Resume PDF vs Plain Text

Developers should use PDF resumes to ensure their technical skills, projects, and experience are presented without formatting issues when submitted to employers, recruiters, or automated applicant tracking systems (ATS) meets developers should use plain text for configuration files, source code, logs, and data exchange where human readability and cross-platform compatibility are critical, such as in . Here's our take.

Resume PDF

Nice Pick

Developers should use PDF resumes to ensure their technical skills, projects, and experience are presented without formatting issues when submitted to employers, recruiters, or automated applicant tracking systems (ATS)

Pros

• It is particularly important for roles where attention to detail is valued, such as software engineering, as it demonstrates professionalism and reduces the risk of resume parsing errors
• Related to: resume-writing, document-formatting

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

Plain Text

Developers should use plain text for configuration files, source code, logs, and data exchange where human readability and cross-platform compatibility are critical, such as in

Pros

• txt,
• Related to: ascii-encoding, utf-8

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

The Verdict

These tools serve different purposes. Resume PDF is a tool while Plain Text is a concept. We picked Resume PDF based on overall popularity, but your choice depends on what you're building.

The Bottom Line

Resume PDF wins

Based on overall popularity. Resume PDF is more widely used, but Plain Text excels in its own space.