Should your CV be an ordinary Word document?

[Hummingbird1236]

Should your CV be a standard black and white word document? Mine was but I feared it didn’t stand out or look very original and I found some nice templates for CV’s on Canva so I used one of these instead but now I’m wondering if an employer would rather just see a normal word document. I know it is the content of the CV that matters overall but if 50 word documents that all look the same land on an employers desk then how do you make yours visibly stand out?

The problem with Word Documents is that they can be edited. I've always done my CV in Word and saved as a PDF so it's non-editable.

As an employer, CV's that stand out are ones which are laid out in an easy-to-read way, and I don't have to scroll through lots of writing to get to the information I need. I like succinct bullet points and not lots of rambling, but that's personal preference.

CVs should be prepared in Word but then saved as a pdf document prior to sending out. It depends on what sort of job you are applying for but most employers would like to see you are capable of using Word to a good standard. If you are applying for a creative role then maybe you do need to look at something more interesting.

If any employers were to print them it will be in black and white, so if you use colour make sure it looks OK in black and white as well.

Personally I just use black and white, make it easy to read, no waffle, and tailored to each job application and the criteria requested.

Don't use colour or funky text. It's a professional document, not a poster for a toddler group. Black and white is just fine.

Agree it depends on job as should reflect what you’re applying for. If you’re going for a role in graphic design for example, you’d want it to look very well designed and creative.

If you’re going to make it colourful, different layout, fonts etc. then it should be to serve a purpose otherwise I would stick to clear, concise and simple and let the words make the point.

Hi all, it is for a professional services role in a higher education setting so I’m thinking a Word document would be the most appropriate from the suggestions above

PDF isn't always compatible with an ATS so I'd go with word.

It doesn’t look like this originally posted (apologies if it did) but this was the original format I was using off canva (not my actual CV attached!) probably should have posted it to give an idea of what it looked like

I always prepare it in Word and save as a PDF because word documents will reformat themselves unexpectedly and not look as good as they did when you wrote them, and will also get red and blue underline squiggly things under perfectly correctly spelled technical terms and company names if the recipient's PC doesn't have the words in their local dictionary, so they will look rubbish.

It would be a spectacularly not-fit-for-purpose Applicant Tracking System that couldn't cope with such a universal file format. Word isn't freeware and loads of people can't access it for numerous reasons.

@Hummingbird1236 I wouldn't use that "white text on black background" type template, no. Stick to black text on a white background. You don't know what processes the assessors are going to have, they may need to print things out and black backgrounds will only be irritating. This isn't a design competition, you just need to convey the information succinctly and professionally.

Thank you everyone!

I used to write CVs for a living. I think Canva and similar templates do have a place - and there are some beautiful ones out there, but not for all jobs and you have to be very good at getting enough content in when they're so visually rich.

It depends - in the past I have sent PDFs but been asked for a Word document as they can't integrate a PDF if they're using recruitment software - it needs to be Word to pull out all the relevant info.

Apparently creative role hiring managers can be keen on funky CVs.
I recruit for professional services and I really do prefer plain and boring black and white CVs - laid out clearly with decent font size. CVs stand out because of the content - they have the skills and experience and they have tailored the CV/covering letter to the job and the company they are applying to and they don't spin a pile of bullshit. Like saying they've been following us for many years (we've been in business for 3 years - and our client interactions are not made pubic) or they are impressed with our Global growth - we are a UK company with no global growth aspirations - the list goes on - these CVs go in the bin immediately - get the content and the readability right..