Comment on candidate's career progress to date and his/her career focus.

XYZ was recruited as an associate consultant into our company's software services group. From the beginning, he had expressed active interest in assuming a leading role in our software development projects. We were looking out for such people, and initially gave him the opportunity to become a module leader. In this position, he was responsible for designing a part of the project and managing its implementation by a small team of developers. He did an excellent job at this, and was promoted as a team leader soon. In my opinion, he achieved his aim of getting into a leadership position much sooner than most of his peers.

What do you consider the candidate's major strengths? Comment on the factors that distinguish the candidate from other individuals at his/her level.

XYZ is an exceptional person in many ways. He is honest and very dependable, and never shies away from taking responsibility for his tasks and actions. He deals and communicates with people effectively. He is a good listener and knows how to motivate people. He himself is very motivated, persistent and works hard to get things done in a timely fashion. His sincerity and commitment are some of the traits that distinguish him from other individuals at his level. I am sure all these strengths would take him a long way in life in general, and in his career in particular.

What do you consider to be candidate's major weaknesses?

XYZ is one of those few people, with whom one has to look with a magnifying glass to find a weakness, at least in the professional arena. Still, if one were to get a little picky, I'd say that sometimes in his enthusiasm in competing projects on target, he comes down a little hard on his team when needed. He is a go-getter and therefore assumes that his objectives and enthusiasm are equally shared by others in his team.

Comment on the candidate's potential for senior management. Do you see him/her as a future leader.

Leadership is something that comes naturally to XYZ. At our company, he produced outstanding work backed by a motivated and well guided team. He is good at promoting and incorporating new ideas into the work process. While managing projects and people, he always keeps the big picture in mind, and never lets small issues shadow the long term objectives. I think he has all the right traits for a senior management career.

Describe the candidate as a person. Comment on his/her ability to establish and maintain relationships, sensitivity to others, self-confidence, attitude etc. Specifically comment on the candidate's behavior or skills in a group setting/team environment.

XYZ is a very open person, communicates well and is very good at building confidence among the people he works with. He is sensitive to people's preferences, and tries to be accommodative as long as it does not interfere with the achievement of group objectives. This, along with his sincerity, helps him build excellent one-to-one relationships in the workplace. Therefore, people often go the extra mile to help him when he is facing any critical issues. He would make an excellent manager because of his exceptional interpersonal skills.