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Yes. Fax the signed reference letter to the employer's hiring or human resources fax line, with a cover page naming the candidate and the role. Confirm the number with the employer first, since a reference sent to a general office fax can sit unread or reach the wrong person.
References by fax are less common than they once were, but they have not vanished. Government offices, schools, hospitals, and older firms still ask for them, and a hiring manager who requests a faxed reference usually wants a signed document on letterhead, not a forwarded email. The fax gives them that: a signed page, arriving through a channel they already trust, with a transmission record attached.
A strong reference letter is short, specific, and signed. It states who you are, how you know the candidate, and for how long, then gives two or three concrete examples of the candidate's work, not a list of adjectives. It closes with a clear recommendation and your contact details. Print it on letterhead if you have it, sign it in ink, and date it. A faxed signature on letterhead carries weight precisely because it looks like a document someone stood behind, rather than a message typed in a hurry.
Before you send anything, confirm with the candidate that they want you as a reference and that the employer may contact you. A surprise reference call to a current employer has damaged more than one job search. Also agree on what you will say: the candidate should not be surprised by the contents of a letter written in their favor.
| Element | Include |
|---|---|
| Letterhead and date | Your organization or personal letterhead, current date |
| Relationship and duration | How you know the candidate and for how long |
| Specific examples | Two or three real examples of work, not adjectives alone |
| Recommendation and contact | A plain recommendation plus a phone number or email |
| Signature | Signed in ink before faxing |
A reference letter is confidential by convention: it is written for the employer, not for general circulation, and it often contains candid judgments the candidate has not seen. That is why the destination matters so much. Send it only to the fax number the employer gave for hiring or human resources, and put "Confidential" on the cover page with the name of the person who should receive it. Never fax a reference to a general office number, a shared machine in an open area, or a number you found online without confirming it.
Ask the employer how they want it handled if they did not specify fax. Some employers now prefer a secure upload link or an email to a hiring address, and sending a confidential letter by fax to an office that has moved to uploads can leave it sitting on a shared machine. When the employer does ask for a fax, a short follow-up call to confirm receipt is good practice, and it also lets you confirm the letter reached the hiring file rather than a general pile.
That is a different situation. A candidate who wants a copy for their own records is entitled to ask, but a reference written for an employer is normally sent to the employer directly, so the employer can trust it was not edited in between. If you do send a copy to the candidate, say so plainly, and consider sending the employer's copy separately. Employers notice when a reference arrives from the candidate's own fax number, and it weakens the letter's credibility.
One last practical point: faxed pages arrive in black and white, so a letter printed in light gray ink or with a faint letterhead logo can come out looking blank in places. Print in solid black, check that the signature is dark, and confirm the page count on the confirmation report. A reference letter missing its final page, which holds the signature and the recommendation, is worse than no letter at all.
LetterAgent's fax service is currently available in testing for US and Canadian fax numbers, with no inbound faxes. You describe the fax to your AI assistant, approve the exact quoted total, and pay once through Stripe. Fax is still in testing and activation is in progress, so do not rely on it for a reference against a hiring deadline without confirming receipt.
Ready to fax it? Fax with LetterAgent: describe it to your AI assistant, approve the exact quoted price, and it is sent.
LetterAgent is a working name. Prices include print, postage, and our service fee. US prices in USD, Canadian prices in CAD (Canadian prices exclude applicable sales tax, added at checkout). Currently in private testing.
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