Is a text only resume (.txt) unprofessional?
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I currently use a word processor to store my resume in a specific format and I can produce a PDF when necessary. Lately, I've been wondering if storing my resume this way is a good idea.
I was thinking of storing it in a plain text file, if I were to send it in plain text (.txt), can it be unprofessional and take me out of consideration for a job? Is it expected I use Word or PDF files?
resume job-search
New contributor
|
show 4 more comments
up vote
8
down vote
favorite
I currently use a word processor to store my resume in a specific format and I can produce a PDF when necessary. Lately, I've been wondering if storing my resume this way is a good idea.
I was thinking of storing it in a plain text file, if I were to send it in plain text (.txt), can it be unprofessional and take me out of consideration for a job? Is it expected I use Word or PDF files?
resume job-search
New contributor
1
What program changes or abandons formats that often that it's an issue?! Word and LaTeX certainly don't, are you using something else? Personally I just have a Word based CV and usually export to PDF when necessary. I've never had an issue with the Word format changing so significantly it makes the file unreadable, and that's been over many years.
– berry120
11 hours ago
1
@berry120 - I use Libreoffice, it's free and open source, but open source projects can be abandoned. I have Office 2003, but I can covert to PDF with a 3rd party plugin (I don't know how safe and trustworthy those are). Lifeoffice does everything out of the box for me, but you never know
– BasementJoe
11 hours ago
2
@BasementJoe Regarding file format obsolescence, LibreOffice by default uses the OpenDocument suite of file formats. That's an ISO standard; specifically ISO/IEC 26300. That's not likely to disappear in a hurry.
– a CVn
8 hours ago
3
@BasementJoe, if they ask for a pdf, send a pdf. If they ask for a word doc, send a word doc. If they ask for plain text, send plain text. If they want a linkedIn url, send a linkedIn url. If they don't specify, use something that looks good in whatever they're going to view it from. In my opinion, pdf is a better choice if you're sending it to a person/hiring-manager and not a web-portal or recruiter.
– teego1967
8 hours ago
1
Possible duplicate of What digital format to send resume/cover letter in?
– Dukeling
5 hours ago
|
show 4 more comments
up vote
8
down vote
favorite
up vote
8
down vote
favorite
I currently use a word processor to store my resume in a specific format and I can produce a PDF when necessary. Lately, I've been wondering if storing my resume this way is a good idea.
I was thinking of storing it in a plain text file, if I were to send it in plain text (.txt), can it be unprofessional and take me out of consideration for a job? Is it expected I use Word or PDF files?
resume job-search
New contributor
I currently use a word processor to store my resume in a specific format and I can produce a PDF when necessary. Lately, I've been wondering if storing my resume this way is a good idea.
I was thinking of storing it in a plain text file, if I were to send it in plain text (.txt), can it be unprofessional and take me out of consideration for a job? Is it expected I use Word or PDF files?
resume job-search
resume job-search
New contributor
New contributor
edited 8 hours ago
teego1967
11k42947
11k42947
New contributor
asked 11 hours ago
BasementJoe
14916
14916
New contributor
New contributor
1
What program changes or abandons formats that often that it's an issue?! Word and LaTeX certainly don't, are you using something else? Personally I just have a Word based CV and usually export to PDF when necessary. I've never had an issue with the Word format changing so significantly it makes the file unreadable, and that's been over many years.
– berry120
11 hours ago
1
@berry120 - I use Libreoffice, it's free and open source, but open source projects can be abandoned. I have Office 2003, but I can covert to PDF with a 3rd party plugin (I don't know how safe and trustworthy those are). Lifeoffice does everything out of the box for me, but you never know
– BasementJoe
11 hours ago
2
@BasementJoe Regarding file format obsolescence, LibreOffice by default uses the OpenDocument suite of file formats. That's an ISO standard; specifically ISO/IEC 26300. That's not likely to disappear in a hurry.
– a CVn
8 hours ago
3
@BasementJoe, if they ask for a pdf, send a pdf. If they ask for a word doc, send a word doc. If they ask for plain text, send plain text. If they want a linkedIn url, send a linkedIn url. If they don't specify, use something that looks good in whatever they're going to view it from. In my opinion, pdf is a better choice if you're sending it to a person/hiring-manager and not a web-portal or recruiter.
– teego1967
8 hours ago
1
Possible duplicate of What digital format to send resume/cover letter in?
– Dukeling
5 hours ago
|
show 4 more comments
1
What program changes or abandons formats that often that it's an issue?! Word and LaTeX certainly don't, are you using something else? Personally I just have a Word based CV and usually export to PDF when necessary. I've never had an issue with the Word format changing so significantly it makes the file unreadable, and that's been over many years.
– berry120
11 hours ago
1
@berry120 - I use Libreoffice, it's free and open source, but open source projects can be abandoned. I have Office 2003, but I can covert to PDF with a 3rd party plugin (I don't know how safe and trustworthy those are). Lifeoffice does everything out of the box for me, but you never know
– BasementJoe
11 hours ago
2
@BasementJoe Regarding file format obsolescence, LibreOffice by default uses the OpenDocument suite of file formats. That's an ISO standard; specifically ISO/IEC 26300. That's not likely to disappear in a hurry.
– a CVn
8 hours ago
3
@BasementJoe, if they ask for a pdf, send a pdf. If they ask for a word doc, send a word doc. If they ask for plain text, send plain text. If they want a linkedIn url, send a linkedIn url. If they don't specify, use something that looks good in whatever they're going to view it from. In my opinion, pdf is a better choice if you're sending it to a person/hiring-manager and not a web-portal or recruiter.
– teego1967
8 hours ago
1
Possible duplicate of What digital format to send resume/cover letter in?
– Dukeling
5 hours ago
1
1
What program changes or abandons formats that often that it's an issue?! Word and LaTeX certainly don't, are you using something else? Personally I just have a Word based CV and usually export to PDF when necessary. I've never had an issue with the Word format changing so significantly it makes the file unreadable, and that's been over many years.
– berry120
11 hours ago
What program changes or abandons formats that often that it's an issue?! Word and LaTeX certainly don't, are you using something else? Personally I just have a Word based CV and usually export to PDF when necessary. I've never had an issue with the Word format changing so significantly it makes the file unreadable, and that's been over many years.
– berry120
11 hours ago
1
1
@berry120 - I use Libreoffice, it's free and open source, but open source projects can be abandoned. I have Office 2003, but I can covert to PDF with a 3rd party plugin (I don't know how safe and trustworthy those are). Lifeoffice does everything out of the box for me, but you never know
– BasementJoe
11 hours ago
@berry120 - I use Libreoffice, it's free and open source, but open source projects can be abandoned. I have Office 2003, but I can covert to PDF with a 3rd party plugin (I don't know how safe and trustworthy those are). Lifeoffice does everything out of the box for me, but you never know
– BasementJoe
11 hours ago
2
2
@BasementJoe Regarding file format obsolescence, LibreOffice by default uses the OpenDocument suite of file formats. That's an ISO standard; specifically ISO/IEC 26300. That's not likely to disappear in a hurry.
– a CVn
8 hours ago
@BasementJoe Regarding file format obsolescence, LibreOffice by default uses the OpenDocument suite of file formats. That's an ISO standard; specifically ISO/IEC 26300. That's not likely to disappear in a hurry.
– a CVn
8 hours ago
3
3
@BasementJoe, if they ask for a pdf, send a pdf. If they ask for a word doc, send a word doc. If they ask for plain text, send plain text. If they want a linkedIn url, send a linkedIn url. If they don't specify, use something that looks good in whatever they're going to view it from. In my opinion, pdf is a better choice if you're sending it to a person/hiring-manager and not a web-portal or recruiter.
– teego1967
8 hours ago
@BasementJoe, if they ask for a pdf, send a pdf. If they ask for a word doc, send a word doc. If they ask for plain text, send plain text. If they want a linkedIn url, send a linkedIn url. If they don't specify, use something that looks good in whatever they're going to view it from. In my opinion, pdf is a better choice if you're sending it to a person/hiring-manager and not a web-portal or recruiter.
– teego1967
8 hours ago
1
1
Possible duplicate of What digital format to send resume/cover letter in?
– Dukeling
5 hours ago
Possible duplicate of What digital format to send resume/cover letter in?
– Dukeling
5 hours ago
|
show 4 more comments
7 Answers
7
active
oldest
votes
up vote
29
down vote
accepted
Resumes are sales tools. Look at other sales tools you're familiar with. Imagine you're at a conference, and a salesperson at a booth hands you a business card. You'd expect some level of formatting, in order to help convey a level of professionalism at least, if not some overall brand message for their company.
What would you think of the salesperson if they gave you a business card that just had plain unformatted text plopped on it?
Now, unless you're applying for jobs doing page layout, no one is going to be highly critical of your resume's formatting and layout. But, there is a level of expectation among recruiters and hiring managers, that you've put thought and effort into how you present yourself during the hiring process. This is important because it's taken as a sign of the thought and effort you'll put into doing your job, should they hire you. Hence, it's worth presenting at least a minimally-formatted resume.
If you're worried about continuity, it's easy to choose a word processor with a history of stability and backwards compatibility (ie MS Word). Worst case, you end up having to re-build your resume from a pdf or - gasp - a printed copy.
All that said, there may be some merit in keeping a plain text version of your resume, as well. Many job applications require you to enter details of past jobs into an online web job application, and cutting/pasting from a word processor sometimes results in relics that are painful to edit back out (ie a bullet list may collapse and look messy). Having a plain text version can make that easier.
Which brings up a good point - it's best to not think of your resume as a single (static) document, but rather as a collection of information that you need to present with slight tweaks for different audiences. For instance, I have a "baseline" resume with all of my employers/positions/projects with detailed notes on each. It's probably about 5 or 6 pages long. When applying for a job, I run through it and remove content that's not relevant (a process that might take 10 minutes), allowing me to create a document that's focused on the specific opportunity I'm going after.
+ Upvoted. But I'm going to wait awhile before I check it off, I've been told it's proper etiquette.
– BasementJoe
11 hours ago
6
I'd be more put off by a 5 to 6 page resume than a .txt one!
– economy
5 hours ago
3
"What would you think of the salesperson if they gave you a business card that just had plain unformatted text plopped on it?", I would think it is pretty cool actually.
– Akavall
2 hours ago
add a comment |
up vote
13
down vote
I love when people say it's "unprofessional" and suggest using things like markup. I would assume the person making these suggestions has never been a hiring manager.
I will assume you aren't a designer, but for most other my answer will apply.
When you apply to a role, the following tends to happen
You will spend a good bit of time customizing the resume to the role.
- You upload your resume into an ATS (Application Tracking System)
- This scans the resume for keywords, details etc and populates the application form
- If this isn't parsed correctly, you will be rejected
- The details go (likely initially in an email) to the HR rep, who is prompted to look at it in the ATS (but will often not, which is why the status will zombie to you in the ATS). This will usually be stripped of fancy formatting by the ATS.
- If you pass the ATS and the look by HR, the details will be passed to the hiring manager, often by cutting and pasting into an email with a bunch of other applicants.
Alternately the resume is first passed to a recruiter who reformats the resume into a standard format they use.
Now you see the issue, your info gets parsed and munged and copied and pasted. Lots of fancy nice formatting will look great, but will often be impossible to parse, and be lost by the time the person who will hire you will look at it.
So what to do? A text version is perfectly acceptable, as it will be parsed correctly, is easily copy-able into the communique to the hiring manager.
What I do - I use Word rather than straight text, but I analyse the formatting and always export the file to txt to ensure it still looks right.
So use text, keep it clean, don't use = or _ to try an recreate lines etc, just make it simple and clear, and watch as the Tex formatting junkies can't understand why their resume sits in an ATS portal until they get a rejection when the job is filled and closed out.
1
I have never been a hiring manager indeed :) I was using the markup system myself, generating a beautiful PDF and one day I was asked for a Word doc by a recruiter, so guess what went out the window. But I have a question - so far every company I've worked at has actual people looking at the crap pile, which suggests ATS is far from ubiquitous. Would auto-generating a PDF with Pandoc, for example, cause the ATS to crap out?
– rath
10 hours ago
1
Even when people look at it, the ATS will have tried to parse it. If you apply online you go through an ATS, often a recruiter will still upload into the ATS. The main problem is positional formatting, joined bits of text can seem to be completely unconnected due to formatting, and will you will then fail it's matching. Remember also you will likely not be told this is why you failed. If they can parse it the likelihood is you will quickly either move to being in play or rejected. If the resume just sits there, likely it's been flagged as unparseable, and will never be seen by a human.
– The Wandering Dev Manager
9 hours ago
2
One of the things that helped my view was as a candidate. I was applying for a role I really wanted and the application just sat there. I had been thinking about redoing my resume format as it was from when I worked in consultancy and it used lots of hidden tables for a nice look. I cleaned it right down to simplest, then updated the file in the ATS (same content just plain format). 10 mins later had an HR person emailing asking for a call, had sat there for several weeks. Taleo (Oracle) based ATS is particularly strict on parsing.
– The Wandering Dev Manager
9 hours ago
4
Automated resume screening is the work of the devil. It de-humanizes the whole job application process ...
– Time4Tea
6 hours ago
4
This answer is written as if there were some universal way that these things always worked, but that isn't true, or not with this level of extreme specificity. I'm involved in hiring with a large organization (a community college district with a few thousand employees), and most of what you're depicting is not actually what we do. In particular, we end up seeing a bitmapped image of the person's resume and job letter, not a parsed version that's been translated into plain text.
– Ben Crowell
4 hours ago
|
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up vote
4
down vote
Having a text version of the CV/resume is a good idea. I don't use it to send to somebody but I do use it as part of the application process.
I have on some sites run into the situation where I have to copy the parts of the resume into their interface. Having a text version ready to go can help make that process quicker, and makes sure that the information still is readable when it has been cut and pasted into the text box.
I have found that doing this conversion on the whole resume makes it easier to make sure that I don't forget to account for some formatting that I might overlook if I am doing the conversion one paragraph at a time.
add a comment |
up vote
0
down vote
No, in many places its the preferred form. I provide my resume in Word upon request, but my default is .txt, as its universal. Unless you're a graphics designer I don't want a colored, flashy, highly visualized resume- I'm just going to be scanning it anyway. In general if you feel you need to impress me with anything other than your skills/experience, it means those are lacking.
Unless you're a graphics designer I don't want a colored, flashy, highly visualized resume- I'm just going to be scanning it anyway. In general if you feel you need to impress me with anything other than your skills/experience, it means those are lacking. - Well said, this is exactly what I think every time someone suggests a fancy template.
– BasementJoe
5 hours ago
add a comment |
up vote
0
down vote
One option you might consider is using Markdown-formatted text files as your base. Markdown offers enough formatting tools for the job, and you can use convertors such as Pandoc at any moment to convert the file into PDF, MS Word, ODS, or another of many supported formats when necessary.
add a comment |
up vote
0
down vote
Not only is plaintext a wonderful idea, you might even consider structured data. My resume ended up very sharp looking formatted as valid yaml. Imports very nicely into job application forms as well.
That said, I specifically created my resume to visually offend those I would not want to work with and attract those that I would. If you want to be a more attractive candidate, giving them what is commonly expected (docx and pdf) will cause less friction in recruiting pipelines and gain you a wider audience.
New contributor
That audience targeting is actually a good strategy if and only if you can get through the gatekeepers to the actual people you would be working with or for. For more expert roles and those found through connections vs. scraped off a site, that may well be the case enough of the time to make this viable.
– Chris Stratton
55 mins ago
add a comment |
up vote
-1
down vote
Text is perfectly acceptable, if not terribly secure. It needs to be clean.
There is a reason we use text for an RFC.
Unless they ask for a specific format, UUENCODEd Multimate or such, text will set you apart from the candidates submitting a drinks menu.
If you want to go all the way, find a typewriter with a Centronics port.
Otherwise draft it in text and pay someone else to typeset it.
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7 Answers
7
active
oldest
votes
7 Answers
7
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
up vote
29
down vote
accepted
Resumes are sales tools. Look at other sales tools you're familiar with. Imagine you're at a conference, and a salesperson at a booth hands you a business card. You'd expect some level of formatting, in order to help convey a level of professionalism at least, if not some overall brand message for their company.
What would you think of the salesperson if they gave you a business card that just had plain unformatted text plopped on it?
Now, unless you're applying for jobs doing page layout, no one is going to be highly critical of your resume's formatting and layout. But, there is a level of expectation among recruiters and hiring managers, that you've put thought and effort into how you present yourself during the hiring process. This is important because it's taken as a sign of the thought and effort you'll put into doing your job, should they hire you. Hence, it's worth presenting at least a minimally-formatted resume.
If you're worried about continuity, it's easy to choose a word processor with a history of stability and backwards compatibility (ie MS Word). Worst case, you end up having to re-build your resume from a pdf or - gasp - a printed copy.
All that said, there may be some merit in keeping a plain text version of your resume, as well. Many job applications require you to enter details of past jobs into an online web job application, and cutting/pasting from a word processor sometimes results in relics that are painful to edit back out (ie a bullet list may collapse and look messy). Having a plain text version can make that easier.
Which brings up a good point - it's best to not think of your resume as a single (static) document, but rather as a collection of information that you need to present with slight tweaks for different audiences. For instance, I have a "baseline" resume with all of my employers/positions/projects with detailed notes on each. It's probably about 5 or 6 pages long. When applying for a job, I run through it and remove content that's not relevant (a process that might take 10 minutes), allowing me to create a document that's focused on the specific opportunity I'm going after.
+ Upvoted. But I'm going to wait awhile before I check it off, I've been told it's proper etiquette.
– BasementJoe
11 hours ago
6
I'd be more put off by a 5 to 6 page resume than a .txt one!
– economy
5 hours ago
3
"What would you think of the salesperson if they gave you a business card that just had plain unformatted text plopped on it?", I would think it is pretty cool actually.
– Akavall
2 hours ago
add a comment |
up vote
29
down vote
accepted
Resumes are sales tools. Look at other sales tools you're familiar with. Imagine you're at a conference, and a salesperson at a booth hands you a business card. You'd expect some level of formatting, in order to help convey a level of professionalism at least, if not some overall brand message for their company.
What would you think of the salesperson if they gave you a business card that just had plain unformatted text plopped on it?
Now, unless you're applying for jobs doing page layout, no one is going to be highly critical of your resume's formatting and layout. But, there is a level of expectation among recruiters and hiring managers, that you've put thought and effort into how you present yourself during the hiring process. This is important because it's taken as a sign of the thought and effort you'll put into doing your job, should they hire you. Hence, it's worth presenting at least a minimally-formatted resume.
If you're worried about continuity, it's easy to choose a word processor with a history of stability and backwards compatibility (ie MS Word). Worst case, you end up having to re-build your resume from a pdf or - gasp - a printed copy.
All that said, there may be some merit in keeping a plain text version of your resume, as well. Many job applications require you to enter details of past jobs into an online web job application, and cutting/pasting from a word processor sometimes results in relics that are painful to edit back out (ie a bullet list may collapse and look messy). Having a plain text version can make that easier.
Which brings up a good point - it's best to not think of your resume as a single (static) document, but rather as a collection of information that you need to present with slight tweaks for different audiences. For instance, I have a "baseline" resume with all of my employers/positions/projects with detailed notes on each. It's probably about 5 or 6 pages long. When applying for a job, I run through it and remove content that's not relevant (a process that might take 10 minutes), allowing me to create a document that's focused on the specific opportunity I'm going after.
+ Upvoted. But I'm going to wait awhile before I check it off, I've been told it's proper etiquette.
– BasementJoe
11 hours ago
6
I'd be more put off by a 5 to 6 page resume than a .txt one!
– economy
5 hours ago
3
"What would you think of the salesperson if they gave you a business card that just had plain unformatted text plopped on it?", I would think it is pretty cool actually.
– Akavall
2 hours ago
add a comment |
up vote
29
down vote
accepted
up vote
29
down vote
accepted
Resumes are sales tools. Look at other sales tools you're familiar with. Imagine you're at a conference, and a salesperson at a booth hands you a business card. You'd expect some level of formatting, in order to help convey a level of professionalism at least, if not some overall brand message for their company.
What would you think of the salesperson if they gave you a business card that just had plain unformatted text plopped on it?
Now, unless you're applying for jobs doing page layout, no one is going to be highly critical of your resume's formatting and layout. But, there is a level of expectation among recruiters and hiring managers, that you've put thought and effort into how you present yourself during the hiring process. This is important because it's taken as a sign of the thought and effort you'll put into doing your job, should they hire you. Hence, it's worth presenting at least a minimally-formatted resume.
If you're worried about continuity, it's easy to choose a word processor with a history of stability and backwards compatibility (ie MS Word). Worst case, you end up having to re-build your resume from a pdf or - gasp - a printed copy.
All that said, there may be some merit in keeping a plain text version of your resume, as well. Many job applications require you to enter details of past jobs into an online web job application, and cutting/pasting from a word processor sometimes results in relics that are painful to edit back out (ie a bullet list may collapse and look messy). Having a plain text version can make that easier.
Which brings up a good point - it's best to not think of your resume as a single (static) document, but rather as a collection of information that you need to present with slight tweaks for different audiences. For instance, I have a "baseline" resume with all of my employers/positions/projects with detailed notes on each. It's probably about 5 or 6 pages long. When applying for a job, I run through it and remove content that's not relevant (a process that might take 10 minutes), allowing me to create a document that's focused on the specific opportunity I'm going after.
Resumes are sales tools. Look at other sales tools you're familiar with. Imagine you're at a conference, and a salesperson at a booth hands you a business card. You'd expect some level of formatting, in order to help convey a level of professionalism at least, if not some overall brand message for their company.
What would you think of the salesperson if they gave you a business card that just had plain unformatted text plopped on it?
Now, unless you're applying for jobs doing page layout, no one is going to be highly critical of your resume's formatting and layout. But, there is a level of expectation among recruiters and hiring managers, that you've put thought and effort into how you present yourself during the hiring process. This is important because it's taken as a sign of the thought and effort you'll put into doing your job, should they hire you. Hence, it's worth presenting at least a minimally-formatted resume.
If you're worried about continuity, it's easy to choose a word processor with a history of stability and backwards compatibility (ie MS Word). Worst case, you end up having to re-build your resume from a pdf or - gasp - a printed copy.
All that said, there may be some merit in keeping a plain text version of your resume, as well. Many job applications require you to enter details of past jobs into an online web job application, and cutting/pasting from a word processor sometimes results in relics that are painful to edit back out (ie a bullet list may collapse and look messy). Having a plain text version can make that easier.
Which brings up a good point - it's best to not think of your resume as a single (static) document, but rather as a collection of information that you need to present with slight tweaks for different audiences. For instance, I have a "baseline" resume with all of my employers/positions/projects with detailed notes on each. It's probably about 5 or 6 pages long. When applying for a job, I run through it and remove content that's not relevant (a process that might take 10 minutes), allowing me to create a document that's focused on the specific opportunity I'm going after.
answered 11 hours ago
dwizum
8,95622140
8,95622140
+ Upvoted. But I'm going to wait awhile before I check it off, I've been told it's proper etiquette.
– BasementJoe
11 hours ago
6
I'd be more put off by a 5 to 6 page resume than a .txt one!
– economy
5 hours ago
3
"What would you think of the salesperson if they gave you a business card that just had plain unformatted text plopped on it?", I would think it is pretty cool actually.
– Akavall
2 hours ago
add a comment |
+ Upvoted. But I'm going to wait awhile before I check it off, I've been told it's proper etiquette.
– BasementJoe
11 hours ago
6
I'd be more put off by a 5 to 6 page resume than a .txt one!
– economy
5 hours ago
3
"What would you think of the salesperson if they gave you a business card that just had plain unformatted text plopped on it?", I would think it is pretty cool actually.
– Akavall
2 hours ago
+ Upvoted. But I'm going to wait awhile before I check it off, I've been told it's proper etiquette.
– BasementJoe
11 hours ago
+ Upvoted. But I'm going to wait awhile before I check it off, I've been told it's proper etiquette.
– BasementJoe
11 hours ago
6
6
I'd be more put off by a 5 to 6 page resume than a .txt one!
– economy
5 hours ago
I'd be more put off by a 5 to 6 page resume than a .txt one!
– economy
5 hours ago
3
3
"What would you think of the salesperson if they gave you a business card that just had plain unformatted text plopped on it?", I would think it is pretty cool actually.
– Akavall
2 hours ago
"What would you think of the salesperson if they gave you a business card that just had plain unformatted text plopped on it?", I would think it is pretty cool actually.
– Akavall
2 hours ago
add a comment |
up vote
13
down vote
I love when people say it's "unprofessional" and suggest using things like markup. I would assume the person making these suggestions has never been a hiring manager.
I will assume you aren't a designer, but for most other my answer will apply.
When you apply to a role, the following tends to happen
You will spend a good bit of time customizing the resume to the role.
- You upload your resume into an ATS (Application Tracking System)
- This scans the resume for keywords, details etc and populates the application form
- If this isn't parsed correctly, you will be rejected
- The details go (likely initially in an email) to the HR rep, who is prompted to look at it in the ATS (but will often not, which is why the status will zombie to you in the ATS). This will usually be stripped of fancy formatting by the ATS.
- If you pass the ATS and the look by HR, the details will be passed to the hiring manager, often by cutting and pasting into an email with a bunch of other applicants.
Alternately the resume is first passed to a recruiter who reformats the resume into a standard format they use.
Now you see the issue, your info gets parsed and munged and copied and pasted. Lots of fancy nice formatting will look great, but will often be impossible to parse, and be lost by the time the person who will hire you will look at it.
So what to do? A text version is perfectly acceptable, as it will be parsed correctly, is easily copy-able into the communique to the hiring manager.
What I do - I use Word rather than straight text, but I analyse the formatting and always export the file to txt to ensure it still looks right.
So use text, keep it clean, don't use = or _ to try an recreate lines etc, just make it simple and clear, and watch as the Tex formatting junkies can't understand why their resume sits in an ATS portal until they get a rejection when the job is filled and closed out.
1
I have never been a hiring manager indeed :) I was using the markup system myself, generating a beautiful PDF and one day I was asked for a Word doc by a recruiter, so guess what went out the window. But I have a question - so far every company I've worked at has actual people looking at the crap pile, which suggests ATS is far from ubiquitous. Would auto-generating a PDF with Pandoc, for example, cause the ATS to crap out?
– rath
10 hours ago
1
Even when people look at it, the ATS will have tried to parse it. If you apply online you go through an ATS, often a recruiter will still upload into the ATS. The main problem is positional formatting, joined bits of text can seem to be completely unconnected due to formatting, and will you will then fail it's matching. Remember also you will likely not be told this is why you failed. If they can parse it the likelihood is you will quickly either move to being in play or rejected. If the resume just sits there, likely it's been flagged as unparseable, and will never be seen by a human.
– The Wandering Dev Manager
9 hours ago
2
One of the things that helped my view was as a candidate. I was applying for a role I really wanted and the application just sat there. I had been thinking about redoing my resume format as it was from when I worked in consultancy and it used lots of hidden tables for a nice look. I cleaned it right down to simplest, then updated the file in the ATS (same content just plain format). 10 mins later had an HR person emailing asking for a call, had sat there for several weeks. Taleo (Oracle) based ATS is particularly strict on parsing.
– The Wandering Dev Manager
9 hours ago
4
Automated resume screening is the work of the devil. It de-humanizes the whole job application process ...
– Time4Tea
6 hours ago
4
This answer is written as if there were some universal way that these things always worked, but that isn't true, or not with this level of extreme specificity. I'm involved in hiring with a large organization (a community college district with a few thousand employees), and most of what you're depicting is not actually what we do. In particular, we end up seeing a bitmapped image of the person's resume and job letter, not a parsed version that's been translated into plain text.
– Ben Crowell
4 hours ago
|
show 3 more comments
up vote
13
down vote
I love when people say it's "unprofessional" and suggest using things like markup. I would assume the person making these suggestions has never been a hiring manager.
I will assume you aren't a designer, but for most other my answer will apply.
When you apply to a role, the following tends to happen
You will spend a good bit of time customizing the resume to the role.
- You upload your resume into an ATS (Application Tracking System)
- This scans the resume for keywords, details etc and populates the application form
- If this isn't parsed correctly, you will be rejected
- The details go (likely initially in an email) to the HR rep, who is prompted to look at it in the ATS (but will often not, which is why the status will zombie to you in the ATS). This will usually be stripped of fancy formatting by the ATS.
- If you pass the ATS and the look by HR, the details will be passed to the hiring manager, often by cutting and pasting into an email with a bunch of other applicants.
Alternately the resume is first passed to a recruiter who reformats the resume into a standard format they use.
Now you see the issue, your info gets parsed and munged and copied and pasted. Lots of fancy nice formatting will look great, but will often be impossible to parse, and be lost by the time the person who will hire you will look at it.
So what to do? A text version is perfectly acceptable, as it will be parsed correctly, is easily copy-able into the communique to the hiring manager.
What I do - I use Word rather than straight text, but I analyse the formatting and always export the file to txt to ensure it still looks right.
So use text, keep it clean, don't use = or _ to try an recreate lines etc, just make it simple and clear, and watch as the Tex formatting junkies can't understand why their resume sits in an ATS portal until they get a rejection when the job is filled and closed out.
1
I have never been a hiring manager indeed :) I was using the markup system myself, generating a beautiful PDF and one day I was asked for a Word doc by a recruiter, so guess what went out the window. But I have a question - so far every company I've worked at has actual people looking at the crap pile, which suggests ATS is far from ubiquitous. Would auto-generating a PDF with Pandoc, for example, cause the ATS to crap out?
– rath
10 hours ago
1
Even when people look at it, the ATS will have tried to parse it. If you apply online you go through an ATS, often a recruiter will still upload into the ATS. The main problem is positional formatting, joined bits of text can seem to be completely unconnected due to formatting, and will you will then fail it's matching. Remember also you will likely not be told this is why you failed. If they can parse it the likelihood is you will quickly either move to being in play or rejected. If the resume just sits there, likely it's been flagged as unparseable, and will never be seen by a human.
– The Wandering Dev Manager
9 hours ago
2
One of the things that helped my view was as a candidate. I was applying for a role I really wanted and the application just sat there. I had been thinking about redoing my resume format as it was from when I worked in consultancy and it used lots of hidden tables for a nice look. I cleaned it right down to simplest, then updated the file in the ATS (same content just plain format). 10 mins later had an HR person emailing asking for a call, had sat there for several weeks. Taleo (Oracle) based ATS is particularly strict on parsing.
– The Wandering Dev Manager
9 hours ago
4
Automated resume screening is the work of the devil. It de-humanizes the whole job application process ...
– Time4Tea
6 hours ago
4
This answer is written as if there were some universal way that these things always worked, but that isn't true, or not with this level of extreme specificity. I'm involved in hiring with a large organization (a community college district with a few thousand employees), and most of what you're depicting is not actually what we do. In particular, we end up seeing a bitmapped image of the person's resume and job letter, not a parsed version that's been translated into plain text.
– Ben Crowell
4 hours ago
|
show 3 more comments
up vote
13
down vote
up vote
13
down vote
I love when people say it's "unprofessional" and suggest using things like markup. I would assume the person making these suggestions has never been a hiring manager.
I will assume you aren't a designer, but for most other my answer will apply.
When you apply to a role, the following tends to happen
You will spend a good bit of time customizing the resume to the role.
- You upload your resume into an ATS (Application Tracking System)
- This scans the resume for keywords, details etc and populates the application form
- If this isn't parsed correctly, you will be rejected
- The details go (likely initially in an email) to the HR rep, who is prompted to look at it in the ATS (but will often not, which is why the status will zombie to you in the ATS). This will usually be stripped of fancy formatting by the ATS.
- If you pass the ATS and the look by HR, the details will be passed to the hiring manager, often by cutting and pasting into an email with a bunch of other applicants.
Alternately the resume is first passed to a recruiter who reformats the resume into a standard format they use.
Now you see the issue, your info gets parsed and munged and copied and pasted. Lots of fancy nice formatting will look great, but will often be impossible to parse, and be lost by the time the person who will hire you will look at it.
So what to do? A text version is perfectly acceptable, as it will be parsed correctly, is easily copy-able into the communique to the hiring manager.
What I do - I use Word rather than straight text, but I analyse the formatting and always export the file to txt to ensure it still looks right.
So use text, keep it clean, don't use = or _ to try an recreate lines etc, just make it simple and clear, and watch as the Tex formatting junkies can't understand why their resume sits in an ATS portal until they get a rejection when the job is filled and closed out.
I love when people say it's "unprofessional" and suggest using things like markup. I would assume the person making these suggestions has never been a hiring manager.
I will assume you aren't a designer, but for most other my answer will apply.
When you apply to a role, the following tends to happen
You will spend a good bit of time customizing the resume to the role.
- You upload your resume into an ATS (Application Tracking System)
- This scans the resume for keywords, details etc and populates the application form
- If this isn't parsed correctly, you will be rejected
- The details go (likely initially in an email) to the HR rep, who is prompted to look at it in the ATS (but will often not, which is why the status will zombie to you in the ATS). This will usually be stripped of fancy formatting by the ATS.
- If you pass the ATS and the look by HR, the details will be passed to the hiring manager, often by cutting and pasting into an email with a bunch of other applicants.
Alternately the resume is first passed to a recruiter who reformats the resume into a standard format they use.
Now you see the issue, your info gets parsed and munged and copied and pasted. Lots of fancy nice formatting will look great, but will often be impossible to parse, and be lost by the time the person who will hire you will look at it.
So what to do? A text version is perfectly acceptable, as it will be parsed correctly, is easily copy-able into the communique to the hiring manager.
What I do - I use Word rather than straight text, but I analyse the formatting and always export the file to txt to ensure it still looks right.
So use text, keep it clean, don't use = or _ to try an recreate lines etc, just make it simple and clear, and watch as the Tex formatting junkies can't understand why their resume sits in an ATS portal until they get a rejection when the job is filled and closed out.
edited 9 hours ago
answered 10 hours ago
The Wandering Dev Manager
30.4k1058110
30.4k1058110
1
I have never been a hiring manager indeed :) I was using the markup system myself, generating a beautiful PDF and one day I was asked for a Word doc by a recruiter, so guess what went out the window. But I have a question - so far every company I've worked at has actual people looking at the crap pile, which suggests ATS is far from ubiquitous. Would auto-generating a PDF with Pandoc, for example, cause the ATS to crap out?
– rath
10 hours ago
1
Even when people look at it, the ATS will have tried to parse it. If you apply online you go through an ATS, often a recruiter will still upload into the ATS. The main problem is positional formatting, joined bits of text can seem to be completely unconnected due to formatting, and will you will then fail it's matching. Remember also you will likely not be told this is why you failed. If they can parse it the likelihood is you will quickly either move to being in play or rejected. If the resume just sits there, likely it's been flagged as unparseable, and will never be seen by a human.
– The Wandering Dev Manager
9 hours ago
2
One of the things that helped my view was as a candidate. I was applying for a role I really wanted and the application just sat there. I had been thinking about redoing my resume format as it was from when I worked in consultancy and it used lots of hidden tables for a nice look. I cleaned it right down to simplest, then updated the file in the ATS (same content just plain format). 10 mins later had an HR person emailing asking for a call, had sat there for several weeks. Taleo (Oracle) based ATS is particularly strict on parsing.
– The Wandering Dev Manager
9 hours ago
4
Automated resume screening is the work of the devil. It de-humanizes the whole job application process ...
– Time4Tea
6 hours ago
4
This answer is written as if there were some universal way that these things always worked, but that isn't true, or not with this level of extreme specificity. I'm involved in hiring with a large organization (a community college district with a few thousand employees), and most of what you're depicting is not actually what we do. In particular, we end up seeing a bitmapped image of the person's resume and job letter, not a parsed version that's been translated into plain text.
– Ben Crowell
4 hours ago
|
show 3 more comments
1
I have never been a hiring manager indeed :) I was using the markup system myself, generating a beautiful PDF and one day I was asked for a Word doc by a recruiter, so guess what went out the window. But I have a question - so far every company I've worked at has actual people looking at the crap pile, which suggests ATS is far from ubiquitous. Would auto-generating a PDF with Pandoc, for example, cause the ATS to crap out?
– rath
10 hours ago
1
Even when people look at it, the ATS will have tried to parse it. If you apply online you go through an ATS, often a recruiter will still upload into the ATS. The main problem is positional formatting, joined bits of text can seem to be completely unconnected due to formatting, and will you will then fail it's matching. Remember also you will likely not be told this is why you failed. If they can parse it the likelihood is you will quickly either move to being in play or rejected. If the resume just sits there, likely it's been flagged as unparseable, and will never be seen by a human.
– The Wandering Dev Manager
9 hours ago
2
One of the things that helped my view was as a candidate. I was applying for a role I really wanted and the application just sat there. I had been thinking about redoing my resume format as it was from when I worked in consultancy and it used lots of hidden tables for a nice look. I cleaned it right down to simplest, then updated the file in the ATS (same content just plain format). 10 mins later had an HR person emailing asking for a call, had sat there for several weeks. Taleo (Oracle) based ATS is particularly strict on parsing.
– The Wandering Dev Manager
9 hours ago
4
Automated resume screening is the work of the devil. It de-humanizes the whole job application process ...
– Time4Tea
6 hours ago
4
This answer is written as if there were some universal way that these things always worked, but that isn't true, or not with this level of extreme specificity. I'm involved in hiring with a large organization (a community college district with a few thousand employees), and most of what you're depicting is not actually what we do. In particular, we end up seeing a bitmapped image of the person's resume and job letter, not a parsed version that's been translated into plain text.
– Ben Crowell
4 hours ago
1
1
I have never been a hiring manager indeed :) I was using the markup system myself, generating a beautiful PDF and one day I was asked for a Word doc by a recruiter, so guess what went out the window. But I have a question - so far every company I've worked at has actual people looking at the crap pile, which suggests ATS is far from ubiquitous. Would auto-generating a PDF with Pandoc, for example, cause the ATS to crap out?
– rath
10 hours ago
I have never been a hiring manager indeed :) I was using the markup system myself, generating a beautiful PDF and one day I was asked for a Word doc by a recruiter, so guess what went out the window. But I have a question - so far every company I've worked at has actual people looking at the crap pile, which suggests ATS is far from ubiquitous. Would auto-generating a PDF with Pandoc, for example, cause the ATS to crap out?
– rath
10 hours ago
1
1
Even when people look at it, the ATS will have tried to parse it. If you apply online you go through an ATS, often a recruiter will still upload into the ATS. The main problem is positional formatting, joined bits of text can seem to be completely unconnected due to formatting, and will you will then fail it's matching. Remember also you will likely not be told this is why you failed. If they can parse it the likelihood is you will quickly either move to being in play or rejected. If the resume just sits there, likely it's been flagged as unparseable, and will never be seen by a human.
– The Wandering Dev Manager
9 hours ago
Even when people look at it, the ATS will have tried to parse it. If you apply online you go through an ATS, often a recruiter will still upload into the ATS. The main problem is positional formatting, joined bits of text can seem to be completely unconnected due to formatting, and will you will then fail it's matching. Remember also you will likely not be told this is why you failed. If they can parse it the likelihood is you will quickly either move to being in play or rejected. If the resume just sits there, likely it's been flagged as unparseable, and will never be seen by a human.
– The Wandering Dev Manager
9 hours ago
2
2
One of the things that helped my view was as a candidate. I was applying for a role I really wanted and the application just sat there. I had been thinking about redoing my resume format as it was from when I worked in consultancy and it used lots of hidden tables for a nice look. I cleaned it right down to simplest, then updated the file in the ATS (same content just plain format). 10 mins later had an HR person emailing asking for a call, had sat there for several weeks. Taleo (Oracle) based ATS is particularly strict on parsing.
– The Wandering Dev Manager
9 hours ago
One of the things that helped my view was as a candidate. I was applying for a role I really wanted and the application just sat there. I had been thinking about redoing my resume format as it was from when I worked in consultancy and it used lots of hidden tables for a nice look. I cleaned it right down to simplest, then updated the file in the ATS (same content just plain format). 10 mins later had an HR person emailing asking for a call, had sat there for several weeks. Taleo (Oracle) based ATS is particularly strict on parsing.
– The Wandering Dev Manager
9 hours ago
4
4
Automated resume screening is the work of the devil. It de-humanizes the whole job application process ...
– Time4Tea
6 hours ago
Automated resume screening is the work of the devil. It de-humanizes the whole job application process ...
– Time4Tea
6 hours ago
4
4
This answer is written as if there were some universal way that these things always worked, but that isn't true, or not with this level of extreme specificity. I'm involved in hiring with a large organization (a community college district with a few thousand employees), and most of what you're depicting is not actually what we do. In particular, we end up seeing a bitmapped image of the person's resume and job letter, not a parsed version that's been translated into plain text.
– Ben Crowell
4 hours ago
This answer is written as if there were some universal way that these things always worked, but that isn't true, or not with this level of extreme specificity. I'm involved in hiring with a large organization (a community college district with a few thousand employees), and most of what you're depicting is not actually what we do. In particular, we end up seeing a bitmapped image of the person's resume and job letter, not a parsed version that's been translated into plain text.
– Ben Crowell
4 hours ago
|
show 3 more comments
up vote
4
down vote
Having a text version of the CV/resume is a good idea. I don't use it to send to somebody but I do use it as part of the application process.
I have on some sites run into the situation where I have to copy the parts of the resume into their interface. Having a text version ready to go can help make that process quicker, and makes sure that the information still is readable when it has been cut and pasted into the text box.
I have found that doing this conversion on the whole resume makes it easier to make sure that I don't forget to account for some formatting that I might overlook if I am doing the conversion one paragraph at a time.
add a comment |
up vote
4
down vote
Having a text version of the CV/resume is a good idea. I don't use it to send to somebody but I do use it as part of the application process.
I have on some sites run into the situation where I have to copy the parts of the resume into their interface. Having a text version ready to go can help make that process quicker, and makes sure that the information still is readable when it has been cut and pasted into the text box.
I have found that doing this conversion on the whole resume makes it easier to make sure that I don't forget to account for some formatting that I might overlook if I am doing the conversion one paragraph at a time.
add a comment |
up vote
4
down vote
up vote
4
down vote
Having a text version of the CV/resume is a good idea. I don't use it to send to somebody but I do use it as part of the application process.
I have on some sites run into the situation where I have to copy the parts of the resume into their interface. Having a text version ready to go can help make that process quicker, and makes sure that the information still is readable when it has been cut and pasted into the text box.
I have found that doing this conversion on the whole resume makes it easier to make sure that I don't forget to account for some formatting that I might overlook if I am doing the conversion one paragraph at a time.
Having a text version of the CV/resume is a good idea. I don't use it to send to somebody but I do use it as part of the application process.
I have on some sites run into the situation where I have to copy the parts of the resume into their interface. Having a text version ready to go can help make that process quicker, and makes sure that the information still is readable when it has been cut and pasted into the text box.
I have found that doing this conversion on the whole resume makes it easier to make sure that I don't forget to account for some formatting that I might overlook if I am doing the conversion one paragraph at a time.
answered 9 hours ago
mhoran_psprep
42.7k566152
42.7k566152
add a comment |
add a comment |
up vote
0
down vote
No, in many places its the preferred form. I provide my resume in Word upon request, but my default is .txt, as its universal. Unless you're a graphics designer I don't want a colored, flashy, highly visualized resume- I'm just going to be scanning it anyway. In general if you feel you need to impress me with anything other than your skills/experience, it means those are lacking.
Unless you're a graphics designer I don't want a colored, flashy, highly visualized resume- I'm just going to be scanning it anyway. In general if you feel you need to impress me with anything other than your skills/experience, it means those are lacking. - Well said, this is exactly what I think every time someone suggests a fancy template.
– BasementJoe
5 hours ago
add a comment |
up vote
0
down vote
No, in many places its the preferred form. I provide my resume in Word upon request, but my default is .txt, as its universal. Unless you're a graphics designer I don't want a colored, flashy, highly visualized resume- I'm just going to be scanning it anyway. In general if you feel you need to impress me with anything other than your skills/experience, it means those are lacking.
Unless you're a graphics designer I don't want a colored, flashy, highly visualized resume- I'm just going to be scanning it anyway. In general if you feel you need to impress me with anything other than your skills/experience, it means those are lacking. - Well said, this is exactly what I think every time someone suggests a fancy template.
– BasementJoe
5 hours ago
add a comment |
up vote
0
down vote
up vote
0
down vote
No, in many places its the preferred form. I provide my resume in Word upon request, but my default is .txt, as its universal. Unless you're a graphics designer I don't want a colored, flashy, highly visualized resume- I'm just going to be scanning it anyway. In general if you feel you need to impress me with anything other than your skills/experience, it means those are lacking.
No, in many places its the preferred form. I provide my resume in Word upon request, but my default is .txt, as its universal. Unless you're a graphics designer I don't want a colored, flashy, highly visualized resume- I'm just going to be scanning it anyway. In general if you feel you need to impress me with anything other than your skills/experience, it means those are lacking.
answered 6 hours ago
Gabe Sechan
2,6161618
2,6161618
Unless you're a graphics designer I don't want a colored, flashy, highly visualized resume- I'm just going to be scanning it anyway. In general if you feel you need to impress me with anything other than your skills/experience, it means those are lacking. - Well said, this is exactly what I think every time someone suggests a fancy template.
– BasementJoe
5 hours ago
add a comment |
Unless you're a graphics designer I don't want a colored, flashy, highly visualized resume- I'm just going to be scanning it anyway. In general if you feel you need to impress me with anything other than your skills/experience, it means those are lacking. - Well said, this is exactly what I think every time someone suggests a fancy template.
– BasementJoe
5 hours ago
Unless you're a graphics designer I don't want a colored, flashy, highly visualized resume- I'm just going to be scanning it anyway. In general if you feel you need to impress me with anything other than your skills/experience, it means those are lacking. - Well said, this is exactly what I think every time someone suggests a fancy template.
– BasementJoe
5 hours ago
Unless you're a graphics designer I don't want a colored, flashy, highly visualized resume- I'm just going to be scanning it anyway. In general if you feel you need to impress me with anything other than your skills/experience, it means those are lacking. - Well said, this is exactly what I think every time someone suggests a fancy template.
– BasementJoe
5 hours ago
add a comment |
up vote
0
down vote
One option you might consider is using Markdown-formatted text files as your base. Markdown offers enough formatting tools for the job, and you can use convertors such as Pandoc at any moment to convert the file into PDF, MS Word, ODS, or another of many supported formats when necessary.
add a comment |
up vote
0
down vote
One option you might consider is using Markdown-formatted text files as your base. Markdown offers enough formatting tools for the job, and you can use convertors such as Pandoc at any moment to convert the file into PDF, MS Word, ODS, or another of many supported formats when necessary.
add a comment |
up vote
0
down vote
up vote
0
down vote
One option you might consider is using Markdown-formatted text files as your base. Markdown offers enough formatting tools for the job, and you can use convertors such as Pandoc at any moment to convert the file into PDF, MS Word, ODS, or another of many supported formats when necessary.
One option you might consider is using Markdown-formatted text files as your base. Markdown offers enough formatting tools for the job, and you can use convertors such as Pandoc at any moment to convert the file into PDF, MS Word, ODS, or another of many supported formats when necessary.
answered 6 hours ago
mustaccio
374111
374111
add a comment |
add a comment |
up vote
0
down vote
Not only is plaintext a wonderful idea, you might even consider structured data. My resume ended up very sharp looking formatted as valid yaml. Imports very nicely into job application forms as well.
That said, I specifically created my resume to visually offend those I would not want to work with and attract those that I would. If you want to be a more attractive candidate, giving them what is commonly expected (docx and pdf) will cause less friction in recruiting pipelines and gain you a wider audience.
New contributor
That audience targeting is actually a good strategy if and only if you can get through the gatekeepers to the actual people you would be working with or for. For more expert roles and those found through connections vs. scraped off a site, that may well be the case enough of the time to make this viable.
– Chris Stratton
55 mins ago
add a comment |
up vote
0
down vote
Not only is plaintext a wonderful idea, you might even consider structured data. My resume ended up very sharp looking formatted as valid yaml. Imports very nicely into job application forms as well.
That said, I specifically created my resume to visually offend those I would not want to work with and attract those that I would. If you want to be a more attractive candidate, giving them what is commonly expected (docx and pdf) will cause less friction in recruiting pipelines and gain you a wider audience.
New contributor
That audience targeting is actually a good strategy if and only if you can get through the gatekeepers to the actual people you would be working with or for. For more expert roles and those found through connections vs. scraped off a site, that may well be the case enough of the time to make this viable.
– Chris Stratton
55 mins ago
add a comment |
up vote
0
down vote
up vote
0
down vote
Not only is plaintext a wonderful idea, you might even consider structured data. My resume ended up very sharp looking formatted as valid yaml. Imports very nicely into job application forms as well.
That said, I specifically created my resume to visually offend those I would not want to work with and attract those that I would. If you want to be a more attractive candidate, giving them what is commonly expected (docx and pdf) will cause less friction in recruiting pipelines and gain you a wider audience.
New contributor
Not only is plaintext a wonderful idea, you might even consider structured data. My resume ended up very sharp looking formatted as valid yaml. Imports very nicely into job application forms as well.
That said, I specifically created my resume to visually offend those I would not want to work with and attract those that I would. If you want to be a more attractive candidate, giving them what is commonly expected (docx and pdf) will cause less friction in recruiting pipelines and gain you a wider audience.
New contributor
New contributor
answered 3 hours ago
silver
91
91
New contributor
New contributor
That audience targeting is actually a good strategy if and only if you can get through the gatekeepers to the actual people you would be working with or for. For more expert roles and those found through connections vs. scraped off a site, that may well be the case enough of the time to make this viable.
– Chris Stratton
55 mins ago
add a comment |
That audience targeting is actually a good strategy if and only if you can get through the gatekeepers to the actual people you would be working with or for. For more expert roles and those found through connections vs. scraped off a site, that may well be the case enough of the time to make this viable.
– Chris Stratton
55 mins ago
That audience targeting is actually a good strategy if and only if you can get through the gatekeepers to the actual people you would be working with or for. For more expert roles and those found through connections vs. scraped off a site, that may well be the case enough of the time to make this viable.
– Chris Stratton
55 mins ago
That audience targeting is actually a good strategy if and only if you can get through the gatekeepers to the actual people you would be working with or for. For more expert roles and those found through connections vs. scraped off a site, that may well be the case enough of the time to make this viable.
– Chris Stratton
55 mins ago
add a comment |
up vote
-1
down vote
Text is perfectly acceptable, if not terribly secure. It needs to be clean.
There is a reason we use text for an RFC.
Unless they ask for a specific format, UUENCODEd Multimate or such, text will set you apart from the candidates submitting a drinks menu.
If you want to go all the way, find a typewriter with a Centronics port.
Otherwise draft it in text and pay someone else to typeset it.
add a comment |
up vote
-1
down vote
Text is perfectly acceptable, if not terribly secure. It needs to be clean.
There is a reason we use text for an RFC.
Unless they ask for a specific format, UUENCODEd Multimate or such, text will set you apart from the candidates submitting a drinks menu.
If you want to go all the way, find a typewriter with a Centronics port.
Otherwise draft it in text and pay someone else to typeset it.
add a comment |
up vote
-1
down vote
up vote
-1
down vote
Text is perfectly acceptable, if not terribly secure. It needs to be clean.
There is a reason we use text for an RFC.
Unless they ask for a specific format, UUENCODEd Multimate or such, text will set you apart from the candidates submitting a drinks menu.
If you want to go all the way, find a typewriter with a Centronics port.
Otherwise draft it in text and pay someone else to typeset it.
Text is perfectly acceptable, if not terribly secure. It needs to be clean.
There is a reason we use text for an RFC.
Unless they ask for a specific format, UUENCODEd Multimate or such, text will set you apart from the candidates submitting a drinks menu.
If you want to go all the way, find a typewriter with a Centronics port.
Otherwise draft it in text and pay someone else to typeset it.
answered 1 hour ago
mckenzm
32715
32715
add a comment |
add a comment |
BasementJoe is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
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1
What program changes or abandons formats that often that it's an issue?! Word and LaTeX certainly don't, are you using something else? Personally I just have a Word based CV and usually export to PDF when necessary. I've never had an issue with the Word format changing so significantly it makes the file unreadable, and that's been over many years.
– berry120
11 hours ago
1
@berry120 - I use Libreoffice, it's free and open source, but open source projects can be abandoned. I have Office 2003, but I can covert to PDF with a 3rd party plugin (I don't know how safe and trustworthy those are). Lifeoffice does everything out of the box for me, but you never know
– BasementJoe
11 hours ago
2
@BasementJoe Regarding file format obsolescence, LibreOffice by default uses the OpenDocument suite of file formats. That's an ISO standard; specifically ISO/IEC 26300. That's not likely to disappear in a hurry.
– a CVn
8 hours ago
3
@BasementJoe, if they ask for a pdf, send a pdf. If they ask for a word doc, send a word doc. If they ask for plain text, send plain text. If they want a linkedIn url, send a linkedIn url. If they don't specify, use something that looks good in whatever they're going to view it from. In my opinion, pdf is a better choice if you're sending it to a person/hiring-manager and not a web-portal or recruiter.
– teego1967
8 hours ago
1
Possible duplicate of What digital format to send resume/cover letter in?
– Dukeling
5 hours ago