3 ms·

"Hi. Thanks for applying. Sorry I can't seem to open your CV. Could you please resend it to me in MS Word?"

golergka 12y ago
"You couldn't open PDF file?"
bennyg 12y ago
Almost everyone except for shitty recruiters take it in PDF. And that's because the recruiters want to fix things and add their own letter-head to it. Don't do that.
- Numberwang 12y ago
  In Europe 90% of all companies and recruiters will demand a .doc file. You either accept this and do your CV in Gdoc or remain unemployed. Your choice.
  - arrrg 12y ago
    You sure about that? PDFs were never a problem for me, to the point of being explicitly encouraged.
  - symmetricsaurus 12y ago
    Europe is not on homogenous region. When applying for jobs in Sweden I have not had any problems using a PDF.
    - Numberwang 12y ago
      Well I'm Swedish and have also worked in Ireland and the UK, and have had more or less the same experience everywhere.
  - sinkasapa 12y ago
    As a general rule of thumb can we all just agree that 90% of all human organizations -- at the very least -- are mediocre? A good resume should be part of escaping these types of places and living a more successful happy life! :-)
- vonmoltke 12y ago
  Qualcomm takes .doc, .docx, and .txt only. ARM and National Instruments are the same, though they also take .rtf. It depends on what software the company uses; ARM and NI use the same software, so I presume any other company that uses it has the same restrictions.
- thyrsus 12y ago
  When I interviewed at my current employer, I had sent them a PDF of my TeX resume, but the monstrosity they were carrying around looked as if they'd OCR'd the PDF and copy/pasted that into Word. The only line breaks that survived were between the major headings. Lesson: always bring lots of copies of your resume to the interview: I thought ten was sufficient, and I was almost wrong. Also: the tech skill of HR has nothing to do with the tech skill of engineers in a medium-to-large business.
seanmcdirmid 12y ago
PDF is a filter to keep away all the clueless employers (or the ones that let HR go too far).
- yaddayadda 12y ago
  I have learned the hard way that clueless employers should be avoided.
dgesang 12y ago
Who would want to work at a company that can't open a PDF file?
sinkasapa 12y ago
That is funny. I once had someone tell me that. I told them I didn't want to work for a software company that couldn't figure out how to open a PDF document. They called me for an interview anyway, which I declined. It seemed like a really bad sign to me. I feel like the whole job search dance is about finding the right fit, not just doing whatever it takes to shoehorn oneself through the door. MS Word only is a huge red flag. I feel like it sends a strong message as to what the culture is like at the company. On the other hand, troff only and I would be curious. I'd at least want to look at the people who made that request.
dctoedt 12y ago
I've heard that some contingency-fee outside recruiters want resumes in an editable MS Word document: They want to shop the resume around, sans the candidate's name, to potential employers. Don't know how true that is.

"You couldn't open PDF file?"

Almost everyone except for shitty recruiters take it in PDF. And that's because the recruiters want to fix things and add their own letter-head to it. Don't do that.

Numberwang 12y ago
In Europe 90% of all companies and recruiters will demand a .doc file. You either accept this and do your CV in Gdoc or remain unemployed. Your choice.
- arrrg 12y ago
  You sure about that? PDFs were never a problem for me, to the point of being explicitly encouraged.
- symmetricsaurus 12y ago
  Europe is not on homogenous region. When applying for jobs in Sweden I have not had any problems using a PDF.
  - Numberwang 12y ago
    Well I'm Swedish and have also worked in Ireland and the UK, and have had more or less the same experience everywhere.
- sinkasapa 12y ago
  As a general rule of thumb can we all just agree that 90% of all human organizations -- at the very least -- are mediocre? A good resume should be part of escaping these types of places and living a more successful happy life! :-)
vonmoltke 12y ago
Qualcomm takes .doc, .docx, and .txt only. ARM and National Instruments are the same, though they also take .rtf. It depends on what software the company uses; ARM and NI use the same software, so I presume any other company that uses it has the same restrictions.
thyrsus 12y ago
When I interviewed at my current employer, I had sent them a PDF of my TeX resume, but the monstrosity they were carrying around looked as if they'd OCR'd the PDF and copy/pasted that into Word. The only line breaks that survived were between the major headings. Lesson: always bring lots of copies of your resume to the interview: I thought ten was sufficient, and I was almost wrong. Also: the tech skill of HR has nothing to do with the tech skill of engineers in a medium-to-large business.

seanmcdirmid 12y ago

PDF is a filter to keep away all the clueless employers (or the ones that let HR go too far).

yaddayadda 12y ago
I have learned the hard way that clueless employers should be avoided.

dgesang 12y ago

Who would want to work at a company that can't open a PDF file?

sinkasapa 12y ago

That is funny. I once had someone tell me that. I told them I didn't want to work for a software company that couldn't figure out how to open a PDF document. They called me for an interview anyway, which I declined. It seemed like a really bad sign to me. I feel like the whole job search dance is about finding the right fit, not just doing whatever it takes to shoehorn oneself through the door. MS Word only is a huge red flag. I feel like it sends a strong message as to what the culture is like at the company. On the other hand, troff only and I would be curious. I'd at least want to look at the people who made that request.

dctoedt 12y ago

I've heard that some contingency-fee outside recruiters want resumes in an editable MS Word document: They want to shop the resume around, sans the candidate's name, to potential employers. Don't know how true that is.