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Use month-and-year date fields for consistent formatting, sorting and date checks, or turn on Custom date text to write dates in your own words. Both options are available on the web and in the native mobile app.

Enter dates for an entry

Experience, Education, Projects and Volunteer entries have a start and an end date. Each job role has its own pair too.
1

Open the entry

In Write mode, open the entry you want to date. See Editing entries if you’re not sure how.
2

Type the start date

In the first box under Dates, type the date the way you normally write it, for example Mar 2022, March 2022, 03/2022, 2022-03, or only 2022. A date that can be read saves as you type. When you leave the box, it switches to your resume’s date format.
3

Type the end date, or turn on Present

Type the end date in the second box. If you’re still in the role or still studying, turn on Present instead. The end box then shows the word “Present” and can’t be edited. On an Education entry whose end date is still to come (a degree you’re finishing), type that date and turn on Expected: it prints as “Expected May 2027”.
Northwind Labs experience entry for fictional Alex Morgan, with Position, Company, Location and Dates

Open one entry to edit its fields

Awards, Certifications and Publications have a single Date box and no Present switch.

Custom date text

Turn on Custom date text in an entry’s Dates or Date field. The current date becomes one editable text box. For a range, type the whole range, including any separator or word for “Present”. You can use localized wording, a season, or any other text. Custom text saves as you type and prints as written in the preview, shared resume, PDF and DOCX. Changing the resume’s language or date format does not reformat it. If the text cannot be read, a Saved as written warning explains that automated date checks and sorting are unavailable for it. You can keep the text and ignore the finding in Check mode. The warning does not block saving or exporting. To return to the date fields, enter a readable month and year, year-only date or range, or clear the custom text, then turn off Custom date text. Untouched preset text can always return to the date fields. For edited custom text, the switch stays disabled while it cannot be converted exactly, so returning to date fields cannot silently discard it.

Year-only dates

If you don’t remember the month, or prefer not to show it, type only the year, such as 2014. Year-only dates are exact, not guesses: they print as the year alone whatever date format you choose, for example “2014 – 2018”.

How dates print

The page shows the start and end joined by a dash. If there’s only a start date, only that date prints; with Present on, the end reads “Present”, and with Expected on (Education only), the end date reads “Expected May 2027”.
Northwind Labs experience entry for fictional Alex Morgan, with Position, Company, Location and Dates

Open one entry to edit its fields

Month names and the word “Present” follow the resume’s language, which you set in Design → Page → Language. For example, a resume in German prints “März 2022 – Heute”. You can also type month names in the resume’s language. If the field can’t read the printed date back, as with “2022年3月” in Japanese, it shows 2022-03 while you edit it.

Choose the date format

1

Open Page in Design mode

Select Design in the editor bar, then open Page.
2

Pick a date format

Choose one of the four formats in Date format. Every date using the date fields changes at once. Custom date text stays as written.
Page category with paper size, margins, density, language, date format and icon controls

Set paper, margins, density, language and dates

Resumes brought over from an earlier version of Reactive Resume start with whichever of these formats is closest to how their dates were typed. Reset design defaults in the same panel doesn’t change your date format.

Fix dates that need a look

The Dates field tells you when something is off.
  • “This date hasn’t been saved. Use a month and year, like Mar 2022, or just a year. The resume keeps the last valid date. Turn on Custom date text to save other wording.” Correct the structured date, or use Custom date text to keep other wording.
  • “The end is before the start.” The two dates are the wrong way round. Swap them, or the entry sorts to the end when you use Sort by date.
Structured date field with Spring entered and a validation message requesting a month and year or a year

Use Custom date text for wording that is not a structured date

Dates from imports and older resumes

When you import a resume, or open one made before dates were structured, Reactive Resume converts each date from its text. Dates it cannot read exactly, such as “Summer 2016”, stay as custom text:
  • The section’s row shows a to check badge only for nonempty date text without a parsed start. Readable custom text and empty dates do not add to the badge.
  • The entry opens with Custom date text turned on, showing the original wording for editing.
  • The entry keeps printing that text as written. Unreadable dates show a non-blocking warning.
Keep the custom text, edit it, or enter a readable date and turn off Custom date text to use the date fields.
Check mode also flags entries without dates, dates that can’t be read, dates that run backwards and dates in the future. See Checking your resume.
Older mobile apps and update bundles can show custom text as an import warning. Editing dates in those versions replaces custom wording with the preset format. Update the app before editing custom dates.