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When Should Jobseekers Use A PDF Resume?

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Finding the perfect job is never easy. You go through the same process of scouting job openings, applying for positions, and interviewing for them.

Whether it’s to help pay for college or part of a career change, you will eventually face the age-old debate about which format to use for your resume.

Oftentimes, you may find a perfect job opening with directions on how to apply. Other times, the only instructions you get are to email your resume in. Should you send in a PDF or Word document?

To help you make an informed decision on when to use the PDF format, here are 5 things you should keep in mind.

MS Word Resumes Don’t Always Turn Out Right

With Word documents that can be opened in compatible applications, you can be sure that your resume will be opened by anyone with a word processor. However, depending on the software used on the other end, your resume can actually turn out differently than planned.

Source: @DmitriESAH

All the formatting and fonts you carefully set up in MS Word can be completely useless in Open Office, for instance. Moreover, if your resume’s appearance is important for positions like graphic design, you can’t afford to have your content compromised.

In such situations, using the PDF format will be a good option. It will faithfully preserve your formatting and layout. You want to stand out from the rest of the applicants, but not for the wrong reasons.

You Should Always Have A Backup

In this day and age there are tons of ways to get your resume online and visible. Moreover, improving a resume with media and graphics is now a growing trend. Thus, people may tell you that there isn’t any need to keep an offline copy.

Well, as a general rule of thumb, you should always have a PDF back up on hand. Should anything go wrong with your online portfolio or media based submission, employers will certainly come back and ask for a resume.

This is one instance where the PDF will be a good format to send in. It will cut down on any other additional issues the employer may have in reviewing your basic work history and resume.

Recruiters May Decide The Resume Format For You

If you decide to work with a recruiter, he or she may actually have a preference for certain file formats that make it easier to add comments to your resume during the screening process. Recruiter Donna Svei over at AdviceCareerist explains the reasoning behind this:

As a recruiter, when I read a resume, I might want to add a piece of missing information. I might see a question that your resume raises but doesn’t answer. I might want to add a comment about something I particularly like.

In other words, you may be advised against using the PDF, which prevents a recruiter from interacting with your resume. But having someone add comments to your resume you don’t know about might not sit well with you.

Thus, if you decide to switch gears and apply for jobs on your own, the PDF format will be the best way to go. It will give you control over your resume and protect it from unwanted edits

HR Hiring Workflows Can Be Automated

Big companies will often have a human resource (HR) department working for them with their own systems in place. They may be using an Applicant Tracking System (ATS), which can screen, sort, and handle all the resume data being submitted. Usually these work with databases that are key-word searchable, which might not take to the PDF format too easily.

So if you’ve sent in a PDF, “[t]his means the chance of your resume being seen has been lost,” Toni Bowers of the Career Management blog pointed out in a post. “Newer applicant tracking systems are doing a much better job at reading PDF conversions, but you have no way of knowing if the company you’re applying to is using a new version.”

That being said, an MS Word document may be called for when dealing with bigger companies. Yet note that with smaller companies the situation may be different. It’s more than likely that resumes for small- to medium-sized businesses will be screened and reviewed by humans. In those cases, sending a PDF resume can be a safe bet.

LinkedIn Profiles Aren’t Enough

Joining LinkedIn is one of the first things anyone should do when job hunting. It lets you set up a profile, connect with others in the same field, and research available positions. As such, a LinkedIn profile may be the only form of a resume you have.

However, when employers are hiring for highly specific positions, you may need a more formal application submission than a link. In this case, you can convert your LinkedIn profile to a PDF resume and submit it. Having a standard PDF version of your profile is a convenient alternative to send in. Just make sure you update the PDF when you update your profile.

So if you’re torn between submitting an MS Word file or creating a PDF resume, consider the above points. Find out what HR professionals are saying, and think of who, what, and how your resume content will be used.

Bonus Resume Tips:

Keep your resume file name simple
Use numbers in your resume to showcase measureable accomplishments
Plan out your resume content carefully; be selective with the details you share
Don’t forget to include a well-written cover letter

Do you use a PDF file for sending around your resume? Share your thoughts below!

Trim Down Large PDF Files With These 5 Simple Tips

Trim Down Large PDF Files

One of the biggest pet peeves of dealing with a PDF file is the large file size. There’s nothing worse than an email stuck in your outbox because of a large PDF attachment—unless, of course, it’s a slow PDF download from the web.

How can you slim down the size of your PDF document? While this heavily depends from PDF to PDF and the type of content it contains, there are a few general PDF creation options in particular which you should pay close attention to. Some fine-tuning here and there will go a long way to shave the megabytes off of your file.

Use The “Save As” Command

This is a good place to start to cutting down the bloat. Every time you hit Save in an application, you end up with a usually bigger file size. This is because the function saves the changes and appends them to the file. The same goes for PDF files.

Saving PDF files

Instead, use the “Save As” command. By doing this, you overwrite the entire file, eliminating unused objects and accumulated changes. The result is a smaller PDF file you can manage. So go for the “Save As” option once you’ve added everything you need to your PDF.

Compress And Downsample PDF Images

Given the visual nature of digital content today, images are a big part of PDF files. However, if your PDF isn’t intended for high resolution needs, you can keep your file under control by downsampling and compressing your images. When you downsample bitmap images you basically decrease the amount of pixels in it which reduces the overall resolution and hence, the size of the PDF.

Compressing PDF Images

Downsampling options will tell your PDF program know how you want to delete those pixels. You’ll be able to choose mainly between bicubic, subsample, and average downsampling methods. Each has its own advantages, so choose wisely. As well, you can usually set the desired resolutions and decide if you want to compress your images using popular compression algorithms such as ZIP, LZW, or JPEG.

Choose The Right Colour Space

You may have heard of RGB and CMYK colour spaces before. Each one has different methods of handling colour. In general, CMYK is ideal for print purposes, while RGB caters to on screen viewing.

If your PDF is mainly going to be viewed on the web or on a computer screen, choose the RGB colour space for your PDF images. In some PDF creators, you can choose to convert CMYK images to RGB if needed. It requires less data than CMYK. And one less data channel means a smaller file size.

Subset Your Fonts

By embedding fonts, you are essentially attaching the entire character set within the PDF, which can puff up the file significantly. Try to subset the fonts instead. It will keep the PDF size to a minimum.

Embedding PDF Fonts Options

When you subset a font, you attach only the font characters that are used in the PDF. If a special character like “#” isn’t used in the file, the character won’t be included. In most cases, you can choose to automatically subset fonts if the character usage is less than a certain amount. Take advantage of this feature if you have it. Your PDF fonts are just as equally important as your images.

Remove Unnecessary Frills

Depending on who and what your PDF content is intended for, you can scale down the bloat considerably. Applications that create PDFs for specific needs, like Adobe’s Photoshop for instance, will allow you to save PDFs with advance settings such as Preserve Photoshop Editing Capabilities.

But if your PDFs won’t be exclusively opened in Photoshop for editing, then there’s no need to prep the file for it. Thus, before you save a PDF with all the bells and whistles, get a good idea of how your PDF will be used and you can easily reduce the size accordingly.

PDFs are supposed to be high in quality, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that it has to be reflected in the file size. You can get a manageable PDF file with just a few adjustment s. And as an added bonus, you can accomplish most of these tweaks with Sonic PDF Creator. Just go to View>Options for Creation…. and you can access them through the dialog.

Exploring PDF Conversion On the Enterprise Level: Absolute PDF Server 3.0

Absolute PDF Server

We talk a lot about productivity and PDF conversion on the desktop, mobile, and cloud platforms. However, we never really covered the server platform where PDF conversion and productivity can occur at an even higher, much larger scale: the enterprise level.

At that level, the key point for companies is to manage resources, data and processes across the entire organization. Because it can be expensive and inefficient to have individual PDF applications for each employee, organizations typically turn to enterprise software as a solution.

What is Enterprise Software?

Enterprise software is different from what you’d normally experience from a program you buy, download, and use on your own personal computer. Enterprise software solutions are capable of catering to a large amount of users over a network, and are usually handled on the company’s backend servers.

Unlimited Users and Conversions Enterprise software applications usually handle business- or data- oriented tasks, such as info management, billing and accounting, order processing, and database management. Enterprise software is developed and offered by companies like Oracle, Sage, Microsoft, and IBM.

Moreover, enterprise workflows can differ and range from businesses and governments to schools and financial institutions. Naturally, each sector and organization has different needs. Thus, managers have to ensure that the enterprise software they choose works for their employees, the company’s IT system, and existing workflows.

Exploring An Organization’s Needs

In most cases, organizations can customize their enterprise software solutions “a la carte” according to their software strategy. Oftentimes, companies choose to use enterprise level software for tasks performed on a regular basis by the majority of its employees. Organization-wide solutions can offer workflows that are extremely effective at speeding up and controlling the task at hand.

PDF Document Conversion For The Enterprise: Absolute PDF Server 3.0

With PDF conversion, for instance, your IT managers can effectively automate a high volume of file conversions in one standardized framework. All they need is Absolute PDF Server.

Absolute PDF Server is the first enterprise-level document management solution to offer both PDF extraction and creation. It gives organizations the ability to perform both functionalities in one streamlined process.

Absolute PDF Server integrates technology from our Able2Extract PDF Server (used to convert PDF files into several other formats) and Sonic PDF Server (used to convert different file formats into PDF file format). As a result, you get quick PDF conversion to multiple formats and a tailored PDF creation process in one single location.

How Absolute PDF Server Works

How the process works depends on how your administrator sets it up. Essentially, you will either be able to email their document to a specified email address for conversion, or you can simply place your file into a watched folder (organized based on input format) which is monitored by Absolute PDF Server. In both cases, Absolute PDF Server will convert the files emailed or found within the folder, and the converted files will be sent back to you.

Converting via Absolute PDF Server Interface

You get your file properly converted while your IT administrators get full control over the process. They can manage, configure, and process the conversion queue from one user interface, ensuring that the conversion jobs are completed.

What Does Absolute PDF Server Have To Offer?

Although Absolute PDF Server is geared towards high volume conversion jobs for an entire company, it can still cater to individual conversion needs with the following features:

Convert and Create PDFs: Convert all native and scanned PDFs into MS Word, MS Excel and more; Create PDF from any printable Windows application
Customize PDF Creation: Brand your PDFs with watermarks; Manage fonts and colors; Combine multiple PDFs, split or join them.
Secure your PDFs: Set passwords, editing and printing permissions and choose from 40 or 128 bit encryption levels.
Schedule PDF Tasks: The server can be set to operate at specific times and dates. Files can be processed in middle of the night if desired.
Set Up Monitored Folders/Sub Folders: Automate PDF creation by specifying a folder for placing input files.
Email Integration: Converted files are processed and the result is emailed back to the sender.
Job Ticket Creation: The Job Ticket Editor is used for specifying PDF creation and extraction settings.

Given the features above, using Absolute PDF Server naturally comes with a few fringe benefits:

Increases Productivity. Improve the enterprise’s productivity and efficiency by managing processes on the backend.
Creates A Standardized System. IT Administrators can schedule, monitor, and keep track of tasks from one location. Document management is streamlined organization wide.
Unlimited Number of Users & Conversions. That’s right, unlimited. This means multiple users can convert as many files as they need, when they need.
Cost Effective. Absolute PDF Server is sold on a per license, per server basis. No individual licenses or subscriptions required. There are no extra modules or add-ins to buy later on.

So is enterprise-level PDF conversion right for your company? Find out. Get your IT manager to test out Absolute PDF Server’s features before taking the plunge! We offer a free 30-day trial for organizations.

For more details, contact our support team directly.

4 Great Ways To Make PDF eBook Navigation Easy

PDF eBook Reading

In this day and age of DIY e-publishing, the PDF is an invaluable format. If you’ve ever downloaded an eBook resource from a website or blog before, then you know how convenient it is to have all the information and content you need in one single PDF. Yet sifting through all that content in lengthy PDFs can be a nuisance.

PDF navigation may seem like a small issue, but believe it or not, there are PDF files that don’t come as well-structured as they should be. Make it as easy as possible for your readers to navigate through your PDF eBook.

Here are a few quick tips to start you off.

1. Add Bookmarks

Bookmarks are perfect for breaking up your PDF into manageable chunks. Your readers can get a visual overview before they even start scrolling through the PDF. Most PDF creator applications will let you manually create bookmarks. In other cases, your PDF bookmarks will automatically be created if the formatting of your source document (such as MS Word) uses paragraph default styles, like “Heading 1,” to format your content.

PDF bookmarks for eBooks

For eBooks covering big topics that are broken down into smaller sections, create nested bookmarks. Nested bookmarks create a hierarchical parent/child list that can be easily expanded or collapsed, pointing your readers to even more specific locations in your eBook. Just remember to generate bookmark titles that are simple, consistent and descriptive.

2. Add Internal Links

Where possible and appropriate, insert links into your PDF eBook. If done properly, a page link can be an extremely effective way of directing your readers to relevant sections. This is especially handy in eBooks that are dense with information. You can direct your readers to the necessary sections.

Whether it’s to a glossary, an illustration, or to related sections, a link in the right place can go a long way. You can even use links within your Table of Contents and make it a one-click process to get to a section. Internal links are a great way to boost the organization and reading flow of your content.

3. Include A Table Of Contents

Depending on the amount and type of content in your eBook, a bookmark list might enough to guide readers along. But when in doubt, it’s always good publishing practice to include a Table of Contents where you’ll have more than 10 pages.

PDF Table of Contents Keep in mind that PDF files can be either viewed on screen or read in printed form. In cases where users wish to print up a 100 page eBook, they’ll need a Table of Contents page for off-screen reading. Just don’t forget to include page numbers in the footers/headers of your PDF eBook!

4. Integrate Interactive Navigation

In addition to the default navigation controls of PDF readers, you can insert navigational controls such as page buttons directly into the PDF content itself. Sounds hard, but with the right software you can create a navigable PDF button from linking a specified trigger area (button) with a target action to a page.

This is a perfect fit for eBooks containing multimedia and other dynamic content. However, just remember that what icons or controls may be intuitive to you, might not be to other users. Thus, if your navigational controls go beyond flipping from one page to the next, include a discreet legend.

In short, the easier it is to get through your PDF eBook, the better! What do you do to make your PDF eBooks easy to navigate? If we missed a tip or two, share it in the comments!

How To Convert Your Facebook Data To PDF With Sonic PDF Creator 3.0

Facebook is the number one site where you probably spend most of your time online. Undoubtedly, the comments, messages, photos, and videos you post up end up accumulating into one big online scrapbook of your best and most memorable moments in life. It isn’t any wonder then that you would want to preserve that content offline and onto your computer?

While the videos and photos you have posted up might already be on your computer, there are some related bits, like the notes, comments, Wall posts or Facebook messages, which aren’t.

In fact, one of our PDF Creator Facebook app users was wondering if there was a way in which she could download and get all of her Facebook messages into PDF format.

If you want to download your Facebook data into a PDF file, here’s a detailed and slightly altered step-by-step version of the solution we put together and which you can try out for yourself.

1. Log into your Facebook Account

2. Go to Account Settings

3. Under General settings, click on the “Download a copy” of your Facebook data link below your personal information settings.

You’ll then get an overview of what information will be archived and which won’t.

4. Click on the Start My Archive button and confirm your download. This process may take a while depending on how much data you have. Facebook will send you a link to download your archive file via email.

As Facebook notes, all the data contained on your Facebook profile will be downloaded into one single archive. However, you will get the chance to choose which folder and data you can convert later on.

5. Check your email for the link and click on it to reconfirm your password. Download and save the zipped file to your computer.

6. Extract all files from the zipped folder into a folder or location you can easily access. It contains the individual files of your data– photos, videos, and web-based content.

To access your messages, go to HTML> Messages file.

Double click to open the Messages file in your browser to make sure all the content you want is there.

To convert this data into the PDF format, you can use Sonic PDF Creator 3.0 to convert HTML to PDF.

7. Once installed or if you have the program already, open Sonic PDF Creator and click on the Create PDF From File icon on the command toolbar.

8. Click on the Browse button. Select and upload your Messages HTML file.

9. Click the Create PDF button. This should start the conversion process.

Once your Facebook data conversion is done, you can then add whatever PDF features you want to the file. Add a password, headers, footers, watermarks or bookmarks. When you’ve added all you want, simply save your PDF file in a location of your choice.

This process can work for any of the HTML data files you have in your archive. It’s an easy way to keep or reuse your Facebook content in a secure manner while customizing the file to your needs. Give it a try.

If you have another way of saving and preserving your Facebook data, let us know in the comments below!