Converting between PDF, Word and plain text – Page 2

Put each date on the same line as the job title using a single right-aligned tab stop, or simply place dates on their own line under the title. Converters often rebuild right-aligned dates with many spaces, which break as soon as you edit.

Option 1, tab stop:

• Delete the spaces between title and date.
• Press Tab once.
• Set a right-aligned tab stop at the right margin in the paragraph settings.

Option 2, simpler:
"Project Engineer, Coastline Builders, Abu Dhabi
June 2020 - August 2024"

Option 2 is the safest choice for plain text versions and online forms, because it never depends on alignment.

Replace the extra paragraph marks inside each bullet or paragraph so the text flows as one block again. Converters often end every visual line with a hard break, which stops text wrapping when you edit.

How to do it:

• Turn on formatting marks (the ¶ button) to see the breaks.
• For a few bullets, click at the end of each broken line and press Delete, then add a space if needed.
• For the whole document, use Find and Replace carefully on the line break or paragraph mark, but check each change, since it can also join separate bullets.

When most of the document is like this, copying the text into a plain text editor, fixing breaks there and then pasting into a new document can be quicker.

Change the paper size in the layout or page setup settings, then check page breaks. Converted files keep the original size, and Word may also default to a size that does not match your target country.

Steps in Word:

• Layout > Size > choose A4 or Letter.
• Check margins afterwards; keep them consistent on all sides.
• Scroll through to see whether a section now splits awkwardly across pages.

Use A4 for most countries, including the UAE, the UK, Europe and India; US Letter for the USA and Canada. In ResumeBuilder.ae you can choose either size before downloading the PDF, so if you are rebuilding from the builder text, match the size you picked there.

Politely ask to see the version they will send, and send corrections. Many recruitment agencies reformat CVs into their own branded template, and their conversion can introduce errors in dates, titles or spellings.

What to check in their version:

• Job titles, employers and dates match yours exactly.
• No skills or qualifications have been added that you do not have.
• Achievements and numbers have not been changed.
• Your contact details have been removed or kept as agreed.

Example message: "Thanks for preparing my CV for the client. Could I see the final version before it goes out? I'd like to check dates and titles are correct."

You are responsible for what is said about your experience, so do not let inaccurate details stand.

Yes. A clean, simple Word file is better than a converted copy that tries to copy every design detail and breaks when opened. People who ask for Word usually want to edit or reformat it, not admire the layout.

A simple Word version should have:

• One column, one font, clear headings and standard bullets.
• Contact details at the top of the body.
• The same content as your PDF.

You can mention it briefly if you like: "Please find my CV in Word as requested. I've attached a PDF too, in case it is useful." Keep both versions identical in content, so nothing contradicts.

Only if the employer or recruiter asks for Word documents. If they want your resume in Word, sending the cover letter in Word too keeps things consistent.

A cover letter is easier to move to Word than a resume:

• Copy the text from the builder or your source document.
• Paste it into a blank document with "Keep text only".
• Add your name and contact details at the top, the date and the greeting.
• Keep the paragraphs as normal paragraphs and check spacing.

The builder can produce a cover letter PDF for your resume, but not Word, so copying the text is the way to create the Word version. Read it once more for formatting gaps before sending.

Do a copy test: select all the text, paste it into a plain text editor and read it from top to bottom. If it reads in a sensible order with nothing missing, software that extracts text is likely to get similar results.

Look for:

• Sections out of order, such as skills mixed into job descriptions.
• Missing text that sat in text boxes, headers or images.
• Words joined together or split oddly.
• Dates far away from the job they belong to.

Also try searching the document for a few keywords from the job description. If search cannot find a word you can see, that text is not real, readable text. Remember that each applicant tracking system and employer setup is different, so a clean copy test is a good sign, not a guarantee.

Edit the document properties and set the author to your own name, or remove it. Converted files often carry the converter's name, a default user name or another person's name from a template.

In Word:

• File > Info > Properties: change Author and Title.
• File > Info > Check for Issues > Inspect Document: remove hidden properties, comments or personal information you do not want to share.

In other word processors, look for "Properties" in the File menu. A recruiter may not look at this, but it takes one minute and avoids confusion if their system shows the author name.

Remove empty lines and set spacing with paragraph settings instead. Converters often recreate gaps with blank paragraphs, spaces or odd spacing values.

How:

• Turn on formatting marks and delete blank paragraphs between sections.
• Select all text and set "Spacing before" and "Spacing after" to small, consistent values.
• Give headings a little more space before them than body text.
• Check for tabs or spaces used to indent bullets and remove them.

Once the spacing is consistent, the page looks balanced and stays tidy when the recruiter opens it on a different computer.

Usually not. Decorative elements add little to a resume, and removing them often makes the file cleaner and easier for software to read.

What to do:

• Delete any icons or images that moved to strange places.
• Replace contact icons with words, such as "Email:" and "Phone:".
• Use a simple bottom border under headings if you want a dividing line, rather than a drawn line shape.
• Leave out company logos; they are not needed on a resume.

Your content is what matters. A plain, well-spaced Word document reads better than one with floating shapes that change position on every computer.

Converters sometimes misread joined letters or spacing, especially when they work from images or unusual fonts. Typical errors include "rn" read as "m", "fi" or "fl" lost, words joined together and letters with accents replaced.

Check for:

• Words joined, such as "projectmanagement".
• Words split, such as "manage ment".
• Wrong letters in names and company names.
• Numbers changed, such as "0" and "O" or "1" and "l".

Run spell-check, then read the whole document slowly. Pay special attention to your name, email, phone number and employer names, because spell-check will not catch errors there.

Not necessarily. If the language is supported, you can create a second resume in the builder and write it in that language, which avoids converting at all.

ResumeBuilder.ae lets you set the resume language on the Design tab, with support for English, Arabic, French, Spanish, German, Hindi and Malayalam in the PDF. You can save up to 10 resumes, so one per language is possible.

A practical approach:

• Start a new resume in the builder, or import your existing resume as a starting point.
• Translate each section yourself or with help, then have a fluent speaker check it.
• Choose the language on the Design tab and preview.

Converting to Word only makes sense if you need a Word file in that language as well.

Match the main design choices rather than every detail: page size, margins, a similar font, the same section order and the same bullet style. An exact copy is rarely possible, and trying usually means fragile layouts.

Practical steps:

• Use the same page size (A4 or Letter).
• Use similar margins on all sides.
• Pick a common font close to the PDF's style (a clean sans-serif or serif).
• Keep the same headings, in the same order, with the same wording.
• Use single-column layout even if your PDF has two columns.

Then place both files side by side and check that the content matches word for word. Consistent content matters far more than identical looks.

Open the file yourself, then save it again under a new name from your word processor and resend it. Some converters write files that open in one program but not in another.

Steps:

• Open the .docx in your word processor. If it opens, use "Save As", choose "Word Document (.docx)" and a new name.
• Open the new file once more to check it.
• If it does not open at all, rebuild the Word version from your text.
• Send the new file and a PDF as a backup, with a short note.

Example: "Apologies, the earlier file may have been damaged. I've attached a fresh Word copy and a PDF."

Open the file in a word processor app on your phone and use its export, share or print option to save as PDF. Most office apps can do this.

General steps:

• Open the .docx in your phone's word processor app.
• Look for "Export", "Save as PDF", "Share as PDF" or "Print" and then "Save as PDF".
• Save it with a clear name, such as "Aisha-Rahman-Resume.pdf".
• Open the new PDF and check every page, especially fonts and page breaks.

Phone apps sometimes swap fonts, so the PDF can look different from the computer version. If the layout changes noticeably, create the PDF on a computer instead.

Usually a font, spacing or page-size difference. The PDF shows the document exactly as the software laid it out when exporting, which may not match what you saw while editing.

Things to check:

• The fonts are installed and used consistently; otherwise a replacement font changes line lengths.
• The paper size in the document matches the PDF you want (A4 or Letter).
• No hidden text, comments or tracked changes are being printed.
• Page breaks fall in the right places.

Fix the issue in the Word file, then export again. Always open the final PDF and check it before sending; that is the version the employer will see.

Not automatically. The conversion can add text boxes, tables, headers and broken lines that make the Word file harder for software to read than the original PDF.

To keep it friendly:

• Use one column and standard section headings.
• Keep contact details in the body, not the header.
• Use real bullets and normal paragraphs.
• Avoid text boxes, images with text and complex tables.

Then run the copy test: paste all text into a plain text editor and check it reads in order. ResumeBuilder.ae's ATS-readiness check is a rule-based estimate of your builder resume's structure and completeness; it is not a test of a converted file.

Make sure no job entry or section heading is split awkwardly across the two pages. Converted files often break a heading from its content or leave one bullet alone at the top of page two.

How:

• Select each heading and turn on "Keep with next" in paragraph settings.
• For a job title and its date line, also use "Keep with next".
• Delete manual page breaks the converter added, and let text flow naturally.
• Check the last lines of page one and first lines of page two.

Avoid forcing page breaks with many empty lines. They move when the file is opened on another computer.

Prepare a plain text version first, with hyphens for bullets and blank lines between sections, then paste that. Forms remove most formatting, so build the structure with characters the form cannot strip.

Steps:

• Copy your resume text into a plain text editor.
• Replace fancy bullets with "-" and long dashes with normal hyphens.
• Put each job's title, company and dates on separate lines.
• Leave one blank line between entries.
• Copy from the editor and paste into the form.

Then use the form's preview, if there is one, and fix any lines that ran together. Keep this plain text file saved; you will reuse it for many applications.

Replace the grid with simple grouped lines or a single bulleted list. Grids and tables often break during conversion and can be read in a strange order by software.

Example:
"Skills

• Accounting: IFRS reporting, month-end close, bank reconciliations
• Software: SAP, Oracle, Excel (pivot tables, VLOOKUP)
• Languages: English, Arabic, Hindi"

Steps:

• Copy the skills out of the grid.
• Group them into two to four categories.
• Delete the table or text boxes.

This layout is easy to scan, converts reliably between formats and works in plain text forms too.

Compare the converted file with the original section by section, counting jobs and bullets. Text inside images, side panels, headers or footers is the most likely to disappear.

A quick comparison method:

• Open both files side by side.
• Count jobs, education entries and certifications in each.
• Count bullets under each job.
• Check the contact details, summary and any custom sections.
• Use the word count in your word processor and compare it with a rough count of the original.

If something is missing, copy it from your original source rather than from the PDF. Then repeat the comparison once more after formatting.

Only if you actually use both. Keeping two editable versions means every change must be made twice, and they easily drift apart.

A simple rule:

• Choose one main source for editing, usually your builder resume.
• When you need a Word file, copy the current text into a fresh document.
• Delete or archive older Word versions so you never send an outdated one.

If you keep a Word copy for recruiters who often ask for it, update it whenever you change your builder resume, and note the date in the file name, such as "Omar-Haddad-CV-2026-10.docx".

No. ResumeBuilder.ae exports PDF only. The PDF is text-based, so the text can be selected and copied, and you can also copy text directly from the builder's sections.

To create other formats:

• Word or Google Docs: copy each section into a blank document and format it simply.
• Plain text: paste into a plain text editor, then replace bullets and special characters.
• Another format: work from the Word or plain text version you made.

Converters that turn the PDF into Word can also work, but they may scramble the layout, so check the result carefully. Keep the builder resume as your main copy and update it there.

"Save as PDF" or "Export to PDF" in your word processor creates a PDF directly from your document, using its real text and structure. A converter changes a file that already exists, such as PDF to Word, and has to guess the structure.

In practice:

• Creating a PDF from Word, Google Docs or the builder is usually reliable.
• Turning a PDF back into Word is where most layout problems appear.

So going from editable to PDF is the safe direction. Going from PDF to editable is the risky one, and needs a careful check afterwards.

Upload the .docx to Google Drive and open it with Google Docs, then check fonts, spacing and page size. Simple Word resumes usually convert well; complex ones less so.

What to check:

• Fonts: Google Docs may swap fonts it does not have.
• Page setup: confirm A4 or Letter and margins.
• Tables and text boxes: these often shift.
• Bullets and indents: confirm they are real lists.
• Page breaks and page count.

If you only need to share or edit it in Google Docs, simple formatting is fine. If you need to send a polished file, download a PDF from Google Docs and check it before sending.