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Are the resumes generated by Resgen readable by ATS (Applicant Tracking Systems)
Yes! Resgen's automation does not interfere with ATS readability.
Resgen is an automation tool, it doesn't reinvent the wheel by doing anything LibreOffice doesn't already do when saving a resume from .odt to .pdf format; it just makes it less time-intensive for you by combining a bunch of steps in the background.
You can test this by opening a resume Resgen has created for you and attempt to highlight words; if you're able to copy and paste content from your resume into say, Notepad - then yes, ATS can parse your resume contents.
It is worth mentioning:
It's common knowledge that (most/many/all) ATS are of questionable quality - a lot of them struggle to parse heavily formatted resumes, such as those with columns and images.
While this has nothing to do with Resgen, it's worth considering if you're aiming for companies that use ATS to manage job applicants.
For top readability with even the worst Applicant Tracking Systems:
- One page resume
- No images or formatting, short of horizontal lines and bold text
- Single-column; ie. everything laid out with line-wrap -- no tables or columns
- Name at the top
- Contact info just beneath your name
While these are suggestive, it shouldn't be implied following these will score you passes through the ATS gatekeepers - it's not fully known what algorithms Applicant Tracking Systems use to rank applications. Do some independent research.
Where can A/B testing be performed?
Anywhere that uses ATS.. if you upload a heavily-formatted resume and you find your contact info and work experience garbled into the wrong fields, you'll know ATS is having a hard time parsing the resume.
This isn't fool-proof -- sometimes, even the most basic unformatted resume will be eaten by an Applicant Tracking System; the best you can do is pay attention to where your content goes anytime you encounter an ATS. If you start seeing a pattern of displaced information, pull back on some of the formatting.
What is the privacy policy for Resgen? Where does my data go?
Resgen is a local application, meaning everything is stored on your computer, it is not a cloud app and nothing siphons your data to the mothership.
There is no usage tracking or statistics embedded anywhere (feel free to review the source code), I don't care about stuff like that because it's just cool that people use Resgen. I can gauge usage based on the number of repository clones and feedback I receive from users of the program, that's good enough for me.
It was not released with the intent to make money or collect data, but rather to make peoples' lives a little easier (which is the point of FOSS/Free & Open Source Software).
The only time Resgen speaks to the outside world is when the Firefox-based Gecko driver is triggered by the scraper to retain a copy of the job posting; but it doesn't send that data to anyone, that data comes back to you and is placed the directory that's set in your config.yml file and then it shuts down until the next time you want to use it.
Can I create a .doc or .docx resume with Resgen?
Sure, but you'll need to modify a good chunk of it's behavior to stop generating PDFs and generate your preferred format, instead.
A PDF is an OS-agnostic file type supported in every operating system. Every modern ATS supports PDF parsing, as well.
Likewise, PDFs retain formatting/layout across Office suite versions and operating systems.
I have never heard of LibreOffice. How is it better than Microsoft Office?
It's free software.
You're not bound by propietary licenses and subscription fees. It's built by open source developers and offers a feature set identical to that of pay programs like Microsoft Office, so it is arguably superior in every way. What is LibreOffice?
You can also have LibreOffice run alongside Microsoft Office, if you prefer to only utilize LibreOffice for Resgen. You do not have to choose one or the other; except Resgen will never work with Microsoft Office for as long as I maintain Resgen. :-)