Best file type aside from PDF?

[Rebnatl]

Version: 2008 Operating System: Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) Processor: Intel What is the best file type to save a resume in when using Mac 2008 Word so that the file does not get altered in format when viewed from a Windows OS? I know PDF is ideal but not all job boards use PDF format files so I am trying to find out what is the next best file format to use so that a resume looks the same on any OS.

Thanks for any guidance on this topic.

 

[CyberTaz]

There really isn't one.

PDF is essentially a 'picture' of the document, not an editable text-based
file, which is why it "holds up" regardless of where it goes. If the resume
is only 1 page you might be able to use some other image format [such as
JPEG, PNG, TIFF] but it's unlikely that they will be acceptable if PDF
isn't.

 

[John_McGhie_[MVP]]

Use .doc format, and Calibri and Cambria as the fonts. That's as close as
you can get.

Not that the appearance of the resume is fairly irrelevant these days: most
job boards reduce the thing to plain text and parse it into a data base, so
the client never sees your actual resume.

If they won't take PDF, chances are that's because they always want to
prepare their own version and they will discard or wreck your formatting.

Cheers

Version: 2008 Operating System: Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) Processor: Intel
What is the best file type to save a resume in when using Mac 2008 Word so
that the file does not get altered in format when viewed from a Windows OS? I
know PDF is ideal but not all job boards use PDF format files so I am trying
to find out what is the next best file format to use so that a resume looks
the same on any OS.

Thanks for any guidance on this topic.

--

The email below is my business email -- Please do not email me about forum
matters unless I ask you to; or unless you intend to pay!

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP (Word, Mac Word), Consultant Technical Writer,
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
Sydney, Australia. | Ph: +61 (0)4 1209 1410 | mailto:[email protected]

 

[CyberTaz]

Just a footnote...

My exposure to 'job boards' has - fortunately - been very limited, but my
wife has been wanting to send out some feelers. I sent up a PDF to one for
her last night, fully expecting it to be rejected along with an admonishment
that some sort of text format must be used. That particular system took it
without a hitch, however. It parsed the data & presented it back in its own
structures for review & editing prior to final submission.

I was quite surprised.

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[Sharon88]

What is the best file type to save a resume in when using Mac 2008 Word so that the file does not get altered in format when viewed from a Windows OS? I know PDF is ideal but not all job boards use PDF format files so I am trying to find out what is the next best file format to use so that a resume looks the same on any OS.

>
> Thanks for any guidance on this topic.

I've used .doc or .rtf. I'm not sure which is the best, but they both seem to work at times.

 

[Yves Dhondt]

I wouldn't use Calibri as a font as there is a chance that the person
reading the resume is still on a Windows XP system with Word 2003 and does
not have that font. So unless you include the font, I would go for one of
the standard fonts: arial, times new roman, ...

With regards to layout, as a Word document tends to follow the local printer
settings for formatting, there isn't much you can do to guarantee the
layout. Your best option is to use correct formatting and not add extra
spaces or enters to make it look better.

Yves

 

[John_McGhie_[MVP]]

Hi Yves...

Calibri is fine on Word 2003/XP... It falls back to Arial, but nearly every
system has Calibri now because it was distributed with the Converter Pack
for XML and with Service Pack 2 for Office 2003.

But you're right: multiple spaces and "blank lines" are the kiss of death in
this game

Cheers

I wouldn't use Calibri as a font as there is a chance that the person
reading the resume is still on a Windows XP system with Word 2003 and does
not have that font. So unless you include the font, I would go for one of
the standard fonts: arial, times new roman, ...

With regards to layout, as a Word document tends to follow the local printer
settings for formatting, there isn't much you can do to guarantee the
layout. Your best option is to use correct formatting and not add extra
spaces or enters to make it look better.

Yves

--

The email below is my business email -- Please do not email me about forum
matters unless I ask you to; or unless you intend to pay!

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP (Word, Mac Word), Consultant Technical Writer,
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
Sydney, Australia. | Ph: +61 (0)4 1209 1410 | mailto:[email protected]

 

[Rebnatl]

Thank you to everyone who has provided guidance on my question. All helpful points to use.

Thanks again,
Steve