Other than the fact that everyone hates recruitment agencies when applying for jobs, I have some fairly solid arguments on why I won’t provide a Microsoft Word file for my Resume and cover letter. If you won’t accept my resume in PDF format, I will ask if I can print it and mail it to you.

First and foremost, PDF allows me to know that any operating system and PDF viewer can read my resume and still present it the same way. With the Microsoft Word format, I have no way of knowing if my resume is being viewed the same. Different software and even different versions of Microsoft Word renders documents differently and formatting completely changes if a different printer is used with a weird paper size or origination.

The second reason is because recruitment agencies tend to like to change your resume to their formatting and modify what is written on your resume, before they pass it on to the employer. Although PDF documents doesn’t stop them from copy the text into their own formatted template, it sure does slow them down. I’d much rather that my resume stays in the same condition all the way through to the employer.

The final reason is because my resume is created and rendered in LaTeX, so producing a Microsoft Word document at the same time as my current resume is relatively time consuming and hard. I shouldn’t be forced to use Microsoft Word to apply for jobs.

That said, company HR teams should get less lazy and actually do some work. You don’t need recruitment agencies these days with the internet, and even if the company does use a recruitment agency at least post the company name and location (not just Queensland) on the ad. I don’t want to waste my time applying for .net startup companies or jobs in locations I can’t commute to or live at.