How to put a resume into a client's Word template without retyping it

Every recruiter knows the job: the client wants their template, the candidate sent a PDF, and the two look nothing alike. Copying and pasting section by section takes a long time, and it is where dates get swapped and bullets go missing.

Start from the client's template, not the resume

Open a clean copy of the client's Word file and work into it. If you start from the candidate's document and try to restyle it, the old fonts, spacing and tables follow you around. The template already has the right styles; your job is only to fill it.

Paste as plain text

Pasting with formatting brings the source's fonts and bullet styles with it. Paste as text only, then apply the template's own styles. It is one extra click and it removes most of the cleanup.

Move facts, do not rewrite them

Formatting is a relayout. Employers, job titles, dates and bullets should arrive exactly as the candidate wrote them. If the wording needs to change for the role, do that as a separate step so you can see what changed.

Check these four things at the end

• Every employer and date from the original is still there.
• No section is left with the template's sample text.
• The document fits the client's page limit.
• Fonts and spacing are the template's, with nothing carried over.

Or let the tool do the relayout

This is one of the things Cntrlall does. You upload the candidate's PDF or Word file, pick the client's format, check the preview and download Word. The facts are copied as written, and the result is checked for leftover or unsupported content before you download it.