Top 10 Things That Make Formatting CVs a Nightmare

Top 10 Things That Make Formatting CVs a Nightmare Formatting candidate CVs is  an absolute joy said no one ever. It can be quite a hideously repetitive, frustrating process that takes way  longer than it should, especially when all you really want to do is send your amazing candidate straight over to your client but cant because the CV is pumped full of weird formatting tricks. For a third party recruitment consultant, all CVs sent to clients generally need to be branded and look the same when they leave the inbox.  They  need to look high-calibre. No client wants to receive a messy / all-over-the-place shortlist of CVs that all look completely different (unless they are meant to be creative pieces in themselves). For all those recruiters out there spending hours each week fiddling with your candidates CVs to make them  look neat and on-brand, youre not alone and your pain is felt around the world by  others. Candidates, if youre reading this, know that there are definitely  things you could do to make your recruiters life simpler. A great place to start is by avoiding these 10 things that really do make formatting your CV a nightmare, sorry (not sorry): 1.  PDF docs Unless youve got one of those programmes that converts it into word,  PDF documents are actually the pits. You cant make changes. And while you can copy and paste chunks of text, its weird and clunky and is anything BUT a seamless process. Weird paragraphing and symbols are pulled through. Honestly, PDF docs are such a headache. 2. Photos images No. Just, no. If anything, photos are just annoying, because they must be removed and often the paragraphs are wrapped around them and its just irritating, okay? 3. Weird fonts You couldnt just pick one? In what world are  headings supposed to be in a different font to the body of text? And while were at it, you are not from 1901, Lucinda is not appropriate. What are you going to pull next, Webdings? Sheesh. 4.  Changing tenses Pick a style of writing and stick to it. Are you opting for third person or first person? This is no time to sit on the fence. Do you realise how much time it takes to correct these mistakes? Do you?! 5.  No chronology When candidates have ordered their experience according to skill sets and industries, not by time, that is a headache and a half. Matching up dates isnt fun for anyone. Just tell me where you are now, then work back from there. Simple. 6. Massive gaps Massive gaps just require back and forward emails and phone calls to get to the bottom of why there are holes in the chronology! Recruiters need to be able to explain gaps to their clients on behalf of the candidate. 7. Landscape orientation Unfortunately this is not as simple as switching to portrait. Ooh Ive an idea! How about you just put it in portrait to begin with?  Perfect! 8. Split-page paragraphs Two columns on one page? No thanks. When one puts this kind of formatting into a document, thats it, its basically a write-off the page will never be the same again. Switching back to one column is horrendous experience. 9. Stubborn hidden formulas My last point led me here. When CVs are riddled with weird hidden formulas that prevent you from doing simple things like removing line breaks or centring heading, thats when the real nightmare starts. Its like a bad dream you cant get out of! 10. Capslock Your experience at me!! To all the candidates who use that weird font that is lower-case size text, but upper case letters, please refrain. Its almost impossible to change. And there you have it. The top 10 things that make formatting a candidates CV an absolute nightmare. Sure, recruiters could ask candidates to do all this for them, but sometimes, candidates cant action it straight away, and we all know that time is of the essence for recruiters  it has to be done NOW! Please, thank you and excuse me. Cheers.