Director wants me to draft an 'internal reference letter' - about me. How should I go about this?

Question

In an effort to make this meet the rules of 'The Workplace', I'm looking for generalized advice and will only be providing a high level overview of what's going (which also happens to help with keeping things a little private). If it's still off topic, I apologize in advance!

Background

In the spring of 2015, I began to take on multiple responsibilities that aren't in my job description - because I really enjoy them. My Director said she would work on getting my title/role changed at some point down the road. Fast forward to today: My boss quit, and the Director is leaving in January. As a result, all knowledge of my unique role in the department will be lost (aside from co-workers, but I'm concerned about the 'higher ups'). I asked the director if she would be willing to write a internal reference for me of sorts, to explain to whoever takes her position what my role has become and the efforts being taken to get my title/role changed. She agreed, but asked that I draft the letter, so that she can review and tweak it before signing it.

The Question

While I asked for an 'internal reference letter' - I have no idea what that should look like. It appears the internet doesn't either - all I can find are discussions about letters for promotions, reference letters when applying to a new company, etc. I had a hard enough time getting the hang of cover letters, this is completely uncharted territory and I'm hoping someone may be able to provide guidance. What I have gathered is that a letter for this situation should contain and be laid out as follows:

[Who is the person we are talking about?]
[What was this person doing when they were first hired?]
[What *specific* examples illustrate that their responsibilities changed?]
[Why are these examples useful to the department/company?]
[What actions are being taken that should be continued, in regards to a role/title change?]

The biggest issue I'm running into is that the last part ends the letter off kind of awkwardly:

Therefore, I have been working to make Joe McGuy VP of Everything. Sincerely, Director

On top of that, now that I'm going over everything - I'm wondering if this is even a good idea? Are some of these pieces not okay at all? Is saying I should be promoted a complete faux paus, even though the director told me I would be and then asked me to write this letter? Since it seems there's no good template of an 'internal reference letter', is it okay to just provide what I have written to the director and let her prune it? If this letter is ok to write: how long is too long? (I'm placing my bets on anything longer than 1 page).

Thank you in advance - and again, I apologize if this is off topic. Seems to land squarely between the "maintain employment" (good) and "asking for advice on what to do" (bad) categories.

Answer 1

Write it as a reference letter/resume combo. While asking you to write your own letter can be seen as lazy on the director's part, it's also an opportunity for you to shine a light on yourself.

My advice is to be honest and to praise yourself to a moderate degree. Being overly humble will only harm you. Don't worry about being too forward, as long as you don't get too outrageous: she is leaving, and you can believe that she will not sign anything they don't feel comfortable anyway.

Additionally, if you've really done a good job she may be willing to credit you with more than you think, especially as she won't be around to deal with your performance after the fact.

Write something along the lines of:

Hello, Director.

If you are reading this then you now hold the position which I did not very long ago [ ... intro ... ]

I would like to speak to you about Jens Astrup, an employee whom I believe truly stands out. While Jens is officially our [title here], she has, over the years, picked up many more responsibilities which she has performed admirably. As my replacement, I believe you should be aware of her contributions to the team outside of her official job description.

[ ... Go into what you do ... ]

At the time of my writing this, I firmly believe that Jens deserves, and I was pursuing on her behalf, a promotion to a position which more accurately reflects her contribution to this organization. As my successor I felt that you should be aware of the valuable employee you have under your guidance, and am certain that she will make as good an impression on you as she did on me.

Regards, etc.

Anything your boss doesn't like, or wants changed, she will let you know, don't worry.