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What do you do when you are asked for an editable (MS Word) version of your MT style resume?
In working with a recruiter recently for a position, they asked me for a MS Word version of my resume. My resume is as close to MT recommendations as possible, and the formatting is very critical to get it down to a single page, thus I always send it out as a PDF document as that will retain my formatting. To his request I asked why and the recruiter claims that they paste it all into one MS Word doc package to send to the client and that PDFs get too scrunched down to read.
Here of course is what ends up happening when you give the recruiter the Word format doc of your MT resume: they paste the content in and totally screw up the formatting. I of course often see the resume the client gets at the interview and my very carefully formatted MT resume is turns into a 4+ page nightmare with 18pt fonts, extra headers, rearranged sections and the like. And that's the good version… in one very extreme case I actually saw that they had _rewritten_ some of my text, melding my achievements into the job description and actually introducing spelling and grammar errors that were not in my original!
I'd love to see Mark's opinion on this sort of thing…
Anyway, I generally see this as fairly negative. Both because I know what's going to happen and how it turns out and because it shows me they care more about their efficiency than effectiveness. Of course, what do they care: they don't care if YOU get the job, they only care that one of their candidates gets it so they get paid.
I of course always give them a Word version, but it makes me grit my teeth every time. I often just write off that job at that point, because I'm not likely to get a call back at that point.
What is your opinion and how do you handle this stuff?
A few thoughts:If you
A few thoughts:
Read John Lucht's "Rites of Passage" book and listen to the recruiter interviews and podcasts that Mike & Mark did. Great information about dealing with recruiters.
Good luck!
Consider creating a plain text version
Last time I was on the job hunt (3 years ago), some companies wanted applicants to paste their resume into a website window.
For these, I designed a simple text version of my resume that didn't use any special characters or formatting. While it was not a visually appealing as the pdf version, it was functional and laid out logically, my technical interviewer liked it (I did get the job). My view was that all applicants would have the same formatting restrictions, I needed to design my resume to make it as easy to read as possible.
systems
HR told me, when I mentioned that surely PDF is the format for resumes, that this might not be true. If they receive a resume in PDF format into their system it will not automatically read any of the content for contact details. It does do so for Words. This was the second time I heard this. Therefor there might be a simple system reason for asking for a Words version because client companies can “read” them better.
Could you take printed
Could you take printed copies of your resume with you to the interview. At least then they would see how it was supposed to look.
S
Headers
I've had recruiters add a header and maybe references if I've provided them; however, it's pretty clear what they added and what my resume is. What you are talking about is actually changing your resume. I would be very suspicious of that recruiter. I would echo mike_bruns_99's comments.
John
When most people print PDFs
When most people print PDFs they use the default settings. This shrinks the page, so your type may become somewhat smaller and harder to read than it is in your original document.
I've reworked my resume so that the margins are smaller and the type larger in MS Word than Manager Tools recommends. However, now when I create the PDF and print then it using default settings the hard copy is perfect. Not too big, not too small.
Word format
In my experience it is because the recruitment firm will need Word format for two reasons. The first is they use it to do key word searches for their database which assists them in matching candidates to jobs. The other reason is they will take your resume and remove your personal contact details and submit it to employers on their letterhead. This makes it clear who is representing you and where the resume came from and avoids direct contact with the candidates. Otherwise no other changes are made.
It is considered the norm in our marketplace.