Convert a PDF resume to a client-template DOCX (without rewriting it)

Fieldglass and Beeline still want a Word file. Candidates still send a PDF from a phone, Canva, or “Download as PDF” on LinkedIn. If you open that PDF in Word and hit Save As, you inherit broken columns, missing dates, and a header the client will reject.

Conversion is not formatting

• Conversion — PDF bytes become an editable file. Layout is leftover.
• Formatting — name, dates, skills, and bullets land on the client master the account already trusts.
• Rewrite — changing titles or inventing a summary. Do not do this. The HM will compare packets.

The desk job is the middle one. Keep wording identical. Let the template own fonts, margins, and section order. Export DOCX because that is what the VMS accepts — not because Word is prettier.

A short PDF-to-submittal order

• Parse first. If dates or the employer line are wrong, call the candidate before you format.
• Match against this JD. A clean DOCX on a miss is wasted credits.
• Run Resume Formatter onto the named client template — USA Default when they have not named one.
• Download DOCX. Attach that file. Do not screenshot the PDF back into the portal.

If the PDF will not parse, ask for a Word original. Do not retype a six-page consulting CV from a scan. And if the req is C2C-only or C2C-blocked, settle that in the employment-type read before you spend a format credit.