Importing an existing resume (PDF or Word) – Page 2

Try the Word (.docx) version first if it is your original, and switch to the PDF if the result is messy. There is no fixed rule; which imports better depends on how each file was made.

Things to consider:

• The original file you edited is usually the cleanest source.
• A PDF made from a design tool may store text in a less predictable order.
• A Word file full of tables and text boxes may import less cleanly than a simple PDF.

Practical approach:

• Import one version and check a few sections.
• If many items are in the wrong place, delete that import and try the other file.
• Choose whichever needs fewer fixes.

Either way, review every section before downloading.

Plan your import as a new resume, and check My resumes afterwards to see what was created. To be safe, download a backup before importing, especially if you have resumes you care about.

Good practice:

• Download a backup with "Download all my resumes (JSON)" in the My resumes tab.
• Start the import as a new resume rather than inside one you have already edited heavily.
• After importing, check that your other resumes are still listed and unchanged.

Remember the limit: you can save up to 10 resumes for free. If you are at the limit, delete an old version first. Keep clear names for each resume so you know which is the imported one.

No. Import brings in your content, not your design. Your text is placed into ResumeBuilder.ae's sections, and the look comes from the template you choose.

What changes:

• Fonts, colours, spacing and layout follow the selected template.
• Graphics, icons, photos and skill bars are not carried over.
• Two-column designs become whatever layout the chosen template uses.

What stays:

• Your words, which you then check section by section.

This is usually an advantage: you can try any of the templates for free and pick one that is clean and readable. Single-column templates such as ATS Classic or ATS Professional are the safest default for applicant tracking systems.

The photo is not carried into your ResumeBuilder.ae resume. Photos are not supported in the PDF, which keeps the text easy for applicant tracking software to read.

If you need a photo for a particular application:

• Check whether the application form has a separate photo upload field.
• Or send the photo as a separate file if the employer asks for one.

In many countries, including the UK, US, Canada and Australia, resumes are generally sent without photos. Canada's Job Bank, for example, notes that photos are not the norm there. In some Gulf and Asian markets, some employers still ask for one, so follow each employer's instructions.

They are graphics, not text, so there is nothing for the import to read. Icons, skill bars, star ratings, charts and logos are pictures.

What to do:

• Replace contact icons with plain text: your phone, email and city in the personal details fields.
• Replace skill bars with a skill list, adding an honest level only where it is meaningful, such as for languages.
• Replace logos with company names in text.

This is also better for applicant tracking systems and human readers. A skill bar showing "80" of something means little to a recruiter; a specific line such as "Excel: pivot tables, VLOOKUP, dashboards" says much more.

Start with what employers need most: contact details, then job titles, employers and dates. Then move to bullets and other sections.

A checking order:

• Personal details: name, email, phone with country code, location, links.
• Work Experience: each job's title, employer, location and dates.
• Education: qualification names, institutions and years.
• Bullets: split paragraphs, remove odd symbols, fix line breaks.
• Skills and Languages: trim and organise.
• Other sections: certifications, training, awards.
• Leftovers: page numbers, old headings or labels imported as text.

Compare against your original file side by side. Then choose a template and read the full preview. The checklist before payment will flag missing contact details and characters the PDF cannot print.

Importing is usually faster for a complete resume, while copying and pasting gives you more control over each section. Many people use both: import first, then paste corrections from the original file.

Importing suits you when:

• Your resume is a text-based PDF or .docx with a fairly simple layout.
• You want everything in the builder quickly.

Copy and paste suits you when:

• Your original layout is complex, such as two columns or many tables, and the import is jumbled.
• You only want to reuse a few sections.
• You plan to rewrite most of the content anyway.

Whichever you choose, check every section. Importing places text automatically and may misplace some; pasting can bring hidden characters and double bullets. Both need a final careful review in the preview before you download.

Rebuild the affected entries by hand: create the correct number of jobs and move each title, date and bullet into its place.

If one job was split:

• Keep one entry and move all bullets into it.
• Make sure the title, employer, location and dates are correct.
• Delete the extra entry.

If two jobs were merged:

• Create a new entry for the second job.
• Move its title, employer, dates and bullets across.
• Check that each entry now has only its own content.

This often happens when a job has a promotion, multiple lines in the title, or an unusual date layout. Compare carefully with your original file.

Delete the duplicates, keeping the most complete version of each entry. Duplicates can appear when a resume repeats information, such as in a header and a section, or when you import more than once.

Steps:

• Read through each section and list any repeated items.
• Compare the copies and keep the one with correct, complete details.
• Delete the others.
• Check the preview for repeated headings or lines.

Also check:

• That you have not imported the same file twice into one resume.
• That a second resume was not created by a repeat import. Look in My resumes and delete any you do not need, since you can save up to 10.

Split the line into separate skills or short groups, and trim it to the skills that matter for the job. Long skill lines are common after importing, especially from LinkedIn exports.

Steps:

• Break the line at commas, slashes or bullet symbols.
• Remove duplicates and outdated tools.
• Group related skills if the list is long: "Design tools: Figma, Adobe XD".
• Put the most relevant skills first.

Check the preview to see how your template displays skills. A list of ten to fifteen relevant skills is usually easier to read than thirty.

Join the broken lines back together and remove extra spaces or hyphens. PDFs store text as lines on a page, so a sentence that wrapped in the original may import as separate lines.

How to fix:

• Read each bullet and paragraph for sentences that stop halfway.
• Delete the line break so the sentence continues on one line.
• Remove hyphens that split words at the end of a line, such as "manage-ment".
• Remove double spaces.

This is tedious but quick for a one- or two-page resume. If the whole resume is affected, importing the Word version, if you have one, may give cleaner results.

Delete it. Hidden text, such as keywords typed in white or tiny font, is a trick some old advice recommended, and import exposes it because it reads all the text in the file.

Why remove it:

• It is misleading, and many recruiters see it as dishonest.
• Applicant tracking systems may show the hidden text to recruiters as plain text, which can look like keyword stuffing.
• It adds no real evidence of your skills.

What to do instead:

• Include relevant terms naturally in your summary, skills and bullets, where they truthfully describe your experience.
• Use the job-description comparison in ResumeBuilder.ae to see which frequent terms from a posting appear in your resume, and add only those that are true for you.

Delete them wherever they appear. Page numbers, footers and repeated headers are part of the original file's layout, not your content.

Look for:

• "Page 1 of 2" or just "1" and "2" at the end of sections.
• Your name or contact details repeated at the top of page two.
• Footer text such as "Confidential" or a file name.
• Dates when the file was printed or saved.

Check the end of each section in particular, because these items often attach to the last bullet before a page break. The builder's templates manage pages for you, so you do not need to add any of this back.

No. Delete it. Headings such as "Curriculum Vitae", "Resume" or "Bio-data" at the top of a document waste space; the reader already knows what the document is. Your name should be the first and largest line.

Also look for and remove:

• Old section headings imported as text inside a section.
• Labels such as "Name:", "Email:" or "Mobile:" before your details.
• Decorative separators or lines of symbols.

Your contact details belong in the builder's personal details fields, where the template formats them consistently. Once the clutter is gone, choose a template and check the preview.

Copy it from your original file, or write a new one. Summaries without a clear heading, or placed beside your name, are sometimes missed or mixed into other sections.

Steps:

• Check the first job entry and the skills section; the summary may have landed there. Move it if so.
• If it is missing, paste it from your original resume.
• Review it: two to four lines, specific to the job you are targeting.

An import is a good moment to rewrite an old summary. If it describes a job you no longer want, or uses generic phrases, start fresh with your role, your strongest evidence and your target.

Yes, as long as it is your own resume and the facts are correct. Many people have a resume prepared by a friend, agency or writer and later want to edit it themselves.

Before importing:

• Make sure you have an editable or text-based copy, not a scan.
• Remove any password protection, or ask the writer for an unprotected copy.

After importing:

• Check every fact: titles, dates, figures and claims. You are responsible for everything on your resume.
• Rewrite anything that does not sound like you, so you can explain it in interviews.
• Remove anything you did not actually do, even if it sounds good.

Yes, if you have it as a text-based PDF or a Word (.docx) file. Europass, the European Union's free CV tool, lets you download your CV, and you can then import that file.

What to expect:

• Europass CVs use their own structure and labels, so some items may land in unexpected sections.
• Personal details fields, such as date of birth or nationality, may be included in the original. ResumeBuilder.ae has no date-of-birth field; nationality is optional.
• Language levels are often shown in a grid; you may need to rewrite them as a simple list.

After importing, review each section, shorten long descriptions into bullets, and choose a template that suits the country you are applying to.

If the portal lets you download your resume or profile as a PDF or Word file, you can import that file. Many job portals keep your uploaded resume and a profile you filled in; check your account for a download option.

Steps:

• Log in to the job portal and look for "Download resume", "View CV" or a similar option.
• Save the file to your device.
• Check that it is a text-based PDF or .docx, under 5 MB and not password-protected.
• Import it and review each section.

If the portal only shows your profile on screen, copy the text section by section into the builder instead. Afterwards, keep your portal profile and resume consistent on facts such as job titles and dates.

The text may be stored as images or as drawn shapes rather than real text. Some PDFs look normal but contain no selectable text, so there is nothing to import.

Common causes:

• The PDF is a scan or photo of a page.
• A design tool exported text as outlines or images.
• The PDF was "printed" from an image.

How to check:

• Try to select a word in your PDF viewer. If you cannot, the text is not real text.

What to do:

• Export the resume again from the original tool, choosing an option that keeps text as text, if available.
• Import the original Word or text file instead.
• Retype the content or use text recognition, checking every detail.

The same problem would affect applicant tracking systems, so it is worth fixing before you send the resume anywhere.

Often yes, if you export it as a PDF with real, selectable text. Results vary, because design apps place text in separate boxes that may import in an unexpected order.

Before importing:

• Export as PDF using the standard or print option.
• Open the PDF and check that you can select and copy the text.
• Reduce the file size if it is over 5 MB, for example by removing large images.

After importing:

• Expect to move some text into the right sections.
• Check contact details, which are often in separate design elements.
• Retype any text that came through as images.

Moving from a design app to a builder usually gives you a simpler, more readable resume, which also helps with applicant tracking systems.

Import the more complete one, then copy the extra content from the second file by hand. Import creates a resume from one file, so merging is a manual step.

Steps:

• Import the resume with the most up-to-date and complete content.
• Open the second file and identify anything missing, such as an older job, a certification or useful bullets.
• Copy and paste those items into the right sections.
• Check that dates and titles are consistent between the two sources.

When the two versions disagree on a fact, check your records rather than guessing. Remove anything duplicated, and keep the best-written version of each bullet.

Nothing. Your original file stays where it was on your device, unchanged. On ResumeBuilder.ae the file is read in your browser, and the content is copied into a new resume in the builder.

Good practice:

• Keep the original as a backup, at least until you have checked the imported version.
• Store it with a clear name, such as "Old-Resume-2024.docx".
• If you no longer need it, delete it yourself, especially on a shared computer.

From then on, edit your resume in the builder. Changes you make there do not change the original file, and changes to the original file do not update the builder version.

The import itself reads the file in the browser, but the resulting resume and your file can remain on that computer. Take a few steps to protect your information.

Before leaving the computer:

• Download a backup ("Download all my resumes (JSON)") to your own storage if you want to keep working elsewhere, or log in.
• Delete your resume from My resumes.
• Delete your resume file and any PDF from the Downloads folder and empty the bin.
• Log out of any accounts you used, such as email or cloud storage.

Guest resumes are saved against a private key in that browser, so anyone using the same browser later could open them if you do not delete them. If possible, use your own device for anything containing personal details.

Simplify the layout before importing: one column, standard headings, normal bullets and no text boxes or tables. A few minutes of tidying can save a lot of fixing later.

Preparation checklist:

• Move contact details out of the header and footer into the main text.
• Convert tables to normal text, and remove text boxes by copying their content into the body.
• Use the word processor's built-in bullet feature, not typed symbols.
• Rename creative headings to standard ones: "Work Experience", "Education", "Skills".
• Write dates in one format, such as "Mar 2021 to Present".
• Delete photos, icons and graphics.
• Accept or reject any tracked changes and delete comments.
• Save as a new .docx file under 5 MB.

Then import the cleaned file and review each section. Keep your original design file separately in case you need it.

Copy the text from each text box and paste it into the right section in the builder. Text boxes sit outside the normal flow of the document, so imports may skip or misplace them.

Steps:

• Open your original Word file.
• Click inside each text box, select its text and copy it.
• Paste it into the matching field or section in the builder.
• Remove any old bullet symbols or extra spaces.

Common text box content includes contact details, skills sidebars, summaries and headings. For future resumes, avoid text boxes; the builder's templates handle layout without them, and applicant tracking systems read plain text more reliably.