[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?