recommendation can be a challenge. First, there can be a problem with access, if you don’t have the contact information for people after you’ve left the company. And then there’s sometimes a problem with blanket policies, since some companies don’t allow their managers to provide recommendations at all.

Those issues help build the argument for gathering letters throughout your tenure with an employer rather than after you’ve left. In the meantime, you might consider asking for a letter from someone who has also left the company, provided they fit the other criteria noted above.

Here’s how that request for a letter might look:

1. Subject line — short and formal, unless the recipient is someone you know on a more collegial level.

“Letter of recommendation request” or perhaps, “Jack from ABC — favor?”

2. Greeting — formal if it’s someone you don’t know well; less formal if that reflects your relationship.

“Dear Ms. Jones,” or “Hello Sandy,”

3. Reason for this correspondence — refer to an earlier conversation or raise the topic for the first time.

“Thank you for agreeing to write a letter of recommendation for me;” or, “I hope you’re doing well. I’m reaching out to ask if you’ll write a letter of recommendation for me.”

4. Brief explanation of the situation — without emotion, if possible.

“As you may know, I was part of the most recent round of layoffs at ABC and my position ended last week. I’m exploring options for my next work, which could include project management. Since you were the team leader on several projects I contributed to before you switched companies, I’m hoping you might have time to write a brief letter vouching for my project skills.”

5. Sample content.

“I don’t want this to be a burden, so please tell me if you’d prefer I make a draft for you to edit. To refresh your memory, most of my project work was on the Updike account. In most cases I team-managed small work groups and corralled the client representatives so we could stay on track with the deliverables. This let me project-manage the short-range steps such as the initial data collection for the large-scale migration that you were overseeing. I also met with other sub groups and created progress reports for your use with upper management.”

6. Conclusion — professional but appreciative.

“I hope this isn’t a big ask, in terms of your time. I enjoyed working with you and would be honored to have a letter from you.

Best wishes,

Jack Jobseeker” (add contact information)

This email looks long when it’s parsed out but in fact, it’s only about 200 words. That point matters because you’re asking a favor and need to respect the recipient’s time even at this early stage of the process.

Which raises the question, why email when you might have the option of texting? One reason is that emails are more professional and this is a business request. Not only that, but even the shortest email can look overwhelming when it’s sent as a text.

The final reason for emailing might be the most strategic: An email allows an easy copy-paste if recipients want to use the content you’re providing. This makes their life easier while also providing a guide for points to highlight about your work.

Once you’ve received the recommendation, guard it carefully. Assuming it arrives as a pdf, download it, save it to the cloud, print it — redundancy is your friend here, since you wouldn’t want to repeat the request if you lose it. Provided you continue to receive more recommendations throughout your career, they won’t “age out.” Where it’s sad to have just one letter that’s 20 years old, it’s amazing to have 20 years’ worth of collected letters. Now is a good time to start that collection if you haven’t already.

Amy Lindgren owns a career consulting firm in St. Paul. She can be reached at alindgren@prototypecareerservice.com.