Should CV's be in PDF or docx or...what?

pdf is the only way to do it, we get loads of cvs sent into the office and the word documents don't even get opened as we also get spam messages with .doc files attached.
 
What are you guys using to create PDFs?

I write my CV in Word, then I use PDFill. It's a printer driver as it shows up under printers, but of course instead of a hard copy, you get a save-as file dialogue and saves it to PDF. Was using it when I was last on the dole, so 6 years ago.
 
Pawnless Endgame said:
What are you guys using to create PDFs?

I write my CV in Word, then I use PDFill. It's a printer driver as it shows up under printers, but of course instead of a hard copy, you get a save-as file dialogue and saves it to PDF. Was using it when I was last on the dole, so 6 years ago.
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File > Save As > PDF

It's built into Word now, has been for a while.
 
Stretch said:
They do it so they can remove personal details from the CV, and they've also been known to "doctor" CV to BS people into an interview. This is especially common in IT.

I hate agents.
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I have interviewed about 50 people in the last year and every single CV was doctored by the recruiter to add skills they didn't have.

PDF, always.
 
PDF no question.

i know people who have not considered applicants because their cv was in word and so didn't appear properly formatted when a different person viewed it - its amateurish.
 
What others haven't mentioned is that a word document can appear to look completely fine on your computer but a complete mess on another, depending on which version of Office the viewer is using.

I like to save my CV as an RTF file so that any version of Microsoft Word can open it then print that to PDF (using Foxit Reader's printer feature). I'll only send out the PDF because it will look exactly the same on every computer but if a company/recruiter requires a word file then I'll send the RTF.
 
dowie said:
If applying direct to an employer then either

if using a recruiter then I'd try and get away with pdf to begin with - recruiters have a habit for trying to change things on CVs so word docs aren't ideal
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This.

Our recruitment agency started sending their own renditions of applicants C.V's. We ended up asking for the originals, low and behold they were massively different!
 
toshj said:
I have, however, come across a fake CV sent out by a firm in order to obtain leads. Again, I thought this was just a myth, but the CV hit my inbox and was far too impressive for the candidate's seniority, and when we ran a scan of our database it turned out the deceitful firm had lifted loads of info from a specific candidate's old CV. :(
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I've been sent my own CV before.

That was an interesting conversation with the agent and then a very quick one with procurement and HR to remove them from the PSL.
 
Always take a copy of your own CV to an interview, or if it's a phone interview do not be ashamed to say something if a recruiter added something in.
 
Clearly they should be PDFs from LaTeX! Mine are. Drives me nuts when a recruitment drone asks for them in .docx…
 
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