Uploading CV to jobsites; pdf or word?

[BrotherMouzone]

I understand that some recruiters would carry out ‘key words search’ on CVs uploaded to various jobsites to look for suitable candidates.

I’m setting up my profile on a few sites; is it ok for me to upload my CV in pdf format (rather than word)? Would that harm my chances to be ‘found’? Or does it not matter?

Thank you. (I’m new to all this!)

[STW2010]

PDF all the way. It will not affect you, and it is harder (but far from impossible) to modify.

Don't include contact details other than an email address though. The last thing you want is for the world to know your name, where you live and your phone number!

[davepoth]

PDF is better. I've seen some agencies butcher my CV and it's not pretty.

[BrotherMouzone]

Thanks everyone; pdf it is.

As mentioned it’s still fairly easy for someone to modify it but let me not make it too easy for them.

STW2010 said:

PDF all the way. It will not affect you, and it is harder (but far from impossible) to modify.

Don't include contact details other than an email address though. The last thing you want is for the world to know your name, where you live and your phone number!

Good point RE: address and phone number, thanks!

[shouldbworking]

Expect phone calls from recruiters asking you to send it to them in word. What? so we can modify it? noooo its just um. for our records. Maybe.

[Hoofy]

Two questions:
1) Anyone ever actually got a job directly as a result of posting their CV for all to see? (As opposed to applying for a job and selecting to "send" a previously uploaded CV.)
2) Why would a recruitment agent modify your CV?

[jesta1865]

Hoofy said:

Two questions:
1) Anyone ever actually got a job directly as a result of posting their CV for all to see? (As opposed to applying for a job and selecting to "send" a previously uploaded CV.)
2) Why would a recruitment agent modify your CV?

on the 2nd point i have been asked to re-write portions of mine in the past to highlight a particular skill set etc, so they may do that for you.

[aero93]

They may also want to remove any contact information so that they can not be cut out of the loop.

[The Beaver King]

Hoofy said:

Two questions:
1) Anyone ever actually got a job directly as a result of posting their CV for all to see? (As opposed to applying for a job and selecting to "send" a previously uploaded CV.)

My missus uploaded her CV to every job website going and secured employment within 3 months (5 interviews, 2 second interviews). That said, the process seems to be that you upload your CV, a recruiter finds it and then puts you forward for about 10 jobs. I don't think I've ever heard of anyone getting a job directly from having their CV online (which I think was your original question).

[P-Jay]

Hoofy said:

Two questions:
1) Anyone ever actually got a job directly as a result of posting their CV for all to see? (As opposed to applying for a job and selecting to "send" a previously uploaded CV.)
2) Why would a recruitment agent modify your CV?

1) No, but I've had endless e-mails and calls from people offering to professionally write me a CV, sell me useless courses from training firms who hand out meaningless certificates to everyone whose cheque clears and is there on the last day or ask me to apply for 'Jobs' which are really 'self-employed opportunities' the opportunity seems to be one where you can give someone a lump of money in return for a vague promise of future lucrative work selling crap in shopping centres.

2) Being a Recruitment Consultant is largely a sales job, they're only paid when they place a candidate with someone - they only care about two things firstly securing roles from the employers and sending them good looking CV's for candidates. They don't give a crap about the Candidates at the moment because it's a buyers market. I've seen first hand CV's which has been amended to add skills or embellish certain aspects, and the poor Candidate fall to pieces when I've asked them about it because they haven't got a clue what your talking about - when asked the Consultants act all surprised and claim the candidate lied on their CV - I'm sure that goes on, in the name of "getting a foot in the door" but I'm equally sure the consultants have done the dirty just to get a few more decent looking CV's across.

[Hoofy]

1) Your answers are pretty much what I thought.
2) I understand, but it'd be nice, then, if they actually worked with the candidate!

[New POD]

Hoofy said:

Two questions:
1) Anyone ever actually got a job directly as a result of posting their CV for all to see? (As opposed to applying for a job and selecting to "send" a previously uploaded CV.)
2) Why would a recruitment agent modify your CV?

1) I've been approached by numerous RC's based on my posted CV, or even linked in profile, some had real jobs, and some were fishing. In those cases I thought the job sounded interesting, I got them to send me a job spec, and changed my CV to suit the spec. As a freelance contractor, this has got me one 6 month assignment in the last 4 years.

2) They like to remove contact details, but I always take a copy of the original to the interview and give it to the hiring manager, so he's got it anyway.

[petop]

I uploaded mine in Word. Half the companies I sent it though had a system that would try and "read" it and convert into their format which tended to mean I had to manually do it.
I have had both UK job offers and abroad ones purely from posting my CV online on the usual Oil and Gas websites. It's been my CV that has caught employers/RC eyes. Amongst the few a Supervisor at Buncefield and and Terminal Manager on UK pipeline. In the end though I'm off to Afghan for 6 figures without even applying for job but having CV spotted on CV-Library website.

[Hoofy]

petop said:

I'm off to Afghan for 6 figures without even applying for job

Good luck! I hear a private security guy got caught in a bomb yesterday.

[P-Jay]

Hoofy said:

1) Your answers are pretty much what I thought.
2) I understand, but it'd be nice, then, if they actually worked with the candidate!

I guess I was only unemployed for 10 days so it's probably not a great test.

In regards to the Agencies, some are better than others of course, I've found the smaller they are the better.

But the whole game has changed completely since the last time I was really looking in the early 2000's back then you could drop in an pretty much any high street agency, fill in a few forms, submit your CV and they'd have interviews for you pretty much immediately, even arranged for a few weeks of basic temp work to tide me over. How the world has changed.

[petop]

Hoofy said:

petop said:

I'm off to Afghan for 6 figures without even applying for job

Good luck! I hear a private security guy got caught in a bomb yesterday.

Thanks but its not PSC work, prefer this time (4th time out there) to stay safe and not go outside the wire unless its in a helicopter!
Its a lot of money due to nature of the work on behalf of NATO contracting to outside agencies.

[FraserLFA]

shouldbworking said:

Expect phone calls from recruiters asking you to send it to them in word. What? so we can modify it? noooo its just um. for our records. Maybe.

I used to work in recruitment so would like to clarify this a bit. Recruiters and HR departments of larger companies like CV's in word format so it can be imported in to various bits of software that speed up searches and generally help organise employee records. PDF's can't be imported and i've known companies in the past to reject candidates purely because their CV couldn't be imported.

We used to ask people to modify CV's if it didn't put across their skills very well. We'd always try to help them with it as much as possible but most companies can tell when a recruiter has done it and so on the whole, we keep clear.

This being said, I know not all agencies are the same and some will tamper with a CV to entice companies to use them for their "higher quality candidates"

So that being said, I'd always say upload a CV in word.

[fido]

Always used Word (work in Financial Services) myself. Editing has never been a serious issue for me, but perhaps in certain industries you might prefer PDF.

[98elise]

Hoofy said:

Two questions:
1) Anyone ever actually got a job directly as a result of posting their CV for all to see? (As opposed to applying for a job and selecting to "send" a previously uploaded CV.)
2) Why would a recruitment agent modify your CV?

1. Yes, my first Ltd co contract came from an agent e-mailing me the job, after seeing my CV on jobserve. I get a couple of contacts per month from people that have seen my CV on line. Some are wide of the mark, but some are pretty close to what I do.

2. So they can make it fit a clients brief. You may find you are being interviewed for a job that doesn't suit you though. A good agent will speak to you, and get you to modify it yourself for a specific job. Thats how I got my current role, I have the experience, but it needed to be tweaked use the same language as the client.