Workday resume upload not working? How to fix it

01

What should you try first?

Work through these in order.

1. Export a fresh copy. From your word processor, save the resume as a PDF or a .docx. Do not upload a scan, a photo or a page exported from a design tool as an image.
2. Make the file small. Remove photos, logos and background graphics. A resume that is only text is a tiny file, so one that runs to several megabytes is carrying images.
3. Give it a plain name, such as Firstname-Lastname-Resume.pdf, with no symbols.
4. Upload it in the right place. The resume and other documents go in the Resume/CV area of the My Experience page. The autofill prompt at the start of the application is a separate convenience.
5. Switch browser. Use a current version of Chrome or Firefox on a computer, close other windows and turn off the pop-up blocker for the site.
6. Reload and try once more, then stop. If a clean file fails in two browsers, go to the last section and contact the employer.

02

Which file types and sizes does Workday accept?

File types. Workday’s documentation for its skills matching feature lists the formats in which it processes applicant resumes: DOC, DOCX, HTM, HTML, PDF, RTF and TXT. Image files and word processor formats outside that list are the ones to avoid.

Size and number. These limits belong to the employer, not to Workday as a whole. The University of Miami tells applicants they can upload up to five documents of 5 MB each in the resume section of My Experience. Washington University in St. Louis also allows up to five documents per application. If your employer states a limit, follow it. If it does not, staying under Miami’s 5 MB per file is a safe working rule.

03

Why did autofill scramble or skip your experience?

Workday’s own description of resume parsing is modest. It says parsing populates fields from a resume, that results can vary based on the resume’s format and the order of the words, and that the best results come from resumes without images or image-based styles. It also says parsing does not fill fields the employer has hidden, or the Languages and Skills fields.

That explains the common complaints:

• Jobs merged, split or out of order. Parsing depends on the order of the words. A layout that scatters dates, titles and employers across columns, tables or text boxes leaves it guessing.
• Skills and languages left empty. By Workday’s account these are not auto-filled. Add them yourself.
• Nothing filled at all. Either the file has no real text, or the employer has hidden resume parsing for outside applicants, which Workday allows.

The lasting fix is a plain resume: one column, standard headings, each job written in the same order. The ATS-friendly resume guide has the details, and the guide to what an ATS does explains parsing across platforms.

04

How do you re-enter your experience by hand?

Typing your history into Workday is tedious but reliable, and a little preparation makes it quicker.

1. Open a plain-text copy of your resume next to the form, so you can paste without carrying formatting across.
2. Delete what autofill got wrong. Remove garbled or duplicate entries before you add clean ones.
3. Add each job as its own entry, newest first, with the title, employer, dates and description.
4. Add education. Lists of schools can load slowly. At Washington University, the list fills only after you type a few letters and press Enter, and a “School Not Found” option covers schools that are missing.
5. Fill the sections autofill skipped, such as skills, languages and certifications, where the form shows them.
6. Attach the resume file anyway in the Resume/CV area, so the recruiter has the document as well as the fields.

Job title: [title exactly as on your resume]
Company: [employer name]
Location: [city, state or country]
From: [month and year]    To: [month and year, or current]
Description:
[First achievement, one line, starting with a verb]
[Second achievement, one line]
[Third achievement, one line]

Keep one block like this for every job in a single text file. It works for every Workday employer, and the Workday job application guide shows where each piece goes.

05

Is the browser the problem?

Sometimes. Workday’s troubleshooting notes for career sites name one specific case: when an employer embeds its career site inside another page, browsers that block third-party cookies by default may stop people from signing in or completing applications. Workday lists every browser on iPhone and iPad, and Safari on desktop.

Employers add their own advice. Washington University tells applicants who cannot get through the application to close other browser windows, try a different and up-to-date browser, temporarily disable pop-up blockers, and use Chrome. The University of Miami warns that old versions of Internet Explorer are not supported and suggests Chrome or Firefox.

So if you are on an iPhone, an iPad or Safari, move to Chrome or Firefox on a computer before you change anything else.

06

When should you contact the employer?

Contact the employer when a clean PDF fails in two browsers, when the form will not let you past a required upload, or when the posting closes soon. Workday is the software, but the site belongs to the employer, and its team is the one that can see what went wrong. Look for an applicant help address or HR contact on the careers page.

Subject: Resume upload error on application for [job title], [requisition number]

Hi [recruiting or HR help team],

I am applying for [job title] ([requisition number]) and cannot upload my resume on the My Experience page. The file is a [PDF or Word document] of [size], and I have tried [browser one] and [browser two] on [computer type]. The message I see is: "[exact error text]".

My resume is attached. Could you add it to my application or tell me another way to submit it before the posting closes on [date, if shown]?

Thank you,
[Your name]
[Email address on your candidate account]
[Phone number]

Attach the resume to that message; the guide on how to email a resume covers file names and formats. Do not submit without the document and plan to fix it later: Washington University, for one, does not let applicants change uploaded documents after submission.

FAQ

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