Transforming CVs. Sounds simple, right? But how much time are you still losing on CVs in twenty different formats, strange fonts, and messy tables? Recruiters sigh, candidates drop off, and your ATS? It doesn’t save seconds, it devours them. What if that entire jumble automatically comes out of the system neat, flawless, and in your house style? That is exactly what the CV Transformer from Spadework does: it turns hours of cutting and pasting into a snap. Ready for a workflow that really runs smoothly?
The problem: CVs in a thousand varieties and an ATS with picky traits
You open your inbox. Ten new candidates, ten completely different CVs. Word, PDF, even a photo of a paper document. Fonts like Comic Sans sit side by side with Times New Roman. Tabs shift, tables break, columns get mixed up.
And then the moment you try to paste everything into the ATS. Chaos. Fields missing, skills listed incorrectly, the system throws error messages. Meanwhile, the clock keeps ticking. You wanted to deliver matches quickly, but you’re already a quarter of an hour per candidate down.
That wasted time costs frustration and money. Not only for you but also for the candidate waiting for feedback. This is where the concept of transforming CVs comes into play.
Why transforming CVs is crucial
Let’s list the advantages.
Time savings. What used to take an hour of shuffling and copying will take just two minutes.
Consistency. Every CV comes out in your requested house style. Fresh and recognizable.
Fewer mistakes. No more truncated paragraphs or missing certificates.
Better matching. A well-read CV means your ATS recognizes the right search terms.
Better candidate experience. A professional document makes a candidate feel taken seriously.
In short, transforming CVs saves you stress and improves the quality of your service. Sounds good, right?
Transforming CVs for ATS
But how do you ensure that every CV, regardless of source or format, ends up flawlessly in your ATS?
A modern ATS is picky. It expects certain fields, half-recognizes tables, and gets confused by weird fonts. The CV Transformer from Spadework first converts all the information into a clean, standardized structure. Only then does the formatting follow, your personalized formatting.
The result:
The ATS always sees the same columns and rows.
Your search filters suddenly work.
Reports are accurate because fields remain the same.
Without this step, an ATS is a powerful piece of software that delivers half capacity due to poor input.
AI CV conversion: how Spadework does it
Spadework’s CV Transformer uses a smart AI model that has been specifically trained on (anonymized) recruitment data. It recognizes names, education, skills, and so on. It then places that data into a clear template.
The CV conversion workflow:
You upload any document. Word, PDF, even a scanned image file.
The AI reads, tags, and organizes all fields.
The CV gets your requested house style. Colors, logo, font… everything.
Make any adjustments if necessary and export.
Click "Save to ATS" and the information from the CV is then written back to the fields in your Carerix, Bullhorn, Otys, or any other ATS you use.
No loose macros. No copy-paste. Just ready in any desired format.
Take a look: concrete case studies
Kayak
At Kayak, they mainly wanted speed and smoothness in their workflow. Thanks to Spadework, everything runs noticeably smoother.
“The way of working with Spadework is really nice. Everything is picked up quickly, and the product just works well. Compliments on how smoothly everything goes. Sometimes we’re almost afraid that competitors will also get started with it!”
— Willem Heutink, Head of Operations at Kayak
TalentCare
At TalentCare, everything revolved around time savings and better collaboration. Within a day of the first contact, Spadework was live and delivering results.
“We made contact and sat down together the same day. Two days later, we were already live. Want to save time, work faster, and achieve better results? Then you need to be with Spadework.”
— Janine Vinders, Manager at Talent&Care
Wierenga & De Graaf
For Wierenga & De Graaf, it was important that feedback was picked up quickly and that they could streamline their processes. Spadework turned out to provide exactly that support.
“The collaboration with Spadework is going well. Feedback is addressed immediately, and often it is settled really quickly. No tickets, no waiting times, just get it done. That fits seamlessly with how we work ourselves.”
— Sander Schaafsma, Manager at Wierenga & De Graaf
Why Spadework specifically? The USPs at a glance
The CV Transformer from Spadework is more than a conversion tool. It is a complete toolkit that lets you work smarter, faster, and more professionally.
Job-specific: automatically match CVs with keywords for a higher placement chance
LinkedIn enrichment: add current data via the candidate's LinkedIn URL
Writing back to ATS: fields are immediately reset in your ATS
Multilingual: transform CVs directly into the desired language
Custom AI: tailored to your workflow for maximum efficiency
Editor: draggable components and AI-adjustable
Multiple formats: PDF, Word, TXT, HTML, and more
GDPR-proof: 100% compliant with EU legislation
Secure data storage: all data is stored exclusively in the EU
Frequently asked questions and a few stubborn myths
Does this also work if a candidate sends a photo of their CV?
Yes. The OCR module recognizes text in images and converts it.
Can I still make manual changes after transforming?
Certainly. The preview is editable. You remain in control.
What about privacy and GDPR?
All data remains within secure EU servers.
Does the system adapt to our brand guidelines?
Absolutely. Together with Spadework, we create a template fully in your house style that you can easily use for every candidate afterwards.
The final push
You now know what goes wrong with CVs. You’ve seen what transforming CVs with AI looks like. You know the steps, the advantages, and the facts.
What are you waiting for? Book a demo with Lucas today, activate the CV Transformer, and put manual work on autopilot. One click. One CV. No hassle.
