Richard Wright is seeking a job as a stock analyst in New York. He has a recommendation letter from Warren Buffett that may do the trick.

Mr. Wright, as a member of a finance club at the University of Tennessee, helped set in motion Mr. Buffett’s $1.7 billion purchase of Clayton Homes Incorporated in 2003. He wants to work for a hedge fund or asset manager that follows the billionaire’s value-investing approach, favoring stocks at low prices relative to companies’ earnings and assets.

“He’s got a letter from God,” said Brian Sullivan, chief executive officer of Christian & Timbers, an executive search firm in New York. “Anyone’s going to be inquisitive enough to consider him.”

The 24-year-old “is the type of person any company or institution would be lucky to have,” wrote Mr. Buffett, 75, the chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Incorporated and the world’s second richest man, according to Forbes magazine’s annual ranking.

“With a high level of energy, intelligence, and integrity, qualities that are prevalent in Berkshire managers, Richard has a very exciting career ahead.”

Mr. Wright received a master’s degree in business administration in May from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. He has interviewed for jobs in New York during the past two weeks.

The letter may give him a chance to work for firms that might otherwise ignore him because he didn’t attend a higher-ranked business school, Mr. Sullivan said.

“It gets him somewhere that typically Vanderbilt MBAs don’t get,” he said. “That is, in the door to be considered.”

Vanderbilt was tied for 45th in the most recent ranking of the country’s graduate business schools by U.S. News and World Report magazine. Harvard University was no. 1.

“It’s unusual for Buffett to write a recommendation,” said Andy Kilpatrick, author of the book “Of Permanent Value: The Story of Warren Buffett.” He would do this only for someone he’s “100% about,” Mr. Kilpatrick said.

The billionaire and the student met when Tennessee’s investment club traveled to Omaha, Neb., from Knoxville in February 2003 for its annual visit to Berkshire’s headquarters.

The club’s adviser, Al Auxier, has known Mr. Buffett since 1994 and arranged the trip. As always, the group brought him a gift.

“He thinks one of the best ways to become a better investor is by reading business biographies,” Mr. Auxier said in an interview from Knoxville. The group settled on the autobiography of James Clayton, founder of Clayton Homes, the largest American mobile home manufacturer.

Michael Daniels, a former member of the investment club and intern for James Clayton, got a signed copy of the book, “First A Dream,” for Mr. Buffett.

Mr. Wright, who succeeded Daniels as an intern for Mr. Clayton, was selected to present the book. “These are your kind of people,” he told Mr. Buffett, according to the account in the letter.

“Reading the book that weekend caused me to immediately offer $1.7 billion” for Clayton Homes, Mr. Buffett wrote. He referred to Mr. Wright, who received a bachelor’s degree from Tennessee in May 2003, as a “deal maker” for “the fine acquisition he had brought to my attention.”

Berkshire bought the company in October 2003. To show his gratitude, Mr. Buffett gave every member of the investment club one Class B share, valued at $2,876.50 yesterday. Mr. Auxier, the group leader, got one Class A share, valued at $87,700.

Mr. Wright figured he should get something extra because he “was the person who presented the book to Buffett,” he said from Knoxville, where he lives and works.

Mr. Buffett wrote recommendations for Mr. Wright and Mr. Daniels in October 2003, according to his assistant, Debbie Bosanek, who said he wasn’t available to comment. Mr. Auxier said Mr. Buffett also wrote a letter for him.

Mr. Wright said he framed his letter at first and didn’t broadcast what the billionaire had done. “You don’t want to gloat,” he said. “I felt honored and figured I would use it when the time came.”

After graduating from Vanderbilt, Mr. Wright joined Clayton Bank & Trust, owned by James Clayton. He then decided that he wanted to leave Tennessee and try for a job in New York, and began to send the letter around with his resume.

Mr. Wright, who grew up in Memphis, Tenn., said he stays in touch with Mr. Buffett by corresponding through letters. He has an open invitation to send acquisition ideas to Mr. Buffett, who told him: “Send a price and the financials,” according to Mr. Wright.

“If I talk to a company that is for sale, I will take it to him personally,” the MBA graduate said.

Mr. Wright’s connection may further improve his job prospects.

“He provides some limited access to Buffett, if nothing else,” Mark Sellers, a managing partner at Sellers Capital LLC in Chicago and former chief equities strategist at Morningstar, wrote in an e-mail. “That’s worth $100,000 per year, easy.”

Graduates of Vanderbilt’s MBA program have an average starting salary of $74,311, according to U.S. News and World Report. That compares with $99,848 for Harvard MBA graduates.

Mr. Wright said the letter from Mr. Buffett “adds credibility to me among value investors” and has helped him land interviews.

“After that it’s really up to you.”