Software to create resumes

JustinM · JustinM #1 (**permalink**)

10-14-2011, 10:44 AM

Besides wanting to make visually pleasing resumes, what I'm REALLY looking for is software for my Mac that will save Word documents that will WORK when they go through a prospective company's resume screening software.

I currently have iWork, but I'm worried that the resume doesn't look the same on a PC as it does on a Mac (and obviously most company's will have PC's so I NEED to have the resume look the same on both Mac / PC)

Is Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac the answer? What about going all the way and creating a dual boot system and just shelling out the money for both Windows & Microsoft Office for PC? (I'd prefer the cheapest option if possible, but it needs to work!)

Thanks in advance!

CrimsonRequiem · CrimsonRequiem #2 (**permalink**)

10-14-2011, 12:04 PM

Save the resume as a PDF. Problem sovled.

JustinM · JustinM #3 (**permalink**)

10-14-2011, 12:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CrimsonRequiem

Save the resume as a PDF. Problem sovled.

And if they put the resume through screening software which is not compatible with PDF's are you just SOL?

CrimsonRequiem · CrimsonRequiem #4 (**permalink**)

10-14-2011, 12:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JustinM

And if they put the resume through screening software which is not compatible with PDF's are you just SOL?

No because you can save the resume to doc or docx files if you need to.

mac57 · mac57 #5 (**permalink**)

10-14-2011, 03:14 PM

One bit of advise - I find that resumes created in Word on the PC don't always look exactly the same on a Mac, and visa versa. The page spacing can sometimes be off, leading to odd looking pages. I find this most with the Mac->PC approach. Clearly I do my resume on a Mac! When I check it on my old PC (keep one around because you just have to have one now and then) it sometimes looks badly. SO... CrimsonRequiem has the right answer, and it is what I do - save it to PDF. This keeps the formating consistent no matter what platform you are on.

Discerptor · Discerptor #6 (**permalink**)

10-14-2011, 04:06 PM

I keep two versions of my resume: one I typeset all sexy-like in LaTeX to be viewed and printed as a PDF, and one in MS Word format for those silly resume filters on online applications. Going for complete visual compatibility with MS Word documents is kind of a crapshoot even between different versions of MS Office on the same platform, but using the latest available version to create them is usually your best bet if you're relying on that.

ImageX · ImageX #7 (**permalink**)

10-14-2011, 04:10 PM

You know you can export a word document from Pages into a Word format right? I did this with my resume recently and, when I met with the company for an interview, it looked the same as how it looked on my Mac in Pages. Take note that it was not just block text. I do have special formatting and characters in it and they all came out of his printer through Word just as it looked in Pages. Good luck!

- ImageX

todd23 · todd23 #8 (**permalink**)

10-17-2011, 12:33 AM

I ran into the same issue, I had created a resume in Word on my Mac, but it looked terrible in Word for the PC. Ultimately, I ended up recreating the resume on Word on my roomate's PC. I used the Word document when companies specifically asked for it in a .doc format. Otherwise, I always send the PDF.

JustinM #1 (permalink)
Member Since: Oct 14, 2011 Posts: 2	10-14-2011, 10:44 AM Besides wanting to make visually pleasing resumes, what I'm REALLY looking for is software for my Mac that will save Word documents that will WORK when they go through a prospective company's resume screening software. I currently have iWork, but I'm worried that the resume doesn't look the same on a PC as it does on a Mac (and obviously most company's will have PC's so I NEED to have the resume look the same on both Mac / PC) Is Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac the answer? What about going all the way and creating a dual boot system and just shelling out the money for both Windows & Microsoft Office for PC? (I'd prefer the cheapest option if possible, but it needs to work!) Thanks in advance! Last edited by JustinM; 10-14-2011 at 11:47 AM.
	QUOTE Thanks

CrimsonRequiem #2 (permalink)
Inactive Staff Member Since: Jul 24, 2008 Posts: 5,956 Mac Specs: MBP 2.3 Ghz 4GB RAM 860 GB SSD, iMac 3.4 GHz Intel Core i7 32GB RAM, Fusion Drive 1TB	10-14-2011, 12:04 PM Save the resume as a PDF. Problem sovled. 死神はリンゴしか食べない。
	QUOTE Thanks

mac57 #5 (permalink)
Member Since: Apr 29, 2006 Location: St. Somewhere Posts: 4,547 Mac Specs: PowerMac G5 Quad, 2.5 GHz, 4 Core, 120 GB SSD, 500 GB HDD	10-14-2011, 03:14 PM One bit of advise - I find that resumes created in Word on the PC don't always look exactly the same on a Mac, and visa versa. The page spacing can sometimes be off, leading to odd looking pages. I find this most with the Mac->PC approach. Clearly I do my resume on a Mac! When I check it on my old PC (keep one around because you just have to have one now and then) it sometimes looks badly. SO... CrimsonRequiem has the right answer, and it is what I do - save it to PDF. This keeps the formating consistent no matter what platform you are on. My Macs: PowerMac G5 Quad, 2.5 GHz, 4 Core, Mac Pro, 3.2 GHz 8 Core, Power Macintosh 7500/100 My iStuff: 32 GB iPhone 4, 30 GB iPod Video, 16 GB iPod Touch My OS': Mac OS X Tiger, Mac OS X Snow Leopard, Mac OS X Leopard, Mac OS 8.6, openSUSE 10.3, Win XP I was on the Mac-Forums honor roll for September 2007
	QUOTE Thanks

ImageX #7 (permalink)
Member Since: Aug 17, 2009 Location: East Bay, CA Posts: 439 Mac Specs: 17" MBP C2D 2.8 4GB OS X 10.8 \| iPhone 5	10-14-2011, 04:10 PM You know you can export a word document from Pages into a Word format right? I did this with my resume recently and, when I met with the company for an interview, it looked the same as how it looked on my Mac in Pages. Take note that it was not just block text. I do have special formatting and characters in it and they all came out of his printer through Word just as it looked in Pages. Good luck! - ImageX "The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese." Remember to use the Reputation System!
	QUOTE Thanks

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Software to create iPhone apps?	bcatquail	OS X - Apps and Games	3	07-11-2010 07:39 PM
Looking for software that will create and produce music	dunkymac	Music, Audio, and Podcasting	3	05-23-2009 12:20 PM
Software to create a bootable disk image	nigelivy	OS X - Apps and Games	1	04-24-2009 06:48 AM

Software to create resumes

Internet Services

Web Development

Digital Marketing

Consumer Tech

Discerptor #6 (permalink)
Member Since: Aug 02, 2005 Posts: 1,227 Mac Specs: 2.6GHz Core i7 15" MacBook Pro - 8GB DDR3 SDRAM - 750GB 7200 RPM HDD - GeForce 650M GT 1GB VRAM	10-14-2011, 04:06 PM I keep two versions of my resume: one I typeset all sexy-like in LaTeX to be viewed and printed as a PDF, and one in MS Word format for those silly resume filters on online applications. Going for complete visual compatibility with MS Word documents is kind of a crapshoot even between different versions of MS Office on the same platform, but using the latest available version to create them is usually your best bet if you're relying on that.
	QUOTE Thanks

todd23 #8 (permalink)
Member Since: Oct 16, 2011 Posts: 14	10-17-2011, 12:33 AM I ran into the same issue, I had created a resume in Word on my Mac, but it looked terrible in Word for the PC. Ultimately, I ended up recreating the resume on Word on my roomate's PC. I used the Word document when companies specifically asked for it in a .doc format. Otherwise, I always send the PDF.
	QUOTE Thanks

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)