Why Recruiters Ask You for a Word Document Rather than a PDF or Other Version of Your Resume
For some Digital roles it is appropriate but generally, recruiters need to be able to Reformat Resumes, for these reasons:
- To remove your contact details from the IT job application. It is a long-held paranoia that if we as recruiters send your resume with contact details, the client will call you directly and cut us out of the loop. Believe it or not, this happens. Yes, client’s claim you are already in the database, applied directly already, or in a Linkedin network and cut us out of the loop. FACT – It happens. I choose the term loosely when I refer to them as “Clients” – If a recruiter does not have a good relationship with a “Client” the Clients can be devious in their activity. Good Recruiters with Good Client Relationships should not fear this behaviour.
- Often Recruitment Organisations have set templates and a formatting style for sending resumes to prospective clients and existing clients. Note the distinction between the two.
- A good recruiter will read your resume and give you feedback on your resume format in terms of the style, layout, experience, and other key information that might be missing and will usually have a key insight into what the client is looking for and how to present it. This is just some of the benefits of having a good recruiter – that’s The Winning Resume Formula that will secure you interviews.
- Your resume is “Your Sales Pitch” to a prospective employer, often filtered by recruiters. The Good recruiters will consult with you to give you the best opportunity to be presented to the client and often your resume will form the basis of your Executive Summary.
- Some resumes are just simply terrible and need work. As part of recruiting solutions, a good recruiter will be able to see the essence of what you are trying to write and call you to discuss some changes and suggestions that can be put into the document and sent back to you for editing.
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