Send CV in docx, doc, or PDF

Aptitude

I have been sending my CV in PDF as I like the format. With Acrobat pro you can put together great documents.

I stumbled upon some threads saying it is better to send it in doc. Very annoying, what do recruiters on here think?

I guess I will have to go back to send word documents if that is what is wanted

Thanks

Nody

Some recruiters want doc to remove your contact details (or editing your CV...); personally I'll always send in PDF unless asked differently to ensure it's showing up as intended.

Creamy Goodness

pdf, doc's are just a cluster****. what if the person doesn't own a windows machine, or worse doesn't have microsoft word? yes there are programs to download to help view the document but if they have to download anything then you're pooped.

Another advantage of pdf is that it will look the same on every machine, prints exactly as is on the pdf, with doc you can never be 100% sure unless they're using the same version as you.

Eoin

I used to be in the word format camp on this one, but not so much any more. Unfortunately most people probably still use Adobe Acrobat reader as their PDF reader, which is just ridiculously slow and bloated. FoxIT is a lovely lightweight reader from my experience, but I'd say it's not the default choice.

Obviously, the first thing to do is check to see do they specify a format. An agency will often ask for a Word doc as Nody has said.

That said, keep the format of a Word doc simple and you'll reduce the risk of differences in layout. I've compared mine in a few different versions of Word and OS and it's fine in all of them. It can still look very presentable without being unnecessarily formatted. Of course, the viewer will still get lots of wavy red lines for company names, keywords and the like which is annoying.

Basically - the important thing is to not irritate the person who is reviewing your CV.

matrim

A lot of recruiters want them because they have software to automatically scan and parse doc that doesn't work for pdf

Chattastrophe!

Always PDF, unless requested in a different format.

We received a CV recently in Notepad. From the quick glance I had, the person had great qualifications and experience ... but obviously it wasn't even going to be considered because of the format. Very odd!

Ray Palmer

PDF sounds great but the conversion process messes up formatting very easily so should be avoided. It makes it difficult to process by automatic systems too so most agencies ask for docx or doc. Docx being more universal makes it the better choice.

I would consider PDF as a requested format but the standard is really docx at this point. Considering PDF is not wanted by agencies and they deal with more people I'll trust them to have the experience with multiple sites and systems.

This would also be my own experience dealing with multiple organisation when sending documents about.

maxwell smart

Creamy Goodness wrote: »

pdf, doc's are just a cluster****. what if the person doesn't own a windows machine, or worse doesn't have microsoft word? yes there are programs to download to help view the document but if they have to download anything then you're pooped.

Another advantage of pdf is that it will look the same on every machine, prints exactly as is on the pdf, with doc you can never be 100% sure unless they're using the same version as you.

I would say the amount of businesses who are recruiting and who don't have MS Word are tiny.

I prefer people to send in their CV in .doc or .docx
Just think of it from a recruiters perspective, if someone is using XP or Win 7 (the majority of companies) when they click on your .pdf file it will launch adobe, which means that to save that file via a slightly different process from Word files. This is important to consider when they might get 500-1000 CV's in a week.
You need to make the person who is looking at your CV find it as easy as possible. That means a .doc file

Creamy Goodness

maxwell smart wrote: »

You need to make the person who is looking at your CV find it as easy as possible. That means a .doc file

in your field of work, i know if i sent a doc/docx to anyone in the tech industry i'd be shooting myself in the foot. it's all relative

maxwell smart

Creamy Goodness wrote: »

in your field of work, i know if i sent a doc/docx to anyone in the tech industry i'd be shooting myself in the foot. it's all relative

Depends on the size of the tech company. And what department you are sending it to.

But I take your point that some people would prefer a different format

draiochtanois

This post has been deleted.

Ray Palmer

Creamy Goodness wrote: »

in your field of work, i know if i sent a doc/docx to anyone in the tech industry i'd be shooting myself in the foot. it's all relative

What basis are you deciding that on? I work in the tech field and I have no idea what you are talking about. I can get work in a couple of days using a docx CV. Most companies ask for docx these days.

Creamy Goodness

Ray Palmer wrote: »

What basis are you deciding that on? I work in the tech field and I have no idea what you are talking about. I can get work in a couple of days using a docx CV. Most companies ask for docx these days.

any company I know I specifically whom I'm sending my CV too. They use macs/linux they don't use office and use a combination of apple pages/open office/google docs.

If I sent a docx to someone and they opened it in google docs there's a small chance that the layout may be screwed up. the risk is small but it's still there whereas pdf's just don't have the same risk involved and they can be opened by all machines without downloading extra software (except windows :pac:).

Ray Palmer

Creamy Goodness wrote: »

any company I know I specifically whom I'm sending my CV too. They use macs/linux they don't use office and use a combination of apple pages/open office/google docs.

If I sent a docx to someone and they opened it in google docs there's a small chance that the layout may be screwed up. the risk is small but it's still there whereas pdf's just don't have the same risk involved and they can be opened by all machines without downloading extra software (except windows :pac:).

Apple can open docx no problem hence it is actually universal and PDF still can't be used by data collation software used by recruitment agencies. Your call.

Bepolite

OMG TWO attachments to an e-mail - I'd hire you, just to fire you on the spot. Joking aside, attach both job done. If it specifies - do what ever it asks.

As for only sending PDFs there are still some people that can't open them, just as come people can't open docx files.

Eoin

I think people are making a slightly bigger deal out of this than necessary. I'd bet that the content, not the file type, of a CV will be the reason it hits the bin 99% of the time. That's what I'd concentrate on first.

April O Neill II

I often send both doc and PDF. They then have a choice.

whatnext

Posted this before.......
There are many reason why recruiters want a cv in word:
Easy to edit out contact details and brand it
Some clients insist in receiving cv's formatted in a particular layout
A number of job boards / websites are only compatible / configured for word. Any other format is delivered as a corrupted file.
A number of multi national organisations don't actually accept CV's from recruiters. The recruiter has to cut and paste various aspects of the cv into their "vendor management system"
Quite a large number of recruitment software packages are only searchable in word. The software will in some instances accept other formats but the information will be lost and unsearchable unless the recruiter remembers the applicants name.

To be honest as a recruiter it makes no difference to me.
But for those thinking they are protecting the format of their CV with pdf - I'll tell you its not always the case. If you send a CV to some of the multi-nationals based in Ireland on a pdf their tracking software will turn it into a text document, with all the information in a solid block of prose - no formatting at all. any sympols used in you document such as bullet points, %, -, &, etc will come out as a "?" symbol.
(forgive my lack of correct/technical terminology.)

Irish_Elect_Eng

whatnext wrote: »

Posted this before.......
There are many reason why recruiters want a cv in word:
Easy to edit out contact details and brand it
Some clients insist in receiving cv's formatted in a particular layout
A number of job boards / websites are only compatible / configured for word. Any other format is delivered as a corrupted file.
A number of multi national organisations don't actually accept CV's from recruiters. The recruiter has to cut and paste various aspects of the cv into their "vendor management system"
Quite a large number of recruitment software packages are only searchable in word. The software will in some instances accept other formats but the information will be lost and unsearchable unless the recruiter remembers the applicants name.

To be honest as a recruiter it makes no difference to me.
But for those thinking they are protecting the format of their CV with pdf - I'll tell you its not always the case. If you send a CV to some of the multi-nationals based in Ireland on a pdf their tracking software will turn it into a text document, with all the information in a solid block of prose - no formatting at all. any sympols used in you document such as bullet points, %, -, &, etc will come out as a "?" symbol.
(forgive my lack of correct/technical terminology.)

Yep, I've received some of those converted PDFs from HR :-)
Feel a bit sorry for the sender.