Experience Certificate Format | Download Format & Samples | Word, PDF

What is an Experience Certificate?

The Experience Certificate is also known as the “Work Experience Letter” is a formal document issued to an ex-employee certifying his/her tenure with the organization.

This article explains the importance of the experience certificate. You’ll also learn the correct way of writing the work experience certificate letter and some great samples of work experience certificate formats.

An experience certificate/ relieving letter is a mandatory document and should be provided to the resigned employee on or before the day of full and final settlements. 

The experience letter is also the second most forged document after the academic certificates.

A recent survey shows that IT industry witnessed the most numbers of forged resumes and experience letters.

In this article, you’ll learn how to write an experience letter, a step-by-step guide on writing an experience letter. Also, at the end of this article, you can download an experience letter format for your reference.

The importance of work experience letter

An experience letter is one of the most important documents for working professionals.

The document also proves that he/she has been relieved of his/her duties and holds a good character. 

The experience letter also proves the job applicant has the necessary skills, experience, and expertise required for the job role.

It also proves that the job applicant has received the necessary training and knowledge for the required job role.

He/she has served the complete notice period and is available to join a new organization.

A wrong hire can leave a negative effect on the organization. It’s the duty of the hiring manager to certain that they do not hire someone without proper documentation.

A wrong hire can sometimes put the organization in an awkward situation. It’s imperative that employers verify all the supporting documents submitted by the job applicants.

Except for a few smaller organizations, Almost all the companies ask for an experience letter obtained from the previous employer to validate the work experience mentioned on the resume by the job applicant.

By doing that employers make sure that they do not hire an applicant with forged documents.

Nowadays employers also hire an external background verification agencies to verify the documents submitted by the job applicants.

The job applicant might not receive a new job offer without a valid experience certificate letter. 

A work experience certificate also states that the job applicant and the employer shared a cordial relation and the employer did find his conduct satisfactory in his last organization

Components of a work experience letter:

An ideal experience certificate letter must include following points. 

1. Employee name and address
2. Employee ID, department, and designation
3. Date of Joining and last date of the employment
4. Promotion details if any
5. Salary details (optional)
6. Sign and seal of the signing authority
7. Contact details of signing authority

Do’s and don’ts of work experience letter

So far you must have understood how important a work experience letter is for an employee. A wrongly issued experience letter holds no validity in the eyes of a new employer. You must consider these points before issuing an experience certificate letter.

Do’s 

1. The work experience letter must be issued on the letterhead of the company only
2. The experience certificate must include the above mentioned details
3. An experience letter must be duly signed and stamped by the right authority

Don’ts 

1. An experience letter should not be issued on a plain paper
2. An experience certificate should not contain details on pending dues
3. A Work experience letter should not include any negative remarks about the employee

How to write a work Experience Certificate?

As stated above, an experience letter is a very important document for the employee’s future career prospects.

An employment certificate also certifies the skills and overall character of an employee.

Almost all the companies demand an experience letter before they begin the onboarding process of new recruits. 

Anything wrong with the experience letter can jeopardize his/her career prospects.

You must choose your words carefully at the time of writing a work experience letter.

Generally, companies never use bad remarks in an experience letter. 

Before you begin writing an experience letter, you must consider the following points.

1. An experience letter should not be written or printed on plain paper.
2. An employment certificate should be written or printed on the company letterhead only. an experience letter issued on plain paper can be easily forged and will not be considered by any other organization.
3. The letter must be issued by authorized personnel only. ideally, it should be issued by the HR manager of the company.
4. It’s imperative that the letter is duly signed and stamped with the date of issue
5. The letter of experience must include all the details of the organization like company name, address, phone number, contact details of the issuing authority, etc.
6. It must be issued to the correct person only. It should include the name, employee ID address, contact details of the employee

How do I write a certificate of experience?

Step 1: Start with the date on the top right side of the letter. The date of the certificate should ideally be the last day of the employment of the employee. You are free to choose your own date format. However, “DD/MM/YYYY” is an ideal date format for all corporate communications.

Download experience certificate pdf format

Date: DD/MM/YYYY

Step 2: mention the details like the name of the issuing authority, designation, office address, and communication details. (Optional)

Step 3: mention the details of the employee, like the full name as per the records, employee ID, designation, and address.

Mr. V. Anand

Sales Manager

Emp ID: 3203

Chennai, India

Step 4: like all other letters, employment certificate letters are not typically addressed to a specific recipient. If it has not been exclusively requested by a specific employer, you must address the certificate/letter to an anonymous individual/organization 

“To whomsoever, it may concern” 

If you do not know of the intended recipient, writing “to whomsoever, it may concern” is the right thing to do. Feel free to use it on the experience certificate letter.

Step 5: It’s time to start writing the body of the employment certificate. The body of the experience certificate letter must consist of three paragraphs. 

The first paragraph should include the duration, designation, employee id of the employee. 

The second paragraph must focus on the employee’s performance and overall conduct during his stay at the company. 

The third paragraph of the employment certificate should include the best wishes from the organization.

Experience Certificate Format

Experience Letter format (experience certificate for teacher)

Working Experience Certificate

Other Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)