Converting a Microsoft Word document to a PC document

[Meg_Merritt]

Version: 2008 Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) Processor: Intel I have created a Resume and a cover letter in Microsoft Word on a Mac to be uploaded to the Institute ORACLE recruitment system.

When I checked how it looked, the format, the bullets and formating were blown apart! I was told to convert the documents to PC format.

I don't know how to do this. I got some guidance to make them PDF files, but the formating still goes haywire! How do I do the conversion on my Mac?

 

[John McGhie]

Hi Meg:

The most important thing to do is DO NOT TELL THEM that your document was
not created on a PC.

You ARE sending "PC Format". That's the format Word 2008 uses

If you don't tell them, they can never tell: the file format used is exactly
the same on both the Mac and the PC. There is no indication in the file of
which platform the document was made on.

When you send the file to the other system, make sure you have the correct
extension on the file name. The extension should be .doc if you are sending
the old format, .docx if you are sending the new one. If the extension is
wrong, the receiving system has to guess, and you can see the result!

Chances are, their system has not been updated to process the new format
(which only came out eight years ago: are you sure you want to work for an
organisation that's so far behind the times?).

So you should use Save As from Word and choose .doc format, and send that.
DON'T simply change the extension, you must use Save As, because the content
of the two file formats is completely different.

Now you need to tell us how you are up-loading the file, before we can go on
with the next bit.

But please understand: this is not a Mac problem, and it's not a "Word"
problem, this is a problem with their website doing the wrong thing,
probably because you haven't sent a file name extension.

Cheers

Version: 2008 Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) Processor: Intel I
have created a Resume and a cover letter in Microsoft Word on a Mac to be
uploaded to the Institute ORACLE recruitment system.

When I checked how it looked, the format, the bullets and formating were blown
apart! I was told to convert the documents to PC format.

I don't know how to do this. I got some guidance to make them PDF files, but
the formating still goes haywire! How do I do the conversion on my Mac?

--

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]

 

[Meg_Merritt]

Thank you Mr. McGhie.

To answer your request, I am uploading the saved file from my desktop where I placed the documents. I will try this process again.

I truly dislike ORACLE! it is a complicated and bothersome system that was adopted by RIT years ago. It continually has problems with Mac users here on campus!

Thanks again!

 

[John McGhie]

Hi Meg:

Sadly, some of these upload mechanisms manage to strip the extension from
the file name (god knows why...).

The recipient application then "guesses" ‹ wrongly! Some seem to still be
using the Macintosh File Type and Creator Code (which is written into the
file wherer you can't see it). This has been deprecated by Apple, so
applications should not be using it any more. If they DO use it, chances
are they are guessing that your file was produced by Word 5.1 for Mac!

Make CERTAIN that you put ".docx" on the file before you send it. That
tells any modern application "Don't guess: this file contains Compressed XML
encoded in Unicode."

Then send them that, and if it doesn't work, tell them "Your system is
broken." DON'T mention "Mac"

Cheers

Thank you Mr. McGhie.

To answer your request, I am uploading the saved file from my desktop where I
placed the documents. I will try this process again.

I truly dislike ORACLE! it is a complicated and bothersome system that was
adopted by RIT years ago. It continually has problems with Mac users here on
campus!

Thanks again!

--

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]