If your organization is such a clusterfuck that you can't figure out how to open a PDF, then I'm going to consider that a bullet dodged.

I'm going to take a stab and say she's a recruiter for a third party staffing company.

They REQUIRE word docs so that they can copy and paste or edit your resume on their template.

Pro tip: take the requirements that they send you and Google search for it. Apply directly with the company and cut them out.

Well duh...PDF stands for "portable document file", not "readable document file".
You can send it, but no one can read it.

You should use readable text files (RTF) instead.

“Portable Document Format”. If they can’t open it, fuck them, you don’t want to work for that tire fire.

They want it as a word doc so they can edit it and fuck with it before passing it along.

If you are an HR manager and you're unable to open a PDF then you should first try and finish first grade high school before continuing your job.

How many great employees have YOU missed out on because you're so lacking in basic life skills that one wonders how you found the tit as a baby to nourish yourself...

Well, this is obviously ridiculous. If you want to maximise your chances, make it as easy as possible. Send an exe.

.txt file it is

I used to work IT at a school and reports were emailed to parents as PDFs.

We got a complaint from a few parents saying things like, why are the reports PDF? Not everyone has Acrobat Reader, you should be sending these out as Microsoft Word files.

I then had to tell them that unlike Microsoft Word, Acrobat Reader is free to download and install. Anyone can get Acrobat reader or another PDF viewer, but not everyone just has Word on their device nor are they willing to buy it.

I didn't mention the part about a Word file is easy to just edit.

I'm also going to assume that some of them are using a work laptop where they have Word installed and no admin rights to install a PDF viewer and too lazy to ask IT.

If you can't open 90% of pdfs sent from different sources then you're the problem

Sorry I can't see this picture, can you upload it as a word document please?

Can't open a PDF? Fine, here is a JPEG of my resume.

What the hell? Every bit of resume advice I've ever gotten has said to use PDF to protect from potential formatting errors due to display differences.

This is SovCit level.

I always think of the one green text where the first thing the person does when they get resumes is to throw the top half of the pile in the bin cause:

Can't have any unlucky people working here.

9/10 applicants who submit their resume as a PDF for our openings, we can't view.

Can't, or won't?

Are you fucking kidding me?

That's some of the stupidest shit I've ever heard... Hell, that would even be fucking stupid in 1998.

Deleted

Most of the time, sentences in a sensible order, we reading easier can make.

Candidate hot tip - if you're going to learn English from a fictional green puppet, choose Kermit The Frog; he is a native English speaker.

Definitive red flag if that is their supposed understanding of computers

I've been in hiring discussions where word doc is looked down on since the candidate is not thinking about how to protect their data from manipulation.

This ladies take is dumb as hell, or as others have mentioned because her company changes applicants information.

I actually was going along with this for 2 split seconds.

"Wait. WAIT! Is she serious?!"

Translation: i can't insert a pdf into whatever bullshit system i'm using to thoughtlessly eliminate people

how many opportunities have you missed

Maybe they should be asking themselves the same questions if they are just ignoring most of the candidates because they are too lazy to get a pdf reader. I'm sure they aren't getting the best people with that approach.

The problem is they expect everyone to jump through hoops for them as if all the candidates are the same and they just need to pick one.