Work reference request...

[JustAQuickNCForThisOne]

My friend has been offered a job and I've been asked to provide a reference.

I have no problem doing this.

They emailed last night and want the reference ASAP. But they haven't attached the reference form as a attachment but have embedded it in the body of the email which i can't edit.

Would it be unreasonable of me to type out a reference using their headings as my own and then attach it or will they only accept it in their original format?

I want to do it ASAP. I don’t know if this was an error or if this is how they normally send the from out. It only has a few headings. It's a private company, it's just a table with no logos or any other official information on it.

I don't know ifnim overthinking it because I work in a heavily regulated profession with safer recruiting process in place so it wouldn't be accepted.

If I email them and ask for a proper form, it'll delay me doing the reference. And it feels a bit OTT when typing it out would be an easy solution.

YANBU - that'll be fine; they just want the information.
YABU - you need to request a proper form.

can they resend the form as a word document?

can you print their form and scan once completed?

What email provider are you using? You should be able to reply, show their message, copy the form and paste it in your reply to fill in for most inboxes I've used.

It's not a form. It's just a table embedded in the email.

Even if I screenshot it, I wouldn't be able to edit it.

If you have access to a printer.

Print it , write on it, scan it.

I'm going to try that when I get to work (I'm going in early to do it it). I couldn't do anything with it on my phone and don't have a laptop at home.

That was my alternative.

I can't print the table itself though so would still be a screenshot, print, write, scan, return and typing it out would be quicker.

Copy and paste their table into a word document or a new email and edit the table in that?

On your work laptop, right click on the table (or cmd click on Mac), save as a pic, then save that as a pdf and edit it?

Has this friend actually worked for you?

Write it and save it as a doc, as well as emailing to ask for a new form, then you get the bulk of the work done and only have to either copy/paste into their doc or reply with your doc attached

I think I’d be tempted to reply, apologies. Please can you send it in an editable format, or words for that effect.

That was my first thought. Sounds like they’ve copied the table layout from a document.

If they’ve done this, a potential alternative is hit Reply and the original email should be editable (certainly is the case in outlook).

I do a lot of references. Most places are happy with any format. But do make it clear if this is an employer reference or a “friend” reference.

Their bad admin is not your problem. Just hit reply and tell them the information that they want. Tell them that they sent the table in a format you couldn’t edit.