How is work experience calculated?

Work experience is measured by the total time spent in professional employment. It is typically expressed in years, months, and days, counting from the start date of a position to either the end date or the current date if the role is ongoing. Accurately calculating work experience matters for job applications, resume building, salary negotiations, and meeting eligibility requirements for certifications or visa applications.

When you have held multiple jobs, calculating combined experience can get tricky — especially when positions overlap or have gaps between them. Each role's duration must be computed individually and then summed to produce an accurate total. Factors like varying month lengths and leap years add further complexity to manual calculations.

Tool description

This calculator lets you enter the start and end dates for one or more jobs and instantly computes the duration of each position in years, months, and days. Leave the end date empty to treat a job as your current position. When multiple jobs are added, the tool also displays a combined total experience across all entries. Results update in real time as you type.

Combined experience for all three positions is automatically summed and displayed separately.

Features

  • Add unlimited job entries with titles, start dates, and end dates
  • Leave end date blank to calculate duration up to today
  • View per-job breakdown in years, months, days, and total days
  • Automatic combined experience summary when multiple jobs are entered
  • Real-time calculation as dates are modified

Use cases

  • Resume preparation: Quickly determine how many years and months you have spent in each role to accurately describe your experience on a CV or job application.
  • Visa and immigration applications: Many work visa categories require a specific number of years of professional experience — use this tool to verify you meet the threshold before applying.
  • Career planning: Review your employment timeline at a glance to identify career progression, gaps, or the right moment to transition to a new role.

How it works

For each job entry the tool calculates the difference between the start date and end date (or today's date if no end date is provided). It breaks the result into whole years, remaining months, and remaining days, correctly handling varying month lengths. When multiple jobs are present, individual durations are aggregated: days exceeding 30 roll into months, and months exceeding 12 roll into years, giving a clean combined total.

Tips

  • Enter job titles to keep your list organized — they appear as headers in the output section.
  • Use the tool to prepare for interviews by rehearsing exact tenure lengths rather than approximating.
  • Compare total days across jobs to see which role you spent the most time in at a glance.

FAQ

What happens if I leave the end date empty? The tool treats the position as ongoing and calculates the duration from the start date to today's date.

Does the tool account for overlapping jobs? Each job's duration is calculated independently. Overlapping periods are counted for both jobs, so the combined total reflects the sum of all individual durations rather than unique calendar time.

How are months with different lengths handled? The calculation adjusts for the actual number of days in each month, so switching from a 31-day month to a 28-day month is handled correctly.