Certificate of Career

About this template

When to use it

A one-page Certificate of Career — the document a former employer issues to confirm service that has already ended. That is the whole difference from a certificate of employment: this one is written in the past tense and closes with “This is to certify that the above person worked as stated”. The header cells read Certificate No. / Date of issue / Purpose of issue / Issuing department, sampled as HR-C-2026-0155, 2026-08-18, “For a service-credit application” and HR Team.

Filling order

1. 1. Personal details and period of service — name with date of birth, the period of service, and the type of leaving. The sample reads “Period of service March 2, 2018 to February 28, 2026, 7 years 11 months” and “Type of leaving voluntary resignation”. Who worked here and from when to when is the substance of the page, so give exact dates, not months.
2. 2. Transfers and promotions — in date order. The sample runs “March 2018 joined the Production Control Team as staff” and “January 2021 assistant manager, Quality Assurance Team · January 2024 promoted to deputy manager”, then a duties line.
3. 3. Wording of the certification and permitted use — who it is submitted to, then “It may not be submitted for any purpose other than the assessment of service credit“, then the certification sentence. Keep the wording definite; this document certifies settled facts.
4. Sign the three-cell block: Issued by / HR Team lead / CEO (company seal).

Where the assessor actually looks

Bodies that award service credit read three things and little else: the exact start and end dates, the titles held and when, and the duties. That is why section 2 is a timeline rather than a summary — a certificate saying only that the person worked in quality assurance sends the assessor back with questions. Match the department names to what they were called at the time, even if the organization has since renamed them, and note the old and new names together where a rename would otherwise look like a gap.

The metrics table

The four cells under Key metrics read 7 years 11 months, Deputy manager, 2 and Voluntary resignation, labeled total service, final title, departments and type of leaving. Every one of them is derived from the body: total service from the period in section 1, the count of departments from the timeline in section 2. Extend the timeline by one move and the departments cell has to change with it. Unlike a certificate of employment, these figures are fixed once the person has left, so they should not drift between reissues.

Type of leaving needs care

The sample says “Voluntary resignation”. Fill it with the fact, not with an interpretation, and do not add a reason unless the person asked for one to be there — a leaving reason written into a certificate follows the person to every future employer who sees it. If the requester needs no leaving type at all, the row can simply be dropped; the certification sentence still stands without it.

Issue, retention and reissue

• Log the certificate number and issue date, as with any certificate that leaves the building.
• A leaver’s personal data is held for a limited period. Before issuing, check the file is still within that period; after it, you may have nothing to certify from.
• On a reissue, recall the earlier copy and give the new one its own number.
• Where the person is currently employed, issue a certificate of employment instead. Handing a leaver’s form to a current employee is the most common mix-up between the two.
• This template is a general form and is not legal advice. Where the receiving body prescribes its own layout or wording, have it checked against their requirements before you issue it.