Do employers ask for "employment certificate" in the US?

[jjdd]

When applying for an RN job, do they ask you to provide them with an employment certificate or experience letter (or anything as such) from your previous employer?

[klone, MSN, RN]

No. You volunteer your dates and place of employment on the application.

[jjdd]

No. You volunteer your dates and place of employment on the application.

So how do they know that you've worked at X for Y amount of time? They just take your word for it?

[llg, PhD, RN]

No, they usually contact the previous employers you list on the application and confirm your claims. They may also ask that employer for a recommendation -- (though a lot of previous employers will not provide a recommendation, only your dates of employment and whether or not they would hire you again.)

As part of a US job application, you will probably be asked to provide a list of personal and professional references -- people who are willing to provide a job recommendation for you. The people whose names and contact information you provide will similarly be contacted and asked about you personal and professional history.

If you are coming from another country and it might be difficult for your previous employers to be contacted, it would probably be a good idea to get a letter from those previous employers and possible references. Make copies and submit them along with your application. They may be accepted if your previous employer can't be contacted or chooses not to reply when contacted by the company you hope to work for.

[OyWithThePoodles, RN]

Not when applying, but when offered the job I had to provide a paper that had the dates I worked for and be signed by my previous "nursing related" employers in order to get credit for how much experience I had. It wasn't required, but if I hadn't done it I would've been getting paid for zero years experience as opposed to the 7-8 I had when I started this job.