If you provide your CV as an editable word editor document instead of a PDF then there’s no way you’re making it to the interview round if I’m the AI assigned to screen your application.
So many times in my early career, recruiters specified that my resume had to be in .doc rather than .pdf. One of them even said that it was so they could remove any identifying factors before sending it to their clients.
I wish I’d been canny enough to recognize that as a red flag.
edit: I’ve since written a script to generate a pdf resume from a yaml file. Good luck with that, recruiters!
3rd party recruiters do this to try and lure clients (organizations that are hiring) in. They also do it to pretend you already work at the consulting firm (if the recruiter is for the consulting firm) and other shady stuff.
You are probably better off not working with someone who is editing your resume.
Higher quality 3rd party recruiters don’t do this stuff.
This is my first step of weeding out candidates. The software we used would render the PDF for a first pass, but if it had a .doc, then you’d have to download it, and open it on your machine. I tried to convince the HR department to disable .doc uploads for security risks but I guess it was a global setting and would have applied to sales hires too.
Internally, PDF is such a shit format that it is more likely to cause your computer to go thermonuclear and destroy your entire neighborhood than it is to survive even the most minor edit. And that’s even if you choose to pay Adobe for their craptastic editor.
If you provide your CV as an editable word editor document instead of a PDF then there’s no way you’re making it to the interview round if I’m the AI assigned to screen your application.
So many times in my early career, recruiters specified that my resume had to be in .doc rather than .pdf. One of them even said that it was so they could remove any identifying factors before sending it to their clients.
I wish I’d been canny enough to recognize that as a red flag.
edit: I’ve since written a script to generate a pdf resume from a yaml file. Good luck with that, recruiters!
3rd party recruiters do this to try and lure clients (organizations that are hiring) in. They also do it to pretend you already work at the consulting firm (if the recruiter is for the consulting firm) and other shady stuff.
You are probably better off not working with someone who is editing your resume.
Higher quality 3rd party recruiters don’t do this stuff.
It’s bests to stick with pdfs
Oh, I know.
Now.
But how do I render my LaTeX to a word document?
Print out the LaTeX
Scan the printed file back in and save as a PDF
Export the PDF to a .png
Import the .png to Word
???
Profit
that script sounds hot…
I had it stored on a git VM I’ve long since deleted, but it wasn’t complex. If you’re genuinely interested, I would be happy to collaborate with you.
This is my first step of weeding out candidates. The software we used would render the PDF for a first pass, but if it had a .doc, then you’d have to download it, and open it on your machine. I tried to convince the HR department to disable .doc uploads for security risks but I guess it was a global setting and would have applied to sales hires too.
…you think PDF files can’t be edited? 🤓
Internally, PDF is such a shit format that it is more likely to cause your computer to go thermonuclear and destroy your entire neighborhood than it is to survive even the most minor edit. And that’s even if you choose to pay Adobe for their craptastic editor.
I hear the message.
Next time I refrain from making tongue-in-cheek comments or try different emojis 🫡
I don’t care if it’s edited, it’s the presentation.