Download your resume as PDF or DOCX

Downloading gives you the file to attach to an application. FirstResume writes PDF and DOCX, no plan adds a watermark, and the preview in the editor is what comes out.

Download the file

1. In the editor, press Download above the left column and choose Download PDF or Download DOCX.
2. A dialog headed Double check before you download! runs six questions past you, covering numbers, company spellings, locations, dates, experience descriptions and skills. Read them against the preview instead of clicking through. AI-written lines carry the odd wrong date or mangled company name, and nothing in the preview flags either.
3. The PDF dialog offers a Set as Primary Resume? toggle. Switch it on if this is the resume you want as your default for downloads and future tailoring, and on a university account the one your careers team sees: What a primary resume is.
4. Press Confirm. The button reads "Downloading..." while the file is built, then your browser saves it.

If the amber pill appears

"The resume is currently over one page. It is recommended to keep it within one page." Press Cancel, open the edit design tab and try the Small preset or the Custom sliders: Change your resume's template and layout. Coming back for the download costs nothing.

The file name, and which format to send

The file takes the resume's label, the name at the top left of the editor. Rename the resume with the pencil icon before you download if that name is not one you would want a recruiter reading off an attachment.

Send PDF unless you are asked for something else; it looks the same on whatever opens it. Take DOCX when an employer asks for an editable file, or when you want to change a line in a word processor first.

Tips

• Downloading changes nothing in Resume Builder. The resume stays in the table and you can export it again, in either format, whenever you like.
• Deleting a resume is the one thing you cannot undo, so keep a downloaded copy of anything you might want later: Delete a resume.