Should You Include a Date of Birth on Your CV?

Why should you not include your date of birth on your CV? Putting your date of birth on your CV will always cost you something in the form of wasted space. But it also carries hidden costs that you might not have considered before, like the risk of being discriminated against or facilitating discrimination.

Read on to see a CV example that’s better than nine out of ten out there, and with no date of birth in sight. Find out when you should put your date of birth on a CV (and how to do so) as well as all the reasons for not doing so by default.

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No date of birth on CV: sample

1. Should I put my date of birth on my CV?

The first question you might have is: Do you put date of birth on a CV? In most cases, it is not recommended to include your date of birth on a CV. Under the Equality Act of 2010, it is illegal to discriminate against individuals on the basis of age in areas such as employment. If you're not receiving responses to your CV when applying for a job, try to remove your CV date of birth.

On the other hand, you might sometimes be able to benefit from including your date of birth on your CV when you suspect a given employer prefers people from a certain age group. Some work is better performed by people of a certain age than others. But ultimately, you should not include your date of birth on your CV unless you were asked to do so.

A modern CV header with no date of birth included

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2. Why you should not put your date of birth on your CV

Age is a ‘Protected Characteristic’ according to the Equality Act 2010. Discriminating against someone on the basis of their age is prohibited by the Act. You can assume that people generally act in good faith, but still it’s best not to expose yourself to risk unnecessarily. Leave your age out of the equation.

What is more, a date of birth on your CV shows that you’re out of touch. This is one of those less obvious disadvantages of including your date of birth on a CV. Whatever the other arguments for or against putting a DOB on your CV, the simple fact of the matter is that it’s just not the done thing anymore.

3. When do you need to put your date of birth on a CV?

So you know that it’s best avoided if at all possible, but when do you need to put your date of birth on a CV? If you’re applying for a job that requires applicants to be over 18, then a date of birth might be a good idea. Although it’s no more ‘proof’ then a simple statement like ‘I am over 18 years old’.

Some employers will simply require you to give your age or date of birth without explaining why. If it’s a concern to you, then you could certainly ask them why they need this information. Otherwise, if everything seems above board then there’s no reason not to put your date of birth on your CV in such cases.

Date of birth on CV example

4. How to include your date of birth on your CV

The most logical place to include your date of birth on your CV is in the CV header, where your contact details are located. Put your date of birth last, after your contact details. It used to be that a range of personal details would go here, but these days it’s reserved for contact details, profile links, etc.

There’s no one format for either the label (‘Date of Birth’, DOB, etc.) or the actual date. It’s best to use a label of some kind, though—otherwise an orphaned date might cause some confusion for your reader. Format your date using any of these CV layouts:

Date of birth on CV—format

5. Other things to consider before clicking send on your CV

Not including a date of birth on your CV isn’t the only way you can bring it into the 21st Century. Keep in mind the following basic formatting rules:

• Use subheadings and white space to clearly divide your CV into sections.
• Use a modern and professional font like Noto, Garamond, Arial, or just leave the default Liberation or Calibri. Keep the size at 11–12 points.
• Save/export and attach your CV as a PDF file unless explicitly asked for something else.
• Aim for a maximum of one page per decade of experience, staying under two pages regardless for most jobs.

Proofread and check your CV and cover letter for spelling and grammar mistakes. Then check them again. Get someone to look over them for you if you can—it’s absolutely vital that anything you submit be flawless. It’s not a matter of having good English skills but rather attention to detail and conscientiousness.

You don’t have to be a CV writing expert. In the LiveCareer CV builder you’ll find ready-made content for every industry and position, which you can then add with a single click.

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Has this article answered your questions about date of birth on a CV? I hope so. Please let us know in the comments section below if you’d like me to elaborate on anything I’ve touched on here. Questions on CV's date of birth? Leave any comment, feedback or advice of your own that you’d like to share.

How we review the content at LiveCareer

Our editorial team has reviewed this article for compliance with Livecareer’s editorial guidelines. It’s to ensure that our expert advice and recommendations are consistent across all our career guides and align with current CV and cover letter writing standards and trends. We’re trusted by over 10 million job seekers, supporting them on their way to finding their dream job. Each article is preceded by research and scrutiny to ensure our content responds to current market trends and demand.