How should you write dates on a CV?

Choose one style, then make every date follow it

Most date problems on a CV are not a wrong format but two formats at once: a job copied from an old file as 06/2019 sitting under one typed as Mar 2022. Fix that first, because it is the one a reader and a checker both notice.

1. Pick one month style from the table further down, for example Mar 2021.
2. Write every job, internship and volunteering role as a start and end in that style.
3. Write degrees as years, or as Expected with a month if you have not graduated.
4. Search the file for a slash (/) and a dot between digits; each hit is a date in a second style.
5. Use the same dash, or the word to, in every range.

How each part of a date line is written

Jobs: month and year

Marquette's career guide asks for each experience entry to carry a date as month and year, or semester and year. The National Careers Service asks for the dates you worked at each job without fixing a style. Brown University's CareerLAB is the most specific: abbreviate months to their first three letters without a period, so Sep rather than Sept., put a space on each side of the dash, and use the same kind of dash everywhere.

Education: years, or an expected date

Prospects' example CVs date education in years only, such as 2022-2025. For a degree you are still taking, Brown suggests giving the anticipated graduation date with no start date, for example Expected May 2027, and Marquette's sample shows the same Expected form. Years beside month-level job dates do not count as a second style; they are the same style with less detail.

A role you still hold

Close an open range with Present. Prospects' skills-based example writes 2023-present and Marquette's sample uses Present after a month. Avoid Current, Now and Today side by side in one file; pick one word.

Seasons, summers and short roles

Brown accepts a season for a study-abroad term, such as Fall 2019, and Marquette's sample has Summers & Holidays for recurring holiday work. If every other line has months, a season reads fine for one short entry; a CV dated only in seasons gives the reader, and some checkers, no month at all.

Where the date sits on the line

Brown recommends right-aligning dates so they do not crowd the employer and job title. Harvard's list of things to avoid includes starting each line with a date. The title and employer lead; the date follows on the same line or the right edge.

Date styles compared

Twelve date mixes run through a CV checker

On 13 October 2026 we ran one invented two-job CV through CitedCV's audit, changing only the dates. The audit recognises four ways of writing a month (a month name with a year, 03/2021, 03.2021 and 2021-03) and year ranges such as 2015 - 2018. Two different month styles produce the warning 'Dates are written 2 different ways. Pick one format and use it everywhere.' No recognisable date at all is an error, shown as 'No dates recognised. Without them a parser cannot order your roles.' Either one takes 25 points off the structure part of the score, which is 20% of the total, so the overall number drops by 5.

Three results worth knowing

• A short academic year such as 2015-18 has the same shape as a year and month (2015-18 looks like 2015 and month 18), so beside Mar 2021 it counts as a second style. Write 2015 - 2018.
• Seasons alone, and an open range such as 2021 - Present with no other dates, were not recognised as dates. One month-level date anywhere fixes it.
• Abbreviations with a period, such as Sept. 2021, and full month names passed; the rule is about mixing, not about which month style you choose.

This is CitedCV's rule, not an employer's. Workday's documentation says parsing results can vary with resume format and the order of words, and Greenhouse lists inconsistent section formatting among causes of an unsuccessful parse; neither publishes a date rule, so one consistent style is the safe reading of both.

Sources, read on 13 October 2026

• Brown University CareerLAB, How to format dates on a resume (15 April 2026): three-letter months without a period, one dash style with spaces, expected graduation without a start date, right-aligned dates.
• Marquette University Career Services: month and year, or semester and year, for experience; actual or anticipated graduation date as month and year.
• Prospects, chronological and skills-based CV examples (May 2025): education and jobs dated in years, such as 2022-2025 and 2023-present.
• Harvard Mignone Center: do not start each line with a date; list entries in reverse chronological order.
• National Careers Service: include the dates you worked at each job and the dates you attended each school.
• CitedCV audit code (DATE_SHAPES and the AUDIT-DATES rules), run on the sample CVs above.

When other date rules apply

• Germany: a tabular Lebenslauf with month and year on every line; the German CV format guide explains why years alone invite questions there.
• Europass: the online editor sets its own date fields; the Europass CV guide shows what it produces.
• A gap of several months: give it its own dated line; the employment gap guide has wording for each reason.
• A long career: you can drop years from early roles; the CV over 50 guide covers where to draw the line.
• Application forms with date pickers ignore your CV style; type the same months there as on the CV.

Next steps

CitedCV writes dates from the start and end months you enter, in the style set for the region you choose: Mar 2021 for US, UK and Turkish CVs, 03/2021 for EU and German ones, with Present, Halen or heute for an open end depending on the CV's language.

1. Apply the one-style check above to your current file.
2. Paste the text into the free CV checker; it reports mixed and missing dates with the wording shown in the table.
3. Then settle the typeface and the layout: the guides on CV fonts and on chronological, functional and hybrid CVs follow on from this one.

Questions people ask

Sources

1. Brown University Master's Career Services (CareerLAB), How to format dates on a resumemasterscareers.brown.edu/blog/2026/04/15/how-to-format-dates-on-a-resume/
2. Marquette University Career Services, Resume, cover letter and references guidewww.marquette.edu/career-services/resources/resume-cover-letter-references-guide.php
3. Prospects, Chronological CV examplewww.prospects.ac.uk/careers-advice/cvs-and-cover-letters/example-cvs/chronological-cv-example
4. Prospects, Skills-based CV examplewww.prospects.ac.uk/careers-advice/cvs-and-cover-letters/example-cvs/skills-based-cv-example
5. Harvard Mignone Center for Career Success, Create a strong resumecareerservices.fas.harvard.edu/resources/create-a-strong-resume/
6. National Careers Service, CV sectionsnationalcareers.service.gov.uk/careers-advice/cv-sections
7. Workday documentation, Concept: Resume parsingdoc.workday.com/admin-guide/en-us/human-capital-management/recruiting/candidates/set-up-prospects-and-candidates/hdc1552497830785.html
8. Greenhouse Support, Unsuccessful resume parsesupport.greenhouse.io/hc/en-us/articles/200989175-Unsuccessful-resume-parse