PeopleMuster

Internship completion certificate

Internship certificates get submitted to a university department, which reads them for one thing: what the student actually worked on. A certificate naming only the dates gets a query.

Issue this on the intern's last day or shortly after. An internship that is being converted into a permanent role needs an appointment letter instead, and the certificate can wait.

[COMPANY NAME]
[COMPANY ADDRESS] · [COMPANY WEBSITE]

Ref: [CERTIFICATE REFERENCE]
Date: [DATE OF ISSUE]

CERTIFICATE OF INTERNSHIP COMPLETION

[FULL NAME OF INTERN], [UNIVERSITY OR INSTITUTION], completed an internship
with [COMPANY NAME] from [START DATE] to [END DATE].

Programme details:

- Team: [TEAM OR DEPARTMENT]
- Supervisor: [SUPERVISOR NAME], [SUPERVISOR TITLE]
- Hours or days attended: [ATTENDANCE SUMMARY]
- Mode: [ON SITE / HYBRID]

Work carried out:

- [PROJECT OR ASSIGNMENT ONE]
- [PROJECT OR ASSIGNMENT TWO]
- [TOOLS OR METHODS LEARNED]

[OPTIONAL: ONE SENTENCE ON HOW THEY APPROACHED THE WORK]

The internship was completed in full and the programme requirements were met.

For [COMPANY NAME]

[SIGNATORY NAME], [SIGNATORY TITLE]
[SIGNATORY EMAIL AND PHONE]
Company stamp

What to put in each blank

[PROJECT OR ASSIGNMENT ONE]
Name the actual project. A university reader is checking it against the student's report.
[ATTENDANCE SUMMARY]
Give total hours or days if the institution asks for a minimum. Leave the line out otherwise.
[SUPERVISOR NAME]
Name the person who supervised day to day, with contact details. Departments do call.
[TOOLS OR METHODS LEARNED]
List two or three. Interns use this line on a first application, and it is the useful one.

Before you send it

  • Ask the intern what their department requires before you print. Some prescribe wording, a minimum hour count or a stamped form of their own.
  • Write the project names in plain words. An internal code name means nothing to a reader outside your company.
  • Issue it promptly. A certificate arriving after the submission deadline is worth nothing to a student.
  • Keep pay out of it. An internship certificate is a record of the work and the period, and adding a figure only raises questions.

An internship wind-up runs as its own checklist template in PeopleMuster, with the certificate as a step

Questions people ask about this letter

What do universities look for on an internship certificate?

The dates, the supervisor and a description of the work, often with an hour count. Many departments publish a checklist, so ask the student for theirs before drafting.

Should it say whether the internship was paid?

Leave it out unless the institution specifically asks. The certificate is evidence of the work done, and a figure on it tends to travel further than intended.

Can we issue one if the intern left early?

Issue a factual certificate of the period actually attended, and drop the completion sentence. Describing an unfinished internship as completed is the one line that causes real trouble.

Other templates