[imdsm]

> "Don't try anything cute. You resume should be devoid of personality."

I have to disagree. I got my current job because my resume stood out. It was the only one not written in MS word. The other candidates had equal if not greater experience than me, but I got the job before they even got a response.

If you're going for a programming position where you're not expected to be different, then sure, but if you're going for a development role where you may be full stack, or expected to be different, make sure your resume shows that.

Sell yourself in the 10 seconds you get. A school boy resume isn't going to do that.

And as mh_yam says, don't call yourself a programmer.

[mh_yam]

Agreed. My (LaTeX) resume that I spend many hours refining has caught the attention of many hiring managers, and I often get compliments on it. Curse those recruiters who reformat my resume into their shitty Word templates. I've had times where a hiring manager would have the recruiter's version of the resume, and when I handed them my pretty resume they were pleasantly surprised.

[MetaCosm]

The recruiters do that because lots of HR departments are explicit: docx or deleted.

Once you get through the screen, you can show them your fancy resume, but at that point, no one cares about your resume -- you already caught their attention and it is interview / references time.

[mh_yam]

Haha. If a company doesn't want to hire me because my resume is not in .docx format, I probably don't want to be working there anyway!

[MetaCosm]

That is one way to look at it -- a rather unproductive one, but you are welcome to it. Lots of great teams work at large companies and have no control over the first pass of resumes.

The reasons are often somewhat complex. Their application tracking software only supports word. Their IT department has sent word from atop the mountain to only accept .docx because it works with their AV and a bad virus got into the company via PDF last year.

It isn't the people you are going to be working with that are the problem, it is the people who defend the outer ring of large companies -- IT and HR departments.

[imdsm]

As mh_yam said, if they're only accepting .docx, and if someone else controls the first stage of the recruitment process, then maybe these aren't the right companies for some people.

Larger companies may do this, and if you like larger companies, this is probably ok. Not for me.

[imdsm]

Though I have to say it isn't unproductive. Unless you're unemployed. But if you're employed and you're wanted by numerous companies, what is unproductive about picking the right one?

[danielweber]

Job candidates have a zillion "well if they don't want to work with me I don't want to work there" rules.

But companies also have a zillion "well if they don't want to work with me I don't want them working here" rules.

Listen, sometimes in the real world you have to do something a little unpleasant every now and then. Candidates should bend a little to employers, and employers should bend a little for candidates.

[imdsm]

This only applies when you're in a position where if you don't get the job, it's a bad thing. But when you get to a certain point, getting a job is easy. It's getting the right job which is hard.

[j2kun]

If you judge a company based on its hiring team's practices, you'll probably rule out a lot of great companies.

[imdsm]

If you call them and let them know they're not accepting your format of resume, ask them if you can send a physical version, and get a negative response, then it's the companies loss, surely.

[philjr]

Typically, the reason that happens with external recruiters (i.e. those folks who are not employed directly for the company you're talking to), is because the initial engagement is often "anonymized" with the employer.

As a result, they'll take your CV, remove all identifiable information and send it on

[dllthomas]

I wonder if you could hack this by providing a pretty anonymized version as well.

[MetaCosm]

I have to disagree with your disagree! Many (most) jobs go through a pre-screen. The project manager is far too busy to filter all the crap, HR does that. HR sees a unfamiliar format, and simply bins that resume.

If they specifically allow other formats, or request a specific format, use it. But, in the case that they don't specify -- go with the most common format in the industry, anything else is nuts.

Additionally, if the primary filter on talent is .docx versus .pdf (or .txt or even .tex) -- it is a place so stupid you probably don't want to work there anyway.

[imdsm]

I have to agree with your disagree but point something out also.

> HR sees a unfamiliar format, and simply bins that resume.

When they bin the good resumes, they bin the good candidates, which means the chances of the current employees not being particularly good is higher. This would make me think twice about working for a company that says no to the better candidate because HR found their job too difficult.

[eshvk]

I suspect that there is a wide variance between didn't write the resume in MS Word while still making it respectable and added say animated GIFs/cat video.

[imdsm]

Animated GIFs/cat video?

[zimbatm]

I think it depends if the CV is meant for HR or for the actual person who's going to hire you. HR just use them as a filtering mechanism and will get bothered if you're making their lives more difficult.

In either case the introduction letter is probably the best place to show why you're special and a good fit for the company.